Florida mortgage rates are great right now, holding steady at or just below 5 percent.  However, the latest housing starts data indicates that home prices may be on the rise. A “Housing Start” is a home on which construction has started and, for the 4th straight month, national single-family housing starts held steady last month. When the demand for homes grows faster than the number of homes for sale, prices increase. As recent home sales data confirms, the number of Florida home... Read Full Story

In an attempt to keep Florida mortgage terms as clear as I can, I wanted to provide a basic definition of APR, or Annual Percentage Rate. Pu simply, APR is a government-mandated calculation meant to simplify the comparison of your mortgage options. The APR on your Florida mortgage can always be found in the top-left corner of the Federal Truth-In-Lending Disclosure. The Difference Between APR and Interest Rate Because APR is expressed as a percentage, many people confuse it for the loan’... Read Full Story

Florida mortgage markets looked better last week as foreign investors buying up mortgage debt helped to move  mortgage rates to a 4-week low.   With rates improving for the 3rd continuous week, this year’s ongoing Refi boom got another shot in the arm. Fixed-rate, conforming mortgage rates dropped roughly 0.125 percent on the week. ARMs did about the same. With little in the way of economic data last week, investors worked mostly on momentum and trends. However, the Friday University of... Read Full Story

The FHA has recently announced a relaxation in some of its strenuous condominium financing guidelines.  Florida condo buyers looking to use a Florida mortgage should pay attention, as FHA financing rules for condos will not stay this relaxed for long. Among the new temporary rules is a provision that permits FHA mortgage lenders to request spot approvals for condos in buildings that have not been approved for FHA financing. The administration had previously scheduled such spot approvals to ce... Read Full Story

Getting a Florida mortgage may have just become harder.  Though the nation’s economic outlook has improved and Congress is encouraging lenders to lend more money, mortgage banks and Florida mortgage lenders don’t seem ready to open their purse strings just yet.  Yep, at a time when we need money to be flowing into the hands of responsible mortgage borrowers, mortgage approval standards are tightening. This information stems from a quarterly survey the Federal Reserve sends to its ... Read Full Story

Real Estate has been a solid investment for years.  It has recently gotten a bad rap, but that was more about people who made foolish decision and banks that allowed it than it was the real estate market.  The reality of the situation today is that anyone wanting to make a solid investment in their future needs to seriously consider a Florida mortgage. Investment properties are a great way to set up for the golden years because if they are done properly, they are self sufficient and even thr... Read Full Story

Florida mortgage markets experienced another round of volatility last week, delivering a very wide range of mortgage rates between Monday and Friday. Luckily, for Florida mortgage rate shoppers, the momentum was largely positive. Mortgage rates in Florida fell for the second time in as many weeks, but on the whole – rates still remain higher versus their early-October lows. The financial news impacting Florida mortgage rates last week was pretty extensive: The Federal Reserve held the ... Read Full Story

Florida mortgage borrowers received some great news regarding the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit extension.  Congressional members not only voted to extend, but they also expanded the credit, and the White House is expected to sign in the extension into law later today. The expiration date for the new version of the First-time home buyer tax credit has been moved forward to the spring of 2010 – with home buyers in Florida and across the country required to be under contract by April 3... Read Full Story

As anticipated, Florida mortgage borrowers should get ready for a rate increase per the November 4 FOMC press release. The Federal Open Market Committee voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate within its target range of 0.000-0.250 percent. The general sentiment from the meeting was that the U.S. economy “has continued to pick up” since the September FOMC meeting and that housing market activity has increased. It’s the third shot of optimism we’ve received from these post F... Read Full Story

Florida mortgage borrowers should consider locking in a mortgage rate today by 2:15 PM (ET), as mortgage rates may increase per a FOMC press release scheduled for this afternoon. As we know, the meeting minutes from each Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting tend to shake things up.  We saw this with last September’s notes – based on the following points: Financial markets have improved Housing activity has increased Economic activity has “picked up” Per analy... Read Full Story