When you purchase your first home, you will be inundated with terms you may find difficult to understand. This is not your fault. The American educational system—even at the collegiate level—is woefully deficient when it comes to preparing us for real-world financial situations. (more…)
What factors affect the final mortgage rate at which willing buyers of homes and sellers of financing are able to agree? In certain ways, the setting of rates can be incredibly complex, with a plethora of factors able to influence rates, including expected inflation, default probability, government regulation, and maturity risk premium, to name just a few. (more…)
What do the retail sales numbers released this week and the recent European financial problems have to do with U.S. mortgage rates? Simple: both are putting downward pressure on U.S. rates. (more…)
In addition to the market forces affecting what people pay, the government, particularly the Fed (Federal Reserve), sometimes tries to influence what home buyers pay for their loans. What does this mean the current 30 year mortgage rate? (more…)