MSNBC reports Rates on 15- and 30-year mortgages tumble

5-year mortgage rate dips below 4% for first time in three months

By JANNA HERRON

NEW YORK — Fixed mortgage rates tumbled this week and the 15-year loan dipped below 4 percent for the first time in three months. Rates followed the yield on U.S. Treasury bonds, which fell on worries that the crisis in Japan could slow economic growth.

Freddie Mac said Tuesday the average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinance option, dropped to 3.97 percent from 4.15 percent. The last time the rate was below 4 percent was in mid-December. It reached 3.57 percent in November, the lowest level on records dating back to 1991. CLICK HERE FOR FULL Article

5 Homes you Can own for $450,000 or less.

Each week, TODAY real estate expert Barbara Corcoran looks around the U.S. to see what homebuyers can get for their money. This week she goes from California to New York in search of truly unique properties you can get for $450,000 or less.

 

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Digital Signatures Make Paper-trail Legitimacy Very Questionable

Robo-signers' add to foreclosure fraud mess

In testimony 'experts' admit they rushed paperwork, didn't know law 

msnbc.com news services updated 10/13/2010 11:49:19 AM ET

NEW YORK — In an effort to rush through thousands of home foreclosures since 2007, financial institutions and their mortgage servicing departments hired hair stylists, Walmart floor workers and people who had worked on assembly lines and installed them in "foreclosure expert" jobs with no formal training, a Florida lawyer says.

In depositions released Tuesday, many of those workers testified that they barely knew what a mortgage was. Some couldn't define the word "affidavit." Others didn't know what a complaint was, or even what was meant by personal property. Most troubling, several said they knew they were lying when they signed the foreclosure affidavits and that they agreed with the defense lawyers' accusations about document fraud. CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

Pending home sales rise 5.2% in July Msnbc Reports

Pending home sales rise 5.2% in July

But signed contracts are still well below last year's levels

WASHINGTON — The number of buyers who signed contracts to purchase previously occupied U.S. homes increased in July but remained well below last year's levels, a sign that demand for housing remains weak.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday its seasonally adjusted index rose 5.2 percent from a month earlier to a reading of 79.4. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected the index would fall to 74.9.
The index was still down 19 percent from the same month last year. June's reading was the lowest on records dating to 2001. It was revised slightly downward to 75.5.
The index provides an early measurement of sales activity because there is usually a one- to two-month lag between a sales contract and a completed deal.

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MSNBC Real estate Video Report: Beware Of Co-Signing a Loan

Co-Signing a Loan can be very bad news...

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MSNBC demonstrates what $250k can get you around the country

MSNBC Reports:  Click here for full story

How Far Can $250,000 Go in Jacksonville Florida:

How much home can you get for a quarter of a million dollars in Pueblo Colorado?: