Kevin Wallace's (kevincwallace) Blog

  Mortgage markets worsened last week on general profit-taking in the U.S. bond market, combined with talk of a coordinated rescue effort for Greece and its debt burden. Mortgage-backed bonds sold off, causing conventional and FHA mortgage rates to rise. There wasn't much hard data on which to tr...

The mortgage lending landscape changes a lot.  Rates and guidelines are in constant flux, and it creates preparedness challenges for buyers in Raymond that aren't paying in cash. The loan you get today won't always be the loan you get tomorrow. Because of how frequently bank rules are changing, i...

  The economy's improving but lending standards are not. Nationally, banks are making mortgage approvals harder to come by. Underwriting guidelines are tightening. The data comes from the Federal Reserve's quarterly survey to its member banks.  The Fed asks senior bank loan officers around the co...

Mortgage markets improved last week on domestic jobs data and international banking concerns. The news triggered buying in the bond market and, as a result, conventional, FHA and VA mortgage rates in NH improved for the 4th consecutive week. Mortgage rates are now at a 6-week low but probably sho...

On the first Friday of every month, the U.S. government releases its Non-Farm Payrolls data from the month prior. The data is more commonly known as "the jobs report" and it swings a big stick on Wall Street. Especially now -- many analysts believe job growth is tightly linked to the future of th...

The Pending Home Sales Index rose slightly in December, climbing 1 percent from November. A Pending Home Sale is a home that is under contract to sell, but not yet sold. It's a figure compiled by the National Association of Realtors® using sales data from over 100 regional listing services and mo...

In a news-heavy week, mortgage markets improved last week, adding to a 3-week rally. But, given last week's data and domestic story lines, it's surprising that rates actually fell. The Federal Reserve said the economy continues to strengthen Consumer Confidence pushed to a 2-year high 4th Quarter...

The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. In its press release, the FOMC noted that...

The Federal Open Market Committee ends a scheduled, 2-day meeting today in Washington. It's the first of 8 scheduled meetings for the policy-setting group in...

NH home owners should take note, this past week we marked the official start of the Making Home Affordable Refinance Program. We expect that this may help thousands of NH homeowners! The Making Home Affordable program turns a blind eye with respect to falling home values, approving mortgage appli...