350 Park Avenue

Banks and insurance companies are avoiding secondary U.S. markets and directing their refinancing funds to a select group of borrowers in urban centers as mortgages from the real estate boom begin to mature, Bloomberg News reported.

More than 50 percent of the $19 billion in commercial property loans set to mature this year may fail to find refinancing, according to data from Standard & Poor’s, but those in New York City like 350 Park Avenue have the best chance, Bloomberg said. [more]

In its research paper on the housing market, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York urged Congress to allow American homeowners an easier path to refinancing despite potential losses to investors because the benefits to homeowners outweigh losses to investors, according to the Wall Street Journal. [more]

When you apply for a mortgage to buy a house, how often does the lender ask detailed questions about monthly energy costs or tell the appraiser to factor in the energy-efficiency features of the house when coming up with a value?

Hardly ever. That’s because the big three mortgage players — Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, who together account for more than 90 percent of all loan volume — typically don’t consider energy costs in underwriting. Yet utility bills can be larger annual cash drains than property taxes or insurance — key items in standard underwriting — and can seriously affect a family’s ability to afford a house. [more]

Source: CoreLogic

Nearly a quarter of Americans with residential mortgages are in negative equity and that number is barely improving, according to second-quarter data released today by analytics firm CoreLogic. In the second quarter, 10.9 million homes were worth less than their mortgages, or 22.5 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage. That’s down ever-so-slightly from the 22.7 percent recorded in the first quarter. Another 2.4 million borrowers had less than 5 percent equity, or near-negative equity.

The report notes that the widespread negative equity situations are keeping many Americans from refinancing their mortgages to capitalize on record-low rates. Nearly 75 percent of all underwater borrowers are paying more than the market rate for their mortgage, compared to 53 percent of above-water mortgage borrowers. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

While average 30-year mortgage rates are still below 5 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, that’s set to change in 2011, experts say. The MBA has shed some light on what it expects for the mortgage market in the coming year, predicting rates near 6 percent by 2012 and an overall decrease in demand for mortgages throughout the year. And while refinancings have accounted for a whopping portion of mortgage activity in recent months, around 80 percent throughout much of 2010, the MBA predicts a precipitous decline in refis during 2011, shrinking to below 40 percent of total mortgages. [Investopedia via msnbc]

After showing virtually no momentum earlier this month, U.S. mortgage activity perked up during the week ending Aug. 13, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, following a decline in mortgage rates. The weekly mortgage application index climbed 13 percent from the previous week, spurred by a significant uptick in refinancings, the report shows. Refis increased 17 percent on the MBA’s index, while mortgage purchases dropped 3.4 percent. The recent drop in fixed mortgage rates likely influenced this activity, experts have suggested — last week Freddie Mac reported that the average 30-year mortgage fixed rate had plummeted to 4.44 percent, while the 15-year rate hit a record low of around 3.92. TRD

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As the residential sales market shows a summer slow-down, the rate of loan applications is also showing some sluggishness nationwide. Mortgage activity remained relatively flat through the week ending Aug. 6, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly mortgage application survey. Total loan application volume increased .6 percent week-over-week on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the refinance index and the purchase index showed increases of .6 percent and .3 percent, respectively, during the same time period. The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage also stayed flat week-over-week, declining just .03 percent to 4.57 percent. TRD

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The rate of mortgage applications for the week ending April 23 decreased 2.9 percent from the previous week on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey. But while the overall rate of mortgage applications declined, this was largely due to a drop in refinancings, not a decline in demand for new mortgage purchases, the report says. [more]

While the first-time homebuyer tax credit program is set to expire April 30, it could end up affecting housing statistics for weeks to come. That’s because homebuyers have until June to close on properties if they sign contracts by next Friday. The program, extended from last fall, offers $8,000 to first-time buyers and $6,500 to repeat buyers. The credit could result in a continued, artificial rise in the rate of mortgage application filings, which showed a 13.6 percent uptick for the week ending April 16 according to seasonally adjusted week-over-week data released today from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The average 30-year mortgage rate, meanwhile, dipped to 5.07 percent from 5.17 percent, according to the MBA’s report. [more]

The rate of mortgage application filings dropped 11 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis during the week ending April 2, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This overall drop in the MBA’s mortgage loan application volume index was due in part to the dramatic 16.9 percent decrease in refinance applications, as the 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate hit 5.04 percent, its highest level since August 2009. The rate of purchases for new mortgages, meanwhile, remained relatively the same week-over-week. Refinancings accounted for about 58.7 percent of total mortgage applications during the week, down from their 63.2 percent share the week earlier. TRD