After hovering near all time lows for the last month or so, mortgage rates dipped another notch lower and are again at all time lows. The best rates dropped below 4.00% on Friday for the first time since October. When it happened then, the best rates only lasted a couple of days before heading back to their prior range. This dip in rates is of course a reaction to the European situation. Europe now has a plan going forward to prop up the Euro and keep all the weaker economies in line. This week the Union will be meeting to provide extra funding for the region’s troubled economies. The problem is, the markets don’t have a lot of faith that the plan will work in the long run. The rating agencies last week threatened credit rating down grades of France, as well as Belgium, Spain, Italy and several other countries. The question is whether the European Union can stay together, and right now it is being held together by the equivalent of duct tape and chewing gum. The weaker economies have to be considering their options, and deciding which way will be the most painful, sticking with the plan and going with the forced austerity, which will mean job losses and political pressure, or charting their own course which means re-inflating their own currency and trying to make it on their own. Neither option is good, and this pressure will likely keep mortgage rates low.

Meanwhile, the US economy continues to chug along better than expected. Initial weekly unemployment claims were better again, declining to 366,000 initial claims, and the 4-week average is now at the lowest level since July 2008. This means that the job market is gradually picking up. Fed manufacturing surveys for Empire State and Philly regions showed growth. The CPI (Consumer Price Index) increased at an annual basis of 1.1% last month, which is right in line with Fed projections and shows no sign of inflation increasing. Oil prices are also trending lower, which should eventually find its way to the gas pump as lower prices. On the down side, retail sales were lower than expected, and as we hit the last week of Christmas shopping, retailers need bigger numbers. Over all, the economy is soft, but much has strengthened over the year.

Another development that will push the uncertainty and fear level higher, is the news that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il died of a heart attack Sunday night. Jong-Il who was famous for being erratic and building nuclear weapons while his people starved, will be succeeded by his third son, Kim Jong-Un. The Asian markets fell overnight on concern for how this new untested leader will react. South Korea, one of the largest Asian economies, reacted to the news by placing its troops on alert. No one knows how this will play out in the long term, and it is possible that the son will take a new direction, moving toward engagement with the rest of the world, which will mean a more prosperous future for his people. But markets move up and down based on the shift between fear and optimism. For now fear is ascendant.

We are coming close to Christmas and most people are starting to wind down for the year. But if you are in the market for a new home, or in a position where you can save money by refinancing your current mortgage, it might make sense to gather up your paper work. With mortgage rates as low as they arte this is an opportunity to save money.

 Here are the current Chicago Illinois Home mortgage rates for an A+ (740 Fico or above), full doc single family home purchase or rate/term refinance on a 45 day rate lock, with 0 points, and no origination fee, best FHA rates assume a 640 Fico score, but loans are available with credit scores as low as 580. Mortgage rates in other states may be slightly different, give me a call and I will give you an accurate quote for your particular situation. The conventional and FHA rates are based on the highest conforming loan amounts, which give the best pricing. Again, there are many factors which affect mortgage rates and your ability to be approved for a loan, including credit scores, property type, amount of down payment and a number of other factors. These rates may not fit your situation and this is just a sample of the programs that are out there. If you would like a quote for your personal situation, or to get pre-approved for a mortgage, give me a call or contact me (Illinois mortgage company) and I will take the time to find the rate and program that is best for you:

Conventional loans up to $417,000

For Jumbo loans over $417,000

*(Another option is to break your Jumbo loan into 2 parts a conventional to the limit of $417,000 and a HELOC or fixed second mortgage for the rest. The blended rate is usually much better than a single loan would be.)

** 5-5 ARM is fixed for first 5 years, with 2/6 caps it can’t go more than 2% above the start rate for the next 5 years. 2% cap for next 5 years – so a blended rate over 10 years is no more than 1% over the start rate. Super Jumbos available.

FHA LOANS 3.5% down payment FHA Maximum varies by County

FHA APR reflects 3.5% down payment and the effect of mortgage insurance on the loan. Call for information on no-cost FHA streamlined Refinances

FHA 203K Rehab Loans – Call for Current Quote – FHA 203k Rehab and Renovation loans are now available as 30 year fixed or 5-1 ARMs.

VA Veterans Administration 0 Down Loans

These are just a few of the mortgage programs and mortgage rates available. Which option is best for you depends on your own specific goals and needs. If you have any questions or want to go over your situation in depth, let me know how I can help.

Free Home Buyers Guide

You can trust in us to get the job done.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company            Chicago FHA Mortgages

The European soap opera is still the center of attention for the economic world. Last Monday the European Union announced that they had come to an agreement that would solve the crisis, but by the end of the week it was clear that nothing had really changed. As has been the case all along, the problem is that the EU is a group forced together by their currency, but each country has their own economy and their situations and needs are different. Germany, the strongest of the group, wants the weaker more debt ridden countries to take on the austerity regime, cut their spending drastically and work their way out of this. While the leaders of these countries are going along with this, for now, this causes political crisis’s for them as austerity and high unemployment is never a popular option. The big fly in the ointment last week was that the United Kingdom, Great Britain, has decided to chart their own course. London is a true financial powerhouse and the center of much of the markets and trading activity. Agreeing to the new pact would have meant their giving up this power. It’s hard to see this agreement sticking when one of the main players refuses to go along.

Last week was a slow week for economic reports here, but what was released showed relative strength. The weekly unemployment report dipped again, showing that the job market is gradually strengthening. Some of this could be temporary hiring for the Christmas season, but this is still better than expected news. The consumer confidence index also came in with a nice boost, which means that people are starting to feel better about their own financial prospects. These numbers are moving higher from extremely low levels, so it’s not like anyone thinks we are back where we were before and the economy is booming again, but better than expected is still positive movement. The surprising thing now is that the US is slowly moving up while the rest of the world is starting to stall. Everything is global now, so what happens in Europe and China will affect us here, but for now this is a positive sign.

Mortgage rates were volatile last week, and prices were all over the board. The week ended on a down note, but we are still in the same range we have been in, that is, mortgage rates are at all time lows. This is just about the time that the housing market slows down for the holidays, but for home buyers who are out there, this can also be the time to pick up a bargain. The combination of low home prices and low mortgage rates makes home affordability a real positive. If I can help in any way, let me know.

Here are the current Chicago Illinois Home mortgage rates for an A+ (740 Fico or above), full doc single family home purchase or rate/term refinance on a 45 day rate lock, with 0 points, and no origination fee, best FHA rates assume a 640 Fico score, but loans are available with credit scores as low as 580. Mortgage rates in other states may be slightly different, give me a call and I will give you an accurate quote for your particular situation. The conventional and FHA rates are based on the highest conforming loan amounts, which give the best pricing. Again, there are many factors which affect mortgage rates and your ability to be approved for a loan, including credit scores, property type, amount of down payment and a number of other factors. These rates may not fit your situation and this is just a sample of the programs that are out there. If you would like a quote for your personal situation, or to get pre-approved for a mortgage, give me a call or contact me (Illinois mortgage company) and I will take the time to find the rate and program that is best for you:

Conventional loans up to $417,000

For Jumbo loans over $417,000

*(Another option is to break your Jumbo loan into 2 parts a conventional to the limit of $417,000 and a HELOC or fixed second mortgage for the rest. The blended rate is usually much better than a single loan would be.)

** 5-5 ARM is fixed for first 5 years, with 2/6 caps it can’t go more than 2% above the start rate for the next 5 years. 2% cap for next 5 years – so a blended rate over 10 years is no more than 1% over the start rate. Super Jumbos available.

FHA LOANS 3.5% down payment FHA Maximum varies by County

FHA APR reflects 3.5% down payment and the effect of mortgage insurance on the loan. Call for information on no-cost FHA streamlined Refinances

FHA 203K Rehab Loans – Call for Current Quote – FHA 203k Rehab and Renovation loans are now available as 30 year fixed or 5-1 ARMs.

VA Veterans Administration 0 Down Loans

These are just a few of the mortgage programs and mortgage rates available. Which option is best for you depends on your own specific goals and needs. If you have any questions or want to go over your situation in depth, let me know how I can help.

Free Home Buyers Guide

You can trust in us to get the job done.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company            Chicago FHA Mortgages

Last month congress passed a bill which restored the temporary high loan limits for FHA mortgages. The news at the time was for the higher cost areas, but last week week HUD made it official and the higher temporary loan limits are now in place across the country and these higher limits  will be set until the end of 2012. This is good news for home buyers who are buying larger homes or smaller apartment buildings (2 to 4 unit buildings), since it allows these buyers to purchase with just a low 3.5% down payment, and it the more lenient qualifying standards FHA offers. It is also good for the housing market in general because more qualified buyers means a stronger and more robust market.

These loan limits were originally put in as part of the economic stimulus bill as a way to increase financing options and help stabilize the housing market. The higher FHA Max loan limits were extended beyond what they were originally called for, but expired earlier this year due in part to concern over the budget deficit. With the housing sector still soft, industry groups pushed hard for this extension.The max FHA loan amount here in the 6 county Chicago metropolitan area (Cook, Dupage, Lake, Kane, Will and Grundy Counties) is now back to $410,000 for a single family home.

Here is the table for the Chicago Metro Area:

The FHA max mortgage is determined on a county wide basis based on the areas median home values. In higher priced areas (mostly California) the max limit extends up to a high of $729,750. The floor in counties where higher limits don’t apply, is $271,050.

This applies not only to all FHA purchase loans, but also FHA 203k rehab loans and FHA refinances.

Here is a link to the HUD search tool which gives the FHA loan limits by County.

Free Home Buyers Guide

You can trust in us to get the job done

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company            Chicago FHA Mortgages

Good, or at least better than expected economic news was the norm for this past week. The stock market had its best return for a week in over two years with a run-up of almost 500 points on the Standard and Poors 500, a broad based index. The main driver for the optimism here was based on actions by leaders in Europe to bring their crisis under control. It is a true soap opera over there, and what happens on today has no relation to what may happen tomorrow, and there are more twists and turns yet to come. So optimism now may be replaced by fear again soon, since no one has a true solution that doesn’t cause more pain for some of the participants. The problem here is that each country has their own set of interests to protect. What is good for Germany may not be good for France, and certainly won’t be good for Italy and Spain. But if they don’t all get on board together, the whole union is at risk. There are rumors of a combined global bailout of the European Union, including US participation, but the idea that the Fed will send over US money is a hard sell politically. At the same time, China showing signs that their economy is slowing down quickly, so they aren’t likely to be riding to the rescue of the global economy. Negotiations in Europe are ongoing, so expect more volatility this week. 

Another reason for optimism domestically, was the release of the monthly jobs report on Friday. This is the most anticipated economic report each month, and the strength, or weakness, of employment is a good measure of the health of the overall economy. The report came in better than expected. 120,000 new jobs were created over the past month, and more dramatically, the unemployment rate (which is determined by a separate survey) dropped from 9.1% all the way to 8.6%. Almost 1.5 million new jobs have been created this year, so we are slowly moving in the right direction. This is great news, but as a reality check, we need to see about 120,000 new jobs each month just to keep up with new additions to the work force, so as good as this report is compared to where we were, we are still just running in place.

The market in mortgage backed securities, which is the base for mortgage interest rates, was extremely volatile this week. Bad news is usually good news for mortgage rates, so the good economic news this week should have spelled trouble for mortgage rates. But the market ended the week with almost no change. So rates are stable, and still near their all time lows.

The new Harp program was supposed to start this week, allowing home owners who have Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac insured mortgages to refinance even if they are deeply under water (negative equity). The key phrase here is – was supposed to. The government has come up with the plan, but the lenders are not yet on board and are still putting together the infrastructure for how this will be done, and have yet to figure out the pricing. These loans will be sold as separate pools of mortgage bonds, and even though these loans will be government backed, it is doubtful whether the pricing will be the same for a mortgage that has a loan to value of 150%, as one with a 20% down payment. Desktop underwriter (DU), Fannie Mae’s automated software system which all these loans will need to be approved through, is being updated for this new program in March. Many lenders may wait for this update before getting on board with the full program.

Here are the current Chicago Illinois Home mortgage rates for an A+ (740 Fico or above), full doc single family home purchase or rate/term refinance on a 45 day rate lock, with 0 points, and no origination fee, best FHA rates assume a 640 Fico score, but loans are available with credit scores as low as 580. Mortgage rates in other states may be slightly different, give me a call and I will give you an accurate quote for your particular situation. The conventional and FHA rates are based on the highest conforming loan amounts, which give the best pricing. Again, there are many factors which affect mortgage rates and your ability to be approved for a loan, including credit scores, property type, amount of down payment and a number of other factors. These rates may not fit your situation and this is just a sample of the programs that are out there. If you would like a quote for your personal situation, or to get pre-approved for a mortgage, give me a call or contact me (Illinois mortgage company) and I will take the time to find the rate and program that is best for you:

Conventional loans up to $417,000

For Jumbo loans over $417,000

*(Another option is to break your Jumbo loan into 2 parts a conventional to the limit of $417,000 and a HELOC or fixed second mortgage for the rest. The blended rate is usually much better than a single loan would be.)

** 5-5 ARM is fixed for first 5 years, with 2/6 caps it can’t go more than 2% above the start rate for the next 5 years. 2% cap for next 5 years – so a blended rate over 10 years is no more than 1% over the start rate. Super Jumbos available.

FHA LOANS 3.5% down payment FHA Maximum varies by County

FHA APR reflects 3.5% down payment and the effect of mortgage insurance on the loan. Call for information on no-cost FHA streamlined Refinances

FHA 203K Rehab Loans – Call for Current Quote – FHA 203k Rehab and Renovation loans are now available as 30 year fixed or 5-1 ARMs.

VA Veterans Administration 0 Down Loans

These are just a few of the mortgage programs and mortgage rates available. Which option is best for you depends on your own specific goals and needs. If you have any questions or want to go over your situation in depth, let me know how I can help.

Free Home Buyers Guide

You can trust in us to get the job done.

Peter Thompson 630-479-6424

Illinois Mortgage Rates                   First time home buyer loans

Chicago Mortgage Company            Chicago FHA Mortgages