The Fed lowered the Fed Funds Rate by a quarter-percent to 2.000% this afternoon. Because it is tied to the Fed Funds Rate, Prime Rate also fell by a quarter-percent. Prime Rate is now 5.000%. Holders of home equity lines of credit and credit card debt benefited from the change and will see lower interest [...]

The Federal Open Market Committee adjourns from its two-day meeting at 2:15 P.M. ET today. Markets expect the Fed to lower the Fed Funds Rate by 0.250 percent in its press release but it’s not what the Fed does that matters to economy right now. It’s what the Fed says. If the Fed states that [...]

RealtyTrac released Q1 2008 foreclosure statistics and the data follows an interesting statistical phenomenon most commonly known as the “80/20 Rule”. The 80/20 Rule states that 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. In this case, 80 percent of bank repossessions in the first three months of 2008 came from [...]

Mortgage markets lost ground last week on inflation concerns and a general feeling that “the worst may be over” on Wall Street. As investors moved money into the stock market, mortgage rates ticked higher for the second straight week. The biggest story from last week was the rising cost of gasoline. Rising energy costs combined [...]

Newspaper headlines rarely tell the full story and today’s papers provide a terrific example. From the Baltimore Sun (and others): New-home sales lowest since 19918.5% March decline exceeds forecasts; prices also tumble As always, there’s more to the story than the headline. The Census Bureau reported a 8.5 percent decline in New Home Sales last [...]

More than 130 million Americans will receive tax rebates this year as part of Congress’ $168 billion economic stimulus package. Payments begin in about two weeks and range from $600 for individuals to $1,200 for couples, plus an additional $300 per child. Not everyone is eligible for a full rebate, however. For single filers earning [...]

The National Association of REALTORS released its Existing Home Sales report for March 2008. An “existing home” is one that is not considered new construction. A sub-headline in the report showed that the median sales price of all homes sold in March increased by 2.5 percent to $200,700. But don’t assume that the housing market [...]

As mortgage lenders limit how much money they will lend and to whom, co-signing home loans is growing in popularity. “Co-signing” a home loan is when a third-party — usually a parent or relative — promises to make repayments to the bank in the event that the borrower falls behind on his obligations. Money experts [...]

The S&P 500 added 4.3 percent last week — more than during all of 2007 — in what was a good week for the economy and a bad week for mortgage rate shoppers. After Friday’s close, mortgage rates were higher by as much as 0.375% versus the Friday prior. This reversed a trend of falling [...]

In the world of real estate, Days On Market is the number of days between when a home lists for sale and when it goes under contract. It is often abbreviated as DOM. Average Days on Market is a similar statistic but instead of applying to one home in particular, it applies to all homes [...]