Ryan Magee

The economy added 227,000 jobs in February and surpassed economists’ expectations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment improved in professional and business services, health care and social assistance, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and mining. The official unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3 percent. The gains make it seven-straight months with at least 100,000 jobs added, which is the longest streak since 2005. Continued improvement in the labor market, combined with high affordability and increasing consumer confidence, is key to a significant and sustained housing-market recovery.

Sales of distressed properties, including short sales and REO transactions, put downward pressure on home prices. For this reason, CoreLogic’s Home Price Index measures values including and excluding distressed sales. In January, the index showed a month-over-month decline of 1.0 percent and a 3.1 percent slide from January 2011. But, when excluding distressed sales from the equation, home prices actually gained 0.7 percent from December and dropped less than one percent from the year before. CoreLogic’s price index measures increases and decreases in sales prices for the same homes over time rather than basing their data on all home sales.

Each month, Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey polls Americans to assess their attitudes toward homeownership, renting, mortgage rates, the economy, their personal finances, and overall consumer confidence. February’s survey found respondents’ attitudes stabilizing and more confident in the economy and housing market. Among the highlights, the number of participants who said the economy was on the right track increased 5 percent from January and has risen 19 percent since November. The percentage of people who say it’s on the wrong track dropped by 6 percent. Also, Americans expect home prices to rise approximately one percent in the next year and the number who say now is a good time to sell a house is at its highest level in over a year. Among respondents, 70 percent said now was a good time to buy a home and 65 percent said they’d prefer to purchase their next home rather than rent. Doug Duncan, vice president and chief economist of Fannie Mae, said the pickup in hiring over the past few months has helped soothe consumer concerns regarding their personal finances, the direction of the economy, and their views of the housing market.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.1 percent from the week before as average mortgage rates dipped. Despite the continued improvement in demand for loan applications to purchase homes, the Market Composite Index, which measures total mortgage loan demand, was down 1.2 percent. Also, the Refinance Index fell 2.0 percent from the week before. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances fell to 4.06 percent from 4.07 percent the previous week. The 30-year rate for jumbo loans was down to 4.33 percent.

Here's the mortgagee letter for changes coming on FHA on or after 4/9/12.

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=12-04ml.pdf

Summary - their upfront fee and monthly mortgage insurance is increasing. However, if you have an FHA loan now and are looking at an FHA streamline, ,they upfront fee/monthly mortgage insurance will be cheaper than it is now if your loan was originated prior to 5/31/09. Call me to review your options.