MMC Market Update (WOW: Our plan worked!)

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

In our effort to try to get rates to move lower, we sent out an update on Tuesday giving reasons as to why they would NOT go lower.  Well, our planned worked to perfection.  Mortgage interest rates are lower today than at anytime this year or this decade or this…you get the picture.

Why are rates lower?  Look at the stock market.  The DOW is in danger of closing at its lowest point since the middle of January and lower stock prices often means lower interest rates.  Why are stocks lower?  Look at Europe.  What a mess.  The situation in Greece is getting worse and worse.  However, that is not the concern.  That country was written off long ago.  The concern is who is next.  Spain?  What is happening is so similar to what happened with Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and Countrywide etc. in 2007 and 2008.  The only difference is that we are now dealing with countries and not companies.

AND NOW THAT WE HAVE SUFFICIENTLY SCARED YOU, WE PRESENT THE GLASS HALF FULL PORTION OF OUR UPDATE:  US Economic Rebound Over Winter is No Fluke, Data Show

If you get bored this weekend, keep track of how many people utter these words:  “This is some weather we’re havin’, huh.” or “How bout this weather?”

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MMC Market Update (Some boring stuff and then the first ever TIP OF THE DAY!)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

When reading the financial news this morning, we over here at Midwest Mortgage Capital expected mortgage interest rates to be lower today.  Why?  Because Europe is back in the news and not in a good way.  There are renewed fears that Greece might exit the Eurozone based on the fact that the EU wants Greece to cut costs and Greece just doesn’t want to.  When bad news from Europe comes out, money often moves to the save haven of the US bond market and mortgage interest rates go down.

However, rates are not lower.  Below are a couple of our theories as to why this is true:

  • There has to be a point where rates cannot go lower.  Maybe we found that point.
  • Recent inflation numbers have been higher.  Today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in at 2.3%.  The Fed wants this number to be at or below 2%.

TIP OF THE DAY: Make sure buyers write the earnest money check from their own checking account.  If it comes from someone else’s checking account, then it is a gift which requires the buyer to share a lot more paperwork with us.

Enjoy the weather this week!

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MMC Market Update (Foreclosures Up = Good Thing!)

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

According to this article in today’s Belleville News Democrat, foreclosures are up in the Metro-East, and this is a GOOD thing.  Now maybe, just maybe, this is a glass-half-full outlook, but let us explain.

The foreclosures are out there.  We all know that.  One of the keys (along with strong job growth) to seeing a better housing market is getting rid of these foreclosures.  Due to IL’s rules that foreclosures have to go through the court system, IL has not cleared out many of their foreclosures. (To find out what we mean by this, click here.)  Hopefully, these latest statistics show that IL is finally going to get this done so that we can put the last nail in the coffin of this foreclosure crisis.

By the way, once homes that are currently in foreclosure are cleared out, you are going to see a sustained drop in foreclosure starts.  Why?  Loans that were started in the last three years are not going deliquent.  In fact, these loans are performing as good or better than any loans in history.

FOR ST. CLAIR COUNTY, IL RESIDENTS:  Property taxes are tentatively scheduled to be mailed out on June 15th.

FOR ST. LOUIS REAL ESTATE AGENTS:  We apologize.  Today’s update was very IL centric.  To make up for it, we wanted to link to our video on the MHDC loan.  Enjoy.

MHDC LOANS—EXPLAINED

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MMC Market Update (¡Cuando pensé que ya había terminado, me hacen regresar!)

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

(¡Cuando pensé que ya había terminado, me hacen regresar!)~ Godfather III

Como se discutió en la actualización del miércoles, el mercado de empleos en EE.UU. ha mostrado señales de vida en varias ocasiones durante los últimos años. Sin embargo, estos signos de vida no han sido capaces de continuar.

El reporte de hoy de empleo fue una desilusión. Realmente no hay otra manera de decirlo. Tal vez vea que algunas personas reportan de una manera positiva en el hecho de que la tasa oficial de desempleo bajó a 8,1%. Sin embargo, por favor, comprenda que este número no incluye a las personas que simplemente dejaron de buscar trabajo. Para saber más, haga clic aquí.

No queremos que nadie se asuste, pero todos debemos estar desilusionados de que la recuperación del empleo no está sucediendo más rápido. Como usted sabe por leer estas actualizaciones, es nuestra creencia de que lleva un panorama laboral positivo, más que las tasas bajas de interés y vendedores motivados, que conduce a las casas que se compran y se venden.

La buena noticia de todo esto es que en realidad las tasas de interés podrían moverse más baja dado a los números económicas menos-que-estelares que se han publicado recientemente. Renunciaríamos a las bajas tasas por una economía mejor, pero todavía estaremos encantados con las bajas tasas si eso es todo lo que recibimos.

IF YOU ARE HAVING TROUBLE READING TODAY’S UPDATE, CLICK HERE FOR HELP.  Happy Cinco de Mayo!

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MMC Market Update (Reading Time: 71 seconds)

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

Interest rates still look unbelievable.  In fact, they really are sitting at the lowest point maybe ever.  The reasons for the most recent downward movement are familiar.  Namely, Europe’s problems are far from over.  Surprise!  Surprise!  The other reason is more concerning and that is the fact that the US jobs market seems to be softening again.  See below.

From December 2010 through March 2011, the US jobs picture showed signs of life.  People were excited.  Economists were optimistic.  Then things changed course and April through September saw only meager job gains.  We then saw another uptick last Fall/Winter and people got excited again and economists were predicting better days ahead.  That optimism is, once again, waning.  The official numbers which are released by the Dept. of Labor do not come out until Friday.  However, an ADP report which was released this morning painted a less than positive picture of the US jobs market.  If the official numbers are also low, this would be the 2nd straight unimpressive jobs report and people will stop being excited and economists will stop being optimistic.

The good news is that we are also continuing to see signs of life in housing.  The foreclosure problem, although still prevalent, is only going to get better.  The US savings rate is consistently higher than at anytime since 1999.  And personal income was up the last two months.

CONCLUSION:  2012 is going to be better than 2011 which was better than 2010 and 2013 will be better than 2012.

We know that all of this stuff is a little (or a lot) boring.  We thought about spicing it up.  We thought about scrapping it and rewriting it.  Instead, WE JUST HIT SEND!  Have a great day and GO BLUES!

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MMC Market Update (Quick update ahead of the Fed statement and an explanation of QE3)

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

We just wanted to send out a quick update this morning letting you know that rates have not moved much over the last week and also let you know that that could change this afternoon.  It is this afternoon that the Fed will release its 3rd monetary policy statement of the year.  Although the release of this statement is always watched closely, today’s statement seems to be garnering more interest due to the mixed signals that recent economic reports have given as well as the rumors that a QE3 is possible.

We will update you later in the week about the statement and its affect on interest rates and the overall economy.

By the way, to find out more about QE1, QE2, and QE3, click on the link below titled “Quantitative Easing Explained.”  (Or you can click on the link because the video is funny.)

Quantitative Easing Explained!

Disclaimer:  The comments made in this video do not necessarily reflect the positions of Midwest Mortgage Capital or its employees.  We just thought it was funny!

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MMC Market Update (WHY ARE RATES SO LOW?)

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

Why are mortgage interest rates so low?  At this point, we are not even sure.  The stock market has had a fantastic ride higher.  We have not heard much out of Europe lately even though their issues are far from over.  Inflation is a concern especially with rising energy prices.  With all of that being true, why are rates even lower today than at almost any time over the last couple of years?  Like we said, we really do not know.  What we do know is that people should be taking advantage of these low rates with a refinance or by purchasing a new home.

Next week’s economic news will be dominated by the 3rd fed policy meeting of the year.  This meeting will conclude on Wednesday with the release of the fed policy statement.  The markets will be looking to see if a QE3 is in our future and will be gauging the feeling of the Fed on the short and long-term future of the US economy.  We will most certainly update you.

Have a great weekend and please contact us if you have a mortgage related question or have a buyer that has a mortgage related question or have a buyer that needs to be preapproved.

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MMC Market Update (Interest rates should actually be lower!)

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

Interest rates are absolutely phenomenal, but they would be even lower if not for the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011. Click here to find out more. Most estimates believe that this law has had an effect of about 0.125% on mortgage interest rates.

Several positive economic stories have been popping up in the local papers the last couple of days. We hope that this is a sign of things to come. We linked to some of these stories below:

http://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/david-nicklaus/summer-surprise-for-a-change-maybe-we-won-t-get/article_3722958a-8811-11e1-84cb-001a4bcf6878.html

http://www.stltoday.com/news/us-economic-outlook-brightens-as-retail-sales-rise/article_65939cea-8841-11e1-b406-001a4bcf6878.html

http://www.bnd.com/2012/04/17/2144103/us-home-building-slows-permits.html

Have a great week and don’t forget to open the attached rate sheet! By the way, we went back and forth between effect and affect in the third sentence of our update. Do you think we made the right choice?

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MMC Market Update (Four Bullet Points)

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Ryan

We just wanted to share a couple of quick points with you before you started your weekend:

  • Interest rates are phenomenal!
  • FHA announced some changes to their policy regarding collections that appear on a borrower’s credit report. Basically, collections were going to need to be paid before closing or a payment plan was going to need to be set up by the buyer with the creditor. That was set to go into place on April 1. They have now changed this date to July 1 and might change the policy again. Let’s hope they do because this would be bad news for many potential buyers. Click here to learn more about the changes.
  • You can contact us this weekend if you have a mortgage question, have a buyer that has a mortgage question, or have a buyer that needs to be preapproved.
  • Be careful next Tuesday. You should actually be careful everyday, but this advice is especially important for Tax Day. Why? Click here to find out.

Have a great weekend!

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MMC Market Update (Rates are even lower!)

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Mortgage Advisor

Last Friday’s jobs report really sent shock waves through the markets.  The DOW has not been consistently lower than its current price since the beginning of February.  As a result, interest rates have gone even lower.

This week we will continue to watch the stock market because mortgage interest rates seem to be taking their cue from the ebbs and flows of stock prices.  We will also be waiting on the inflation numbers that are due out on Friday.  As you know, the bond market is always worried about any hint of inflation.

Sorry!  That was maybe the most boring update in our 15 month history.  Maybe this will help.  Click here to read about some good news from Fannie Mae on the housing market.  That may not help either because the article from Fannie Mae is not that great either.  Sorry again!

To find out more about Midwest Mortgage Capital, go to www.MidwestMortgageCapital.com.

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