Mortgage Rates Set New Lows for 10th Time: 30-Year at 4.32%

Despite prices of Treasury bonds pulling back somewhat in recent days, mortgage rates continued their historic slide this week, setting record lows for the 10th time in 11 weeks. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.32 percent for the week ended today, down from the previous week’s 4.36 percent average.

Pending Home Sales Register Surprise Jump in July: NAR

Pending home sales of existing homes unexpectedly jumped 5.2 percent in July based on the forward-looking index by the National Association of Realtors, surprising analysts and possibly signaling a bottom to the post-tax credit freefall in the housing market.

Record Low Rates Lift Mortgage Refinancing to 15-Month High

Mortgage refinancing activity has bounced back to a 15-month high as borrowers are taking advantage of record-setting low fixed rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey released today.

FDIC: ‘Problem’ List Grows – But Earnings Up, Charge-offs Down

Insured banking institutions reported earnings of $21.6 billion in the second quarter of 2010, up significantly from the year-ago loss of $4.4 billion and marks the highest quarterly earnings since third quarter 2007, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported today.

Discover: Small Business Confidence Plummets in August

Small business confidence dropped sharply on Discover’s national index in August, with 62 percent of owners seeing the economy as worsening and 55 expecting unfavorable conditions for their own business.

Group Urges More Principal Reductions as Foreclosures Outpace Fixes

The increased use of loan modifications resulting in lower payments has created more “sustainable” mortgages, but foreclosures continue to outpace the number of reconfigured loans, according to a report this week by the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group.

Mortgage Fixed Rates Still Setting New Lows: 30-Year at 4.36%

Long-term mortgage rates continued their historic slide this week, with the 30-year fixed rate slipping to 4.36 percent from last week’s 4.42 percent, according to Freddie Mac. The 15-year fixed set a new low as well: 3.86 percent, down from 3.90 percent last week.

Sales of Existing Single-Family Homes Plunge to 1995 Level

Sales of existing homes plummeted 27 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.83 million units, compared to a downwardly revised 5.26 million units in June, according to the National Association of Realtors.

More Credit Card Reform: Penalty Fee Limits Take Effect

A new round of credit card rules take effect today, including a $25 penalty fee cap, a ban on “inactivity fees” and a “one-fee limit” that prevents card issuers from piling on fees for a single event or transaction that violates a card agreement.

Dropout Rate Surging in Taxpayer-Funded Mortgage Fix Program

The Obama Administration’s mortgage modification program is seeing an increasing dropout rate, with 96,025 additional cancellations out of payment-reduction trials reported for July – that leaves about 52 percent of the 1.3 million targed borrowers in either trials or approved status.

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