The 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is currently 3.39 percent, up fourteen basis points from 3.25 percent at this same time last week. This represents the first rate increase since late March. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered between 3.26 and 3.30 percent for the majority of the week before jumping up to the current rate on Friday.Click to continue

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that it is directing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to limit their future mortgage acquisitions to loans that meet the requirements for a qualified mortgage (QM), including those that meet the special or temporary qualified mortgage definition, and loans that are exempt from the “ability-to-repay” requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.Click to continue

For the second time this year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will sell thousands of severely delinquent mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as part of a broader effort to address the housing market’s shadow inventory and to target relief to areas experiencing high foreclosure activity.Click to continue

Freddie Mac  has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving lower for the fifth consecutive week amid the weaker than expected first quarter economic growth advance estimate. This week, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.35 percent is hovering just above its all-time record low of 3.31 percent set the week of Nov. 21, 2012, with an average 0.7 point for the week ending May 2, 2013, down from last week when it averaged 3.40 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.84 percent.Click to continue

Mortgage applications increased 1.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 26, 2013. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 1.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased two percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased three percent from the previous week and is at its highest level since the week ending Jan. 18, 2013.Click to continue

Rates on the most popular types of mortgages moved in slightly different directions, with a drop for fixed rates and a slight climb for ARMs, according to HSH.com's Weekly Mortgage Rates Radar. The average rate for conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell by three basis points (0.03 percent) to 3.51 percent. Conforming 5/1 Hybrid ARM rates increased by two basis points, closing the Wednesday-to-Tuesday wraparound weekly survey at an average of 2.61 percent.Click to continue

Data through February 2013, released by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed average home prices increased 8.6 percent and 9.3 percent for the 10- and 20-City Composites in the 12 months ending in February 2013. The 10- and 20-City Composites rose 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent from January to February. All 20 cities covered by the indices posted year-over-year increases for at least two consecutive months.Click to continue

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is currently 3.25 percent, down six basis points from 3.31 percent at this same time last week. This represents the lowest rate since Jan. 15. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered between 3.33 and 3.28 percent for the majority of the week, before dropping to the current rate this morning.Click to continue

Pending home sales increased in March and remain above year-ago levels, but contract activity in recent months shows only modest movement, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 1.5 percent to 105.7 in March from a downwardly revised 104.1 in February, and is seven percent above March 2012 when it was 98.8. Pending sales have been above year-ago levels for the past 23 months; the data reflect contracts but not closings.Click to continue

Buoyed by rising home prices throughout much of the nation, both single-family and multifamily housing starts are expected to post double-digit gains over last year in 2013. However, headwinds continue to hold back even stronger growth as the housing recovery evolves, according to economists at NAHB's Spring 2013 Construction Forecast Conference Webinar.Click to continue