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For the first time since February 2009, the monthly foreclosure filings retreated below 300,000. The pace of foreclosures is slowing nationwide. Or is it?

Want to increase the size of your 2010 tax deductions? Consider making your upcoming January 2011 mortgage payment while the calendar still reads 2010.

Mortgage rates are rising -- sharply even. But given how different mortgage products are reacting to the new market mentality, the relative benefits of a 5-year ARM to homeowners are higher than they've been in history.

Stop waiting for rates to "come back". Stop thinking the markets "are due". Stop thinking you have a day "to think it over". They won't, they're not, and you don't. What we're living through right now is the natural correction that follows a historic, 7-month rally.

I gave a television interview with Beejal Patel of First Business. The timing was excellent given the FOMC had just adjourned. In 3-and-a-half minutes, the interview covers a lot of ground. Watch it now.

Today, the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-to-1 to leave the Fed Funds Rate unchanged within in its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. Mortgage rates are rising.

Jobs growth is happening, manufacturing output is increasing, and Wall Street is going bullish. You would expect homeowner costs to float higher, too. But, so far, however, mortgage rates and home prices have failed to keep pace. It's great news for home buyers, but the window is closing quickly.

"Should I refinance?". It seems like a basic question -- when benefits outweigh costs, say "yes". But, what about those two big assumptions you have to make?

Overwhelmingly, refinancing homeowners are choosing fixed rate mortgages over adjustable ones. But is it logical? Go deep on the numbers and see for yourself.

Ride the mortgage rate roller coaster. Literally.