Fewer ARM borrowers refinancing into fixed-rate loans

Borrowers refinancing adjustable-rate mortgages during the third quarter were a little less likely to move into fixed-rate loans, mortgage repurchaser Freddie Mac said today.

About 85 percent of borrowers refinancing 1-year ARM loans chose fixed-rate mortgages, Freddie Mac reported, down slightly from 86 percent in the second quarter.

About 82 percent of borrowers refinancing hybrid ARM loans during the third quarter chose fixed-rate loans, off from 85 percent during the second quarter.  more...

Harmon Homes merges with Homes.com

Dominion Enterprises today announced the merger of two of its flagship businesses, Homes.com and Harmon Homes, into a single real estate marketing company to broaden exposure for its property listings.

The new company will retain the name Homes.com, and aims to drive more traffic to its for-sale listings on the Homes.com Web site through Harmon Homes' monthly circulation of more than 2.4 million print public  more...

Borrowers rush to refi

Mortgage application volume increased last week for the first time this month as borrowers jumped at the chance to refinance or purchase, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The group's market composite index, a measure of total home loan application volume, climbed 5.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, boosted by a 6.4 percent jump in the index that tracks refinancings.

MBA reported that the purchase-loan index finally picked up, rising 4.8 percent last week from the end of October, following three straight weeks of declines.  more...

Stockton, Detroit, Riverside hot spots for foreclosures

California and Florida were home to seven of 10 metropolitan areas with the highest rate of foreclosure activity during the third quarter, according to data aggregator RealtyTrac Inc.

Stockton, Calif., and Detroit, Mich., retained their places atop RealtyTrac's list of the metropolitan areas with the highest rate of default notices, notices of auction sales and bank repossessions, while Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., bumped Las Vegas out of third place.  more...

Real estate rates drop overnight

Long-term mortgage interest rates continued lower Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.27 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.93 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate slipped to 5.52 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 5.52 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield gained to 4.62 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states.  more...