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Zillow crunches new refi limits

By Inman News, Thursday, July 2, 2009.

About 6.6 percent of conforming first loans have loan-to-value ratios above the new ceiling for the Obama administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program, compared to 16.6 percent under the program's old guidelines, according to an analysis by Zillow.

Zillow said that under the old 105 percent LTV ceiling, 14.6 million homeowners with mortgages might have qualified for the program. Raising the ceiling to 125 percent means another 5.6 million homeowners are potentially eligible for the program, Zillow said.  more...

Title premiums down 25% in Q1

By Inman News, Thursday, July 2, 2009.

Title insurance premiums slipped for the 12th consecutive quarter in the first three months of 2009, but the rate of decline has slowed, the American Land Title Association said in releasing industry statistics.

Title insurers wrote $1.98 billion in premiums during the first quarter of 2009, compared to $2.64 billion in premiums during the same period a year ago, ALTA said. The 25 percent year-over-year decline was less drastic than the 34 percent drop in the final three months of 2008 and all other quarters last year.  more...

Mortgage rates retreat from highs

By Inman News, Thursday, July 2, 2009.

Borrowers were paying less for fixed-rate mortgages this week than last, as rates continue a retreat from highs seen in early June, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.32 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending July 2, down from 5.42 percent last week and 6.35 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said.  more...

Manhattan sales down 50%

By Inman News, Thursday, July 2, 2009.

Second-quarter sales of Manhattan co-ops and condos were down 50.3 percent from a year ago, and the median sale price fell 18.5 percent to $835,700, according to a report by Miller Samuel Inc. for Prudential Douglas Elliman.

The median price of resale apartments saw a sharper annual decline of 25.6 percent, to $725,000, although that was an increase of 7.4 percent from the first three months of the year.  more...