Billings, MT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 1, 2009) - The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 26, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 444.8, a decrease of 18.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 548.2 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 18.5 percent compared with the previous week and decreased 7.4 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The Refinance Index decreased 30.0 percent to 1482.2 from 2116.3 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.5 percent to 267.7 from 280.3 one week earlier. The Refinance Index is at its lowest level since November 2008.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 9.2 percent. The four week moving average is unchanged for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 15.2 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 46.4 percent of total applications from 54.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4.3 percent from 4.1 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.34 percent from 5.44 percent, with points increasing to 1.12 from 0.99 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 4.81 percent from 4.93 percent, with points increasing to 1.04 from 0.92 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

The average contract interest rate for one-year ARMs decreased to 6.52 percent from 6.54 percent, with points increasing to 0.13 from 0.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.

**SPECIAL NOTES**

The survey covers over 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

S. 896, the "Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009" included some provisions to protect tenants from eviction as a consequence of a foreclosure affecting the property being rented.

HUD SECRETARY DONOVAN ANNOUNCES EXPANDED ELIGIBILITY FOR MAKING HOME AFFORDABLE REFINANCING
Announces eligibility for borrowers up to 125% underwater in Las Vegas with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Congresswoman Dina Titus

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced an expansion of the Obama Administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program to include participation by borrowers who are current but up to 125 percent underwater on their mortgage. Under authorization provided by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, borrowers whose mortgages are currently owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will now be allowed to refinance those loans according to the terms of the Home Affordable Refinance program established earlier this year.

Secretary Donovan made the announcement while touring a neighborhood in Las Vegas with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Congresswoman Dina Titus. Las Vegas leads the nation in foreclosures and approximately 67 percent of the current mortgage holders have mortgages that are higher than the worth of their homes.

"I am here in Las Vegas because it is ground zero of the foreclosure crisis," Secretary Donovan said. "I am pleased to join Senator Reid and Congresswoman Titus to make this announcement today, which I believe will make a critical difference in our ability to help many more Americans, particularly those here in Nevada, to stay in their homes. The president's Making Home Affordable plan is already helping far more families than any previous foreclosure initiative and with today's announcement we will extend its reach still further."

"I am pleased Secretary Donovan accepted my invitation to come to Nevada and see firsthand the challenges homeowners here are facing," Senator Reid said. "His announcement that the loan-to-value requirement for the Administration's refinance program has been raised to 125 percent is good news for Nevadans fighting to stay in their homes. The neighborhood we visited today represents the hardships caused by the housing crisis and the hope that is being restored through the neighborhood stabilization program and the Home Affordable refinance program."

"I am pleased to welcome Secretary Donovan to Las Vegas and thank him for coming. This is an opportunity to show him firsthand the magnitude of the foreclosure crisis in Southern Nevada," Congresswoman Titus said. "His announcement that the Making Home Affordable program will be expanded to help those further underwater, something I have advocated for, is welcome news that will help thousands of Nevadans stay in their home. I will continue working with Senator Reid, Secretary Donovan, and the rest of the Administration to find more ways to help the hardest hit areas like Southern Nevada, as every new foreclosure prolongs the housing crisis and hampers our country's ability to move out of the current recession."

"This decision is part of our ongoing efforts to maximize the effectiveness of the Making Home Affordable program and adapt to an ever-changing housing market," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. "By expanding refinance eligibility, we can bring relief to more struggling homeowners more quickly. It's a crucial step in our broader efforts to get America's housing market and economy on the path to recovery."

Currently, only those borrowers whose first mortgage does not exceed 105 percent of the current market value of the property are eligible for the Obama Administration's Home Affordable Refinance Program. For example if the property is worth $200,000, the borrower must owe $210,000 or less. Today's announcement will allow more homeowners to become eligible for the program, by increasing the eligibility to 125 percent.

Making Home Affordable, a comprehensive plan to stabilize the U.S. housing market, was first announced by the Administration on February 18. In just a few months, more than 200,000 borrowers have received offers for trial loan modifications, tens of thousands of refinances and trial modifications are under way, and informational mailings about the program have been sent to more than one million borrowers who may be eligible.

Donovan toured a neighborhood that has experienced several foreclosures in recent years, negatively impacting the property values of surrounding homes. The neighborhood has been targeted for Clark County's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which will use funds to purchase and rehab foreclosed homes, provide downpayment and closing cost assistance to those purchasing foreclosed homes, and provide housing counseling to potential buyers.

Donovan also announced his plans to deploy HUD Foreclosure Rapid Response Teams to assess the areas hardest hit by foreclosure, starting in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas team will consist of two senior-level HUD Field staff with experience in Single Family Housing and in community outreach. Their task in the next two weeks will be to determine the needs in Nevada and in surrounding areas based on delinquency rate data at the zip code level, as well as listening sessions with local stakeholders such as housing counseling agencies, lenders, and members of the public. Based on the Foreclosure Rapid Response Team's assessment, HUD will commit two full-time employees to implement their recommendations. Additionally, HUD plans to deploy two Fair Housing equal opportunity specialists to the Las Vegas HUD office, which will provide the opportunity to conduct outreach and education locally, receive discrimination complaints and more readily conduct full investigations.

HUD receives about 100 complaints of housing discrimination every year from residents of Nevada, well over double what was received as recently as 2005. With a local presence, HUD's Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity office should make it easier for Nevada residents to obtain justice and relief, to educate housing consumers about predatory lending, and to conduct program compliance and monitoring in the over 3000 public housing units and over 8500 Section 8 vouchers.

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Billings Montana Real Estate News

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"Learning is the fountain of youth.
No matter how old you are,
You mustn't stop growing."

~Taoist Meditation, Deng Ming-Dao

KEEP A YOUNG MIND!

Don't believe the phrase "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Creativity isn't only for artists, writers, or musicians. Creativity isn't just what is represented by a canvas or a novel or a song. We can all be creative in our own way, and the most common way that we can all do this is through learning.

As long as we continue to learn and to try new things, we keep our minds fresh and young, and we engage in the act of "creating ourselves" continually. Today's world presents plenty of opportunities for learning, especially about the environment, other cultures, and technology. Technology itself provides ever-easier ways of accessing knowledge through computers and the Internet. And no one is too young or too old to start!

Look around you at the most vital and energetic seniors you know. What do they have in common? A continuing interest in learning and sharing their knowledge and experience with others - so they are engaged constantly in the process. They keep their minds challenged and young, and in so doing, feel younger in body and spirit. They are certainly different than in their youth, but they continue the learning that began there.

Each new phase of our lives brings us new challenges and opportunities for growth. Growing older necessarily means learning new things. We are constantly creating ourselves in this way, and we can adapt ourselves to any situation by that continuing act of creativity that keeps us young.

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"I'm not paying for their lender title insurance, they can pay for that themselves!"

"But remember, you agreed to when you agreed to help the buyer with some of their closing costs and prepaids."

This was a client Realtor discussion over the phone recently by an agent who had a mail out closing for a seller. The deal was very long and drawn out due to the nature of the sale and lender "needs". But once the deal was nearly done, maybe because it had been so long since the buy/sell was agreed upon, the seller just had a hard time wrapping their mind around what all of the costs on the settlement statement mean.

I can't blame them, it's somewhat a bunch of gobblety goop. Thank goodness, most of the time, the closing agent can sit down in a third party way and explain what the heck all of the settlement statement items mean.

Whatever net sheet for the cost of a sale a Realtor prepares for their seller client, the seller must keep in mind that the numbers are estimates, based on a sales price which is still unknown, for sure. Some numbers just can't be pinned down until there is a closing date in mind, such as:

• payoffs for first and second mortgages
• taxes
• HOA fees
• any ongoing daily or monthly fees that will transfer to the new owner on closing day

The Title Insurance Policy is determined by the final purchase price, which may include seller paid closing costs.

Commissions are determined by the final purchase price as well.

If the seller agrees to pay $3,000 of a buyer's closing costs, those costs will come out of whatever the purchase price is. When a seller looks at their settlement statement, it will have their costs to close as well as $3,000 of costs that the seller will pay for the buyer. Most of the time, no one really knows which of the buyer's closing costs will be included, and to what degree, until the lender and the Title Company Closing agent agree to them. That agreement may not be until the day before closing.

The contracts used for listing a home and purchasing a home are the agreed to directions for how the settlement statement will look. When you're the seller, you won't pay for the buyer's lender title insurance policy, unless you agreed to help them with closing costs in your buy/sell contract.

Don't worry, there is a whole bunch more to the settlement statement than I've mentioned here.