Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Ed DeMarco has announced the extension of the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), a refinancing program administered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to June 30, 2011. The program is a key component of the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Program announced in February 2009. The HARP program expands access to refinancing for qualified individuals and families whose homes have lost value. The program was set to expire June, 2010.Read more

U.S. house prices fell slightly in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index (HPI). The HPI, calculated using home sales price information from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-acquired mortgages, was 0.1 percent lower on a seasonally adjusted basis in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter of 2009. Over the year ending with the fourth quarter of 2009, seasonally adjusted prices fell 1.2 percent.Read more

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has reported that the average interest rate on conventional 30-year, fixed-rate, mortgage loans of $417,000 or less decreased four basis points to 5.05 percent in December. The average interest rate on 15-year, fixed-rate loans of $417,000 or less decreased nine basis points to 4.54 percent in December. These rates are calculated from the FHFA’s Monthly Interest Rate Survey (MIRS) of purchase-money mortgages. These results reflect loans closed during the Dec. 24-31 period.Read more

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, together with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) have announced the completion of all transactions under the recently-introduced state and local Housing Finance Agency (HFA) Initiative, a key element of the Obama Administration's Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP).Read more

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.78 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Nov. 25, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 4.83 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.97 percent. The 30-year has not been this low since the week ending April 30, 2009, when it averaged 4.78 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.29 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.32 percent.Read more

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages originated in 2010 will remain unchanged from the maximum levels for 2009 originations. Pursuant to a Congressional Continuing Resolution (Public Law Number 111-88), enacted Oct. 30, 2009, the highest loan limits that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may set for mortgages originated in 2010 are equal to the higher of the maximum limits determined under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (ESA) and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA).Read more

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed nearly 32,000 home retention actions in August 2009, a 32 percent increase from July. Separately, trial mortgage loan modifications under the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) increased nearly 30 percent from September to October 2009. The data were released by Edward J. DeMarco, Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), as part of the agency’s monthly Foreclosure Prevention Report.Read more

National Mortgage Professional Magazine had an exclusive opportunity to follow up with National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) Immediate Past President Marc Savitt of The Mortgage Center in Martinsburg, W. Va. to discuss his trip to New York City and the offices of New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.Read more

Edward J. DeMarco, Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released FHFA’s 2009 Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) detailing the agency’s performance and achievements for fiscal year 2009. “FHFA played a leadership role in working with other government agencies, the housing GSEs, and market participants in responding to the housing finance crisis,” said DeMarco.Read more

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.98 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Nov. 5, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 5.03 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.20 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.40 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 4.46 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.88 percent.Read more