Rates fall back down

The average U.S. mortgage rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell back below 4 percent this week, staying near historic lows.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.99 percent from 4.08 percent last week. Last month, the rate touched 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

New Mortgage Rule- affects home buyers with credit disputes

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will soon change the way it considers ongoing credit disputes – such as collection agency claims in a buyer’s credit score – when approving FHA mortgage applications. The change does not impact any debt the homebuyer still owes – only debts in dispute.

Under the new guidelines, however, no FHA loan will be approved for any dispute over $1,000. Amounts less than $1,000 shouldn’t impact loan approval unless it was ordered by a court, in which case any amount must be paid in full. This change will be effective April 1, 2012.

If a potential buyer has a $1,000-plus credit dispute on file, he or she must either pay the debt before FHA loan approval, or enter into a repayment agreement and make at least three months of on-time payments.

FHA says the change will protect the program and bolster its emergency fund that has fallen below the amount mandated by Congress.

The new rule can be found in HUD Mortgagee Letter 2012-3.

Florida tops in late home loans

Florida has more federally backed home loans that have gone unpaid for a year or longer than the total number of late loans in every state except California.   A report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency found that about 166,000 Florida mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac were in arrears on payments for a year or more.

Fannie Mae has about 1.2 million loans in Florida, while Freddie Mac has about 750,000.

During 2010 and 2011, nearly 165,000 federally backed loans statewide were modified to make monthly payments easier for the homeowner, according to the agency report. That was in addition to 56,558 short sales that were offered during the same period.

Orlando Real Estate sales - Week of March 18, 2012

Orlando Single-family existing homes

• Orlando Real Estate Sales of single-family homes increased to 315 during the week of Mar 18, from 309 the week prior
• The median price of single family homes decreased to $121,000, a change of -6.9%
• The number of single-family home foreclosure transactions increased to 63 last week, from 59 the week of Mar 11
• The number of single-family home short-sale transactions increased to 103 from 100 the week prior
• Orlando Single-family inventory decreased by 123, and now sits at 9,250

Orlando Condos, townhomes, and villas

• Sales of condos, townhomes, and villas decreased to 87 during the week of Mar 18, from 121 the week prior
• The median price of condos, townhomes, and villas decreased to $66,900, a change of -10.8%
• The number of condo, townhome, and villa foreclosure transactions decreased to 24 last week, from 27 the week of Mar 11
• The number of condo, townhome and villa short-sale transactions decreased to 26 from 42 the week prior
• Condo inventory decreased by 32, and now sits at 2,232

Job market get stronger

The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell to a four-year low last week, bolstering the view that the job market is strengthening.

The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000. That’s the lowest level since March 2008, just months into the Great Recession. The four-week average of applications, a less volatile measure, dipped to 355,000, matching a four-year low. More

Mortgage rates jump--buyers to follow suit?

The average U.S. rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose above 4 percent for the first time in five months. The sharp increase suggests the window to buy or refinance a home at historically low rates may be closing.

Freddie Mac announced on Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan jumped to 4.08 percent, up from 3.92 percent the previous week.  It was just a month ago that it touched 3.87 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.

Mortgage rates are rising because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. The economic outlook has improved in recent weeks causing investors to shift money out of long-term U.S. Treasury bonds and into stocks. That has driven Treasury yields higher.

Higher mortgage rates could spur more sales, especially if home prices begin to rise. Potential buyers will likely move quickly to avoid paying higher rates down the line. Read more.

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Sanford rallies for Trayvon Martin

Sanford, Florida.  Thousands of protesters are attending a rally led by civil rights activist Al Sharpton for  shooting death of  17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford.

Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, believe the shooter, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, should have been arrested. They claim Zimmerman was profiling their son and acted like a vigilante. many see this as a hate crime.

Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, and Sanford Police Department officials say there is no evidence that contradicts Zimmerman's claim.  Florida's self-defense law gives people wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight.

The lack of an arrest has outraged residents who claim the Sanford Police Department has a history of ignoring the black community's concerns. City commissioners gave the police chief a vote of no confidence on Wednesday. The commission can't fire the chief because he reports to the city manager. The chief of Police  Bill Lee Jr. is stepping down temporarily as of today. The rally is being headlined by Sharpton, who flew down to central Florida despite the death of his mother earlier in the day.