Mortgage industry pegs 30-year rate at 6.5% by year-end

The Mortgage Bankers Association expects the interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to jump from 6.2 percent to 6.5 percent by the end of the third quarter, as investors lose hope that the Federal Reserve will slash short-term rates any time soon.  more...

Congress weighs lifting limit on FHA-backed reverse mortgages

The Federal Housing Administration would be allowed to surpass a ceiling on the number of reverse mortgages it can insure under legislation passed by the House of Representatives this week.

A bill sponsored by Utah Democrat Jim Matheson, HR 391, would waive the approaching cap of 275,000 reverse annuity mortgages the FHA is currently allowed to insure.  more...

IndyMac to miss fourth-quarter earnings estimates

Mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc. will miss its fourth-quarter earnings target, Chief Executive Officer Michael W. Perry said in a letter to shareholders, because of increased credit costs, lower net interest margins, and a decline in return on equity.  more...

S.F. Bay Area home sales hit 10-year low

San Francisco Bay Area home prices were nearly flat in December and the sales pace for that month was the slowest in a decade, according to a report by real estate research firm DataQuick Information Systems.

DataQuick reported 7,488 new and existing home and condo sales in December, up 3.9 percent compared to November and down 19.9 percent compared to December 2005.  more...

Real estate refinancings post growth

Rising interest rates last week took a bite out of overall mortgage application volume, although that didn't stop folks from refinancing, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The market composite index, which measures total home loan volume, sank 0.6 percent, falling to 667.2 last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from 671.1 one week earlier.

Loans to purchase homes reported a decrease in activity, as the seasonally adjusted purchase index declined 7 percent last week from the week before.  more...

Mortgage lender ResCap to eliminate 1,000 jobs

Residential Capital LLC will lay off 800 workers by October and leave 200 openings unfilled -- a net loss of 1,000 jobs that will cost the mortgage lender $10 million now but save $65 million next year.

Minneapolis-based ResCap, the real estate finance arm of GMAC LLC, said "slower originations, shifts in home prices and appreciation rates, a challenging interest-rate environment and the continued deterioration of the subprime sector" were the reasons for the job cuts.  more...