Fast Facts

Calif. median home price: March 2011: $286,010 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. highest median home price by region/county March 2011: Marin $826,700 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. lowest median home price by region/county March 2011: Lake County $94,170 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. Pending Home Sales Index: March 2011: 128.7 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index: Fourth quarter 2010: 69 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates: Week ending 4/14/2011 30-yr. fixed: 4.91 Fees/points: 0.6% 15-yr. fixed: 4.13% Fees/points: 0.7% 1-yr. adjustable: 3.25% Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

Weekly Fraud Alert: HUD Campaign Promotes Homeowner Scam Awareness

HUD has launched a new campaign in Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles called “Know It. Avoid It. Report It.,” a campaign that aims to direct homeowners facing foreclosure to trusted resources and housing counselors, and to solicit the support of homeowners in shutting down scammers who regularly target the elderly, Hispanics, and African Americans. Both objectives will be pursued through education and outreach, anti-scam reporting tools, and close cooperation with federal, state, local, and non-profit partners.

Highlights of the Know It. Avoid It. Report It. campaign include:

Information on how to avoid becoming a victim

Scam artist red flags and fraud warning signs

Complaint form and hotline to report fraud or suspicious activity

Resources for finding HUD-approved counselors and free housing workshops in every state

Names of individuals and companies identified by law enforcement agencies who have allegedly committed loan modification fraud or foreclosure relief scams

Education, outreach, and grassroots efforts in hardest hit communities include:

Multilingual brochures, posters, flyers, and other outreach materials

Television, radio, print, mass transit, and out-of-home advertising

Social media activity

Source: HUD

Builder Confidence Declines in April

Builder confidence for newly built, single-family homes declined to 16 in April after rising to 17 in March, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

Two of the three HMI component indexes registered declines in April, with the components gauging current sales conditions and home sales expectations for the next six months declining one point to 16 and three points to 23, respectively. The component gauging traffic of prospective buyers, however, rose one point to 13, marking its highest level since June 2010, according to the report.

Regionally, the South declined four points to 15; the Northeast and Midwest each registered two-point gains to 20 and 14, respectively; and the West, which includes California, remained flat at 17.

Source: National Association of Home Builders

Fed Requests Public Comment on Proposed Rule

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday requested public comment on a proposed rule under Regulation Z that would require creditors to determine a consumer's ability to repay a mortgage before making the loan and would establish minimum mortgage underwriting standards.

The proposal would apply to all consumer mortgages, except home equity lines of credit, timeshare plans, reverse mortgages, or temporary loans.

Consistent with the act, the proposal would provide the following four options for complying with the ability-to-repay requirement:

A creditor must meet the general ability-to-repay standard by considering and verifying specified underwriting factors, such as the consumer's income or assets.

A creditor must make a "qualified mortgage," which provides the creditor with special protection from liability provided the loan does not have certain features, such as negative amortization; the fees are within specified limits; and the creditor underwrites the mortgage payment using the maximum interest rate in the first five years. The Board is soliciting comments on two alternative approaches for defining a "qualified mortgage."

A creditor operating predominantly in rural or underserved areas can make a balloon-payment qualified mortgage.

A creditor can refinance a "non-standard mortgage" with risky features into a more stable "standard mortgage" with a lower monthly payment.

The Board is soliciting comment on the proposed rule until July 22, 2011.

Source: The Board of Governors Federal Reserve

Fast Facts

Calif. median home price: February 2011: $271,320 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. highest median home price by region/county February 2011: Marin $632,580 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. lowest median home price by region/county February 2011: Merced $117,270 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. Pending Home Sales Index: February 2011: 112.1 (Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index: Fourth quarter 2010: 69 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates: Week ending 4/7/2011 30-yr. fixed: 4.87 Fees/points: 0.7% 15-yr. fixed: 4.10% Fees/points: 0.7% 1-yr. adjustable: 3.22% Fees/points: 0.7% (Source: Freddie Mac)

30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Moves Up to 4.91 Percent

Freddie Mac has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which shows mortgage rates slowly increasing for the fourth consecutive week, yet remaining below 5 percent moving into the traditional home buying season.

News Facts

30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.91 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending April 14, 2011, up from last week when it averaged 4.87 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.07 percent.

15-year FRM this week averaged 4.13 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.10 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 4.40 percent.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.78 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.72 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 4.08 percent.

1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 3.25 percent this week with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.22 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.13 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.

Quotes

Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

"Mortgage rates edged up following a light week of economic data releases. Although rates on 30-year fixed mortgages have risen four weeks in a row, they have remained below 5 percent for eight straight weeks now, helping to maintain affordability in the housing market. Meanwhile, consumer purchases of retail goods rose for the ninth consecutive month in March, suggesting families have an increasing capacity to spend, which bodes well for the economic recovery.

"Reinforcing this notion, the Federal Reserve reported in its April 13th regional economic review that consumer spending picked up modestly in February and March across most Districts. In addition, it noted that economic activity generally continued to improve and that reports focusing on the near-term outlook were most often upbeat."

Source: Freddie Mac