Tag: mortgage planning

What Fed Rate Cuts Mean for Home Buyers in 2024
Money

What Fed Rate Cuts Mean for Home Buyers in 2024

Getting a mortgage should be slightly less painful in 2024.On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said it expected to cut interest rates three times next year. The Fed’s forecast brings a dose of holiday cheer to hopeful home buyers who have felt squeezed out of the market.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Bank of America Fined $12 Million by CFPB Over Mortgage Data Reporting
World

Bank of America Fined $12 Million by CFPB Over Mortgage Data Reporting

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has fined Bank of America $12 million for allegedly submitting inaccurate mortgage lending information to the federal government.The agency said Tuesday that the bank’s loan officers failed in some instances to ask mortgage applicants certain federally required demographic questions, including about race, ethnicity and sex, but incorrectly reported that the applicants had opted not to respond to those questions.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Washington Quietly Scrapped a Plan to Save Homeowners Thousands of Dollars
Money

Washington Quietly Scrapped a Plan to Save Homeowners Thousands of Dollars

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration pushed to save homeowners thousands of dollars in closing costs on certain mortgages, part of a broad effort to slash fees and save Americans money. Objections from an obscure industry and from lawmakers helped kill the plan.Government-controlled mortgage giant Fannie Mae was preparing this summer to finalize a program to test out eliminating one of the biggest fixed costs associated with closing on a mortgage: title insurance. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The Trillion-Dollar Win Hiding in Your Mortgage
Money

The Trillion-Dollar Win Hiding in Your Mortgage

It is time to look more favorably on your mortgage. The leap in interest rates of the past two years means that an old fixed-rate loan should be thought of as one of your most valuable assets, rather than a deadweight loss you have to pay the bank every month.Getting one’s head around the idea that money you owe to someone else is an asset is hard. And sure, you still owe the money. But apply the logic used in the market, and there’s been a transfer of well over $1 trillion in wealth from banks and bondholders to borrowers as rates have soared—a gain in wealth widely ignored by the beneficiaries.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The Sales Pitch for an 8% Mortgage: Buy Now, Refinance Later—for Free
Money

The Sales Pitch for an 8% Mortgage: Buy Now, Refinance Later—for Free

Lenders have a proposition for home buyers who can’t stomach an 8% mortgage rate: Buy now, and refinance later for free.Lenders are making these offers because the market for mortgages cratered as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates to two-decade highs to tame inflation. ​ The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 7.79%, according to Freddie Mac.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8