Home Equity

Home Equity

Home Equity is the real market value of a property minus the outstanding balance of all liens on the property. The equity increases as the payments are made resulting in a lower balance or as the property value appreciates. Email this to a friend?Tweet This!Share this on FacebookPost this to MySpaceSubscribe to the comments for [...]

Black and Latino families more likely to face foreclosure, says study

November 18, 2009 Mortgage Financing

In the midst of the current housing crisis, black and Latino families are more likely to have their homes fall into the foreclosure process, according to a recently released report from the William C. Velasquez Institute.
The report found that in selected foreclosure regions, black and Latino homeowners had up to nine times the frequency of [...]

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Reverse mortgage industry seeing slower growth

May 15, 2009 Mortgage Financing

The growth in number of reverse mortgages slowed down in 2008 to 4.3 percent after surging by more than 40 percent in 2007, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA).
But new rules in place this year may help more seniors use reverse mortgages to buy another home.
The new rules in place since [...]

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Mortgage rates continue to inch towards 5 percent, says Zillow

December 31, 2009 Mortgage Financing

December continued to be a rough month for all types of mortgages, as interest rates continued to climb for a third consecutive week while loan requests continued to decline, according to the most recent Mortgage Rate Monitor released by Zillow on Tuesday.
Average interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continued to increase during the week ending [...]

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Weak employment sends mortgage rates lower

July 10, 2009 Mortgage Financing

Market concerns over a weak labor market sent the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) average lower this week to 5.2 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 5.32 percent, according to Freddie Mac.
The economy lost 467,000 jobs in June, more than expected, raising the unemployment rate to 9.5 percent. Employee [...]

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Loan delinquencies hit record high in Q1

July 15, 2009 Mortgage Financing

Massive job loss contributed to a record high rate of consumer delinquencies – payments that are 30 days or more overdue – in the first quarter of 2009, according to the American Bankers Association (ABA). The rate of home equity loan delinquencies rose 49 basis points to 3.52 percent of all accounts.
ABA chief economist [...]

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Analyst explains how reverse mortgages work

April 21, 2009 FHA Mortgages

With market swings vanishing retirement savings in an instant, it is prudent for older Americans to consider securing their senior years with a reverse mortgage, according to Frank N. Darras, a disability and long-term care insurance lawyer. Reverse mortgages, called Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), are insured by the Federal Housing Administration and allow senior [...]

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