Default concern is now spilling beyond the Greek border to the rest of the PIIGS -- Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Contagion mentality has set in. Markets have moved into Safe Haven mode. It's helping mortgage rates fall but it won't last forever.

The Federal Open Market Committee starts a 2-day meeting today, one of 8 scheduled meetings for the year. Bernanke & Co. are expected to leave the Fed Fund Rates unchanged after the meeting, but that doesn't mean mortgage rates will be unchanged, too. Au contraire, mortgage rates will be all over the place.

November 6, 2009, Congress modified the $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit program, turning it into the "regular" Home Buyer Tax Credit program. Under the program's new terms, first-time buyers are eligible for up to $8,000 in federal tax credits; "long-time" homeowners get up to $6,500. Note the term "long-time" homeowner. According to the IRS, a long-time homeowner is someone who has used a home as a primary residence for at least 5 consecutive years dating back to 2002.

"While gas prices rise, so will mortgage rates. Get locked ASAP."

With 9 days left to claim the federal home buyer tax credit, I thought this would be a good time to review the mortgage market, jumbo loans, and the state of home appraisals. This 2-minute video covers a lot of ground

Mortgage rates vary by product, as illustrated by this chart tracking FHA and conforming 30-year fixed rate mortgages. Over the last 5 years, they've moved to their own beat; trending together, and rarely equal. Deciding which is better -- FHA Or Conforming -- will depend on your situation.

There's 11 days left to claim the government's home buyer tax credit and if you're among the thousands of buyers with their sights on foreclosures, the timing may be perfect. There's been 257,000 new bank REOs since January.

Home buyers would be silly to not at least consider the 5-year ARM right now. As compared to the 30-year fixed, the 5-year ARM is an absolute steal.

Investors are unwinding their safe haven trades, dumping excess mortgage bonds into the open market, pressuring mortgage rates to move higher. Get ahead of the changes because MRV -- Mortgage Rate Velocity -- is as high as its been in a year. Rate hikes are coming this week and they're going to hit hard.

Life is getting difficult for home buyers and rate shoppers. Since the start of April, mortgage lenders are averaging 2.25 rate sheets per day. Mortgage Rate Velocity -- the pace of rate sheet change -- is as high as it's been in a year.