It is the first Friday of the month and that brings us the official government report on the labor market: The Employment Situation Report. This release provides four headline measures on the health of the jobs sector. Nonfarm Payrolls: totals the number of jobs that were added to or cut from employer payrolls in the prior month. Consensus Forecast: -100,000 […]

What a boring day in the markets! Stocks added to yesterday's gains and bonds added to their losses. This pushed mortgage rates marginally higher. The best 30 year fixed mortgage rates are still in the 4.125% to 4.375% range for well-qualified consumers, but less lenders are offering rates below 4.25% today. If your lender is still willing to offer a ra […]

Mortgage rates had a great day yesterday. This is the message we communicated to readers... ATTENTION: Mortgage Rates Hit New Lows If you've been floating your loan or have yet to apply for a refinance because it just didn't seem worth the hassle, congratulations, mortgage rates hit new lows today, it's now worth the hassle! If you've ref […]

If you've been floating your loan or have yet to apply for a refinance because it just didn't seem worth the hassle, congratulations, mortgage rates hit new lows today, it's now worth the hassle! If you've refinanced in the last 20 months, there is a darn good chance your refinance option is back in the money, again! The best 30 year fixe […]

Last week ended on a very sour note for mortgage rates... After a better than expected read on 2nd quarter GDP and a not so scary speech from the Federal Reserve Chairman, the 10 year Treasury note yield rose 16.6 basis points and mortgage-backed securities prices fell significantly. This forced lenders to reprice for the worse, which increased mortgage rate […]

Five years ago, one of the most destructive natural disasters in our nation's history hit the Gulf Coast. When they hit the coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita took thousands of lives, displaced millions of residents, wiped out hundreds of square miles of coastal land, and inflicted major damage to nearly 300,000 homes. […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded nearly $312 million to 13 states to invest in efforts to reduce the human, physical, and economic toll of future disasters. The grants announced today are provided through HUD's Disaster Recovery Enhancement Fund (DREF) and are intended to encourage states to und […]

SIOUX FALLS, SD - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan traveled to a Native American community in South Dakota today to announce $65 million in available funding to support a variety of community development and affordable housing production in Indian country throughout the U.S. Donovan made the announcement following a tour of the Rose […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that it is making $189 million in grants available to transform public and assisted housing and to revitalize communities. Appearing in today's Federal Register are the Notices of Funding Availability, the federal application, for two revitalization initiatives: The Choice […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced that it is charging Testa Family Enterprises, LTD, owner of Royal Arms Apartments in Ravenna, Ohio, and the complex's manager with housing discrimination for allegedly refusing to rent certain apartments to families with young children. HUD's charge alleges that […]