Mortgages

(MoneyWatch) Mortgage rates inched higher this week after months of record lows, according to the latest Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) released Thursday. Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, attributed the rise to Januarys positive employment data. A strong January employment report added upward pressure to mortgage rates this [...]

Tesco Bank’s Chief Executive Comments on New Mortgages By Laura Elliott. Tesco Bank’s Chief Executive Benny Higgins has outlined the key areas involved in the launch of the company’s long-anticipated move into mortgages. Despite recent reports of delays, commenting in The Scotsman newspaper Mr. Higgins said that the supermarket-owned bank is set to launch its [...]

MANY homeowners who bought in the boom times and are now struggling with their repayments are to get extra tax relief on their mortgages. The Finance Bill paves the way for some 270,000 people to get more mortgage tax relief. It sees first-time buyer couples who bought between 2004 and 2008 being entitled to up [...]

Five banks and federal officials have reached a $26 billion settlement that could help the over 2 million homeowners effected by the housing bubble crash. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) (Spencer Platt/AFP/Getty Images)

Home gt; Mortgages gt; Mortgage Products BSA criticises Osborne move on LTV cap Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy for the Building Societies Association, has said a potential cap on high loan-to-value mortgages could penalise borrowers unfairly. By Julia Bradshaw | Published Feb 09, 2012 | comments

Banks are offering delinquent homeowners $35,000 or more in cash to sell their properties for less than they owe — all in the name of clearing troubled mortgages off their books. Bloomberg explains that this approach is actually financially beneficial for the banks now that the foreclosure process has become long, delayed, and riddled with [...]

CBS News Jill on Money featured a recent podcast segment presenting Jill Schlesingers take on reverse mortgages in response to a question from a listener whose mother is considering one of the loans. While she says they can be expensive, Schlesinger notes that reverse mortgages can be a viable option for seniors who are hell [...]

The mortgage industry is confident that some form of fast-track mortgages will survive the mortgage market review despite FSA proposals to ban them. Fast-track mortgages are loans where a lender reserves the right to request evidence of income during the application process but does not always do so because they may consider the customer to [...]

SIMON CARSWELL, Finance Correspondent ALLIED IRISH Banks has agreed a deal with Certus, the independent banking service firm, to help the State-controlled bank manage the growing number of customers who cannot repay mortgages. The deal, which has yet to be signed, will be the second between a bank and Certus, which manages the run-down of [...]

The number of first time buyers increased significantly last year as more high loan to value (LTV) mortgages became available, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv chartered surveyors. The number of mortgages advanced at an LTV of 85% or more increased by 32 per cent to 57,301 in 2011 compared with 43,379 in [...]