Rumorville... Says "first-time home buyers are often less patient than move-up buyers, and don't want to wait for a short sale to go through."

According to the monthly Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, the share of short sales purchased by first-time buyers dropped to 40% in August 2011 after peaking at 54% of all short sales in November 2009.

Tip: - Buyers should put in a drop-dead date into their contract, such as allowing the lender 30 days to approve the offer, because this puts pressure on the listing agents.

Q. I went to a lender to refinance my mortgage and was turned down. They said my credit score was about 30 points too low. What can I do to fix my credit score so I can refinance while rates are low?

A. There are many reasons why your credit score might be lower than it should be.

A big reason is delinquent accounts. If you have any late payments, collection accounts, tax liens, or judgments, it can reduce your credit score by hundreds of points.

If you have a relative or friend with old credit you can be added to their account as an authorized user. You will not be responsible for the debt owed, but within six months the account will show up on your credit as an old account and can boost the score.

Although this type of credit is not considered primary when applying for a loan, it will increase your FICO score.

Revolving credit, if not used carefully, can also ruin your credit score. Types of revolving credit include credit cards, overdraft on checking accounts and lines of credit.

You must review what your balance to limit ratios are. If the aggregate balances are over 7% of your total limits, your score will begin to drop. The closer the balance inches up to the limit, the more the score drops.

For example, if you have five credit cards, each having a $1,000 limit, you would have total limits of $5,000. If you had an aggregate balance of $4,500, your score could plummet, because your balance-to-limit ratio would be 90%.

One way of increasing your score is making sure your balance-to-limit ratio on revolving credit is no more than 7%. Of course, if you have been late ten times in the last ten months, nothing is going to help you.

It usually takes a month or two for the bureaus to update the new balance reduction. Once it is updated the score could go up dramatically.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell to 3.91 percent in the week ended today, the lowest in data dating to 1971, from 3.94 percent, Freddie Mac said in a statement. The average 15-year rate matched last week's previous all-time low of 3.21 percent, according to the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company.

“Falling home prices meeting already low interest rates are driving affordability,” said Ellen Zentner, a senior U.S. economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. “Mix that with higher consumer confidence and job growth, and I can see why home sales appear to be lifting off the bottom.”

The U.S. property market still may fall further and not rebound until late 2012 or early 2013, when gains probably won't match those seen before the housing boom ended in 2006, according to a survey of 109 economists released this week by Seattle-based Zillow Inc.

Unemployment Claims Decline - The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits decreased last week to the lowest level since April 2008, the Labor Department said today. November's unemployment rate was 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009.

Existing-home sales climbed 4 percent in November from the previous month to a 4.42 million annual pace, the highest level since January, according to the Realtors. The number of previously owned houses on the market dropped to 2.58 million last month, the fewest since May 2005, the group said.

U.S. home-loan applications declined in the week ended Dec. 16, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Washington-based group's index of purchases fell 4.9 percent, while its measure of refinancing dropped 1.6 percent.

El Departamento de Comercio dijo el martes que las ventas de viviendas a estrenar bajaron a 298.000 unidades el mes pasado desde una cifra revisada a 300.000 en junio.

Los analistas consultados por Reuters esperaban que se vendieran 310.000 viviendas nuevas en julio, por debajo de la cifra original de 312.000 unidades estimada para junio.

En 12 meses a julio, las ventas aumentaron un 6,8 por ciento.

Si has perdido recientemente tu trabajo y en lo único que puedes pensar es: ¿Qué haré con tantas deudas?, aquí te compartimos algunos consejos que brinda el Gobierno de EU sobre cómo afrontar a esos duros acreedores para hacer más liviano el pago de tus deudas.

Por ello, lo mejor que podemos hacer por nosotros mismos es verlo como tal, como un ingreso totalmente inesperado que puede ayudarnos a mejorar en mucho nuestra calidad de vida.

El dinero sirve, no se nos debe olvidar nunca, para cumplir metas que tenemos en nuestra vida. Entonces, ¿cómo aprovechar tu reparto de utilidades para vivir mejor? Aquí te damos algunas recomendaciones.

1Saldar o disminuir deudas. Desafortunadamente, esto es lo que harán muchas personas. Si podemos liquidar completamente alguna deuda, podemos sentir una mejoría inmediata y real en nuestro flujo de efectivo, lo cual nos puede poner en una posición más favorable hacia el futuro, sobre todo si se trata de tarjetas de crédito, que suelen tener unas tasas de interés altísimas.

Pensemos por un momento en la libertad que sentiríamos si ya no tuviéramos que hacer pagos de tarjetas y que la única deuda que tuviéramos fuese la de nuestra casa. La verdad, nos quitaríamos un gran peso de encima. Incluso si el único crédito que tenemos es el hipotecario, puede aprovecharse para adelantar mensualidades (siempre y cuando contemos con un fondo para emergencias).

En los primeros años del mismo (dependiendo del esquema contratado), hacerlo puede ayudarnos a reducir el plazo, así como ahorrarnos una buena cantidad de intereses.

2Iniciar o complementar nuestro fondo para emergencias. Muchas personas no cuentan con un fondo para emergencias; es decir, tienen pocas herramientas para hacerle frente a imprevistos. Es muy importante, sobre todo en épocas de crisis, porque nos brinda tranquilidad financiera y estabilidad ante eventos inciertos.
El fondo para emergencias debe contener un monto equivalente a entre tres y seis meses de nuestro gasto familiar promedio. Si no tenemos uno o no lo hemos provisto con esta cantidad, ahora es nuestra oportunidad de construirlo.

3Iniciar o contribuir a un plan personal de retiro. Muchas personas desconocen que en México es posible invertir en un plan personal de retiro y obtener grandes beneficios fiscales. Esto no sólo es posible a través de las afores sino también a través de cuentas específicas de plan personal de retiro autorizadas por el SAT, que ofrecen diversas instituciones financieras.

Los beneficios fiscales son muy importantes, sobre todo en la manera en que podemos hacerlos deducibles de impuestos en nuestra declaración anual, nuestras aportaciones en su totalidad (hasta 10% de nuestros ingresos o hasta cinco salarios mínimos elevados al año -109,171.50 pesos en el 2011 para la Zona geográfica A-). El ahorro fiscal representa un rendimiento casi automático muy interesante.

4 Abrir una cuenta de inversión para lograr una meta futura. Si contamos con un buen fondo para emergencias y nuestro plan de retiro está en marcha, entonces podríamos ocupar nuestro reparto en la realización de una meta futura, como el enganche de una casa o la realización de un viaje. Es importante, sin embargo, buscar instrumentos adecuados a nuestro horizonte de inversión (plazo) que nos ayuden a proteger y a incrementar el poder adquisitivo de los recursos que hemos ahorrado. El programa Cetes Directo puede ser una alternativa interesante, como también algún portafolio a nuestra medida construido con fondos de inversión.

El dato revelado hoy por Northern Rock, que dio a conocer sus resultados financieros correspondientes al ejercicio del pasado año, mostró una llamativa disminución con relación a las pérdidas anuales que registró la entidad en 2008, y que entonces alcanzó los 1.360 millones de libras (1.491 millones de euros).

Northern Rock indicó que con el recorte experimentado en sus pérdidas anuales, pagará primas a sus empleados cifradas en 13,4 millones de libras (unos 14,6 millones de euros) pese a que su consejero delegado, Gary Hoffman, decidió prescindir de su bonificación anual.

Esta entidad señaló también que no volverá a su programa de incentivos a largo plazo hasta que el banco vuelva a registrar beneficios sea vendido.

La eventual venta de Northern Rock PLC, que se prevé para finales de este año, recuperará parte de los miles de millones del dinero público que el Gobierno inyectó a la entidad cuando ésta entró en crisis por las hipotecas de alto riesgo.

La otra mitad del banco original, renombrada Northern Rock Asset Management, se hace cargo de la mayor parte de las hipotecas antiguas.

Northern Rock señaló que ha experimentado un incremento en los préstamos hipotecarios durante el 2009 mientras que el dinero ahorrado por los clientes del banco permaneció mayoritariamente invariable.

El número de sus hipotecas continuó creciendo aunque a un ritmo más lento durante el tercer cuarto del ejercicio de 2009, indicó su consejero delegado.

Añadió que debido a la recesión y al mayor índice de desempleo, el porcentaje a abonar por los prestatarios con más de tres meses en retrasos en sus pagos por hipotecas había incrementado al 4,28 por ciento a finales del pasado año, lo equivalente a casi 23.000 prestamistas, comparado con un 2,25 por ciento en el 2008.

El número de propiedades embargadas por el banco se redujo a la mitad desde el 2008 y fue de 2.061 a finales del pasado año, comparado con las 3.620 del año anterior.

Como el precio del dinero ha disminuido en el último año, las rebajas se extenderán también a los préstamos de períodos anteriores.

Los nuevos tipos más bajos comenzarán a aplicarse un mes después de su publicación en el Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), y su revisión no acarreará ningún coste para los titulares de los contratos.

Excluding real-estate-related jobs in the financial area, the number was even better. Finance and insurance alone added 9,900 jobs last month, also the first increase since July 2007.

“The general idea is that the economy is turning, the financial sector is turning, and this is unequivocally a positive,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak + Co.

The broader question, Mr. Greenhaus said, is how fast other sectors can turn around and boost the economy. Based on the overall middling numbers in the report, “It doesn’t look like we’re set up for an explosion of job growth” like that U.S. economy has experienced following other recessions, he said.

Other sectors that added jobs last month included temporary help, education, and health care. The health care industry, the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted, has added 631,000 jobs since the recession began.

El crédito impositivo es de hasta $8.000 para la compra de una primera vivienda y de hasta $6.500 para quienes ya eran propietarios y se mudan a otra vivienda.

Esas cifras son límite y se calcula tomando en cuenta el valor de compra.

El beneficio original vencía el primero de diciembre pero se resolvió la extensión hasta abril como medio para seguir alentando la compra de viviendas.

Pero quedó bien en claro que se trata de la última oportunidad para optar por el beneficio.

Durante el debate el presidente de la Comisión de Finanzas del Senado, el demócrata Max Baucus, dijo que “es importante que este crédito impositivo no se transforme en algo permanente”.

MONTAGNE: There is a government program to provide help for borrowers. It's got a price tag of $75 billion, but so far it's only helped a fraction of the people that it promised to help. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

SCOTT HORSLEY: When President Obama announced his foreclosure prevention effort back in February, he said it would help between three and four million families hold on to their homes. So far, only about 650,000 homeowners have negotiated the maze of paperwork and telephone hold messages to qualify for the program, and most of those have gotten only a temporary break in their monthly payments. This week, the Treasury Department announced a new push to move borrowers,lenders and the middlemen known as servicers towards a more lasting fix.

Ms. PHYLLIS CALDWELL (Homeowner's Preservation Office): This campaign is about making sure that as many of those homeowners convert to permanent modifications are able(ph) to stay in their homes. This will take efforts from the servicers and homeowners working together.

HORSLEY: Phyllis Caldwell, who heads the Treasury Department's new Homeowner's Preservation Office, says borrowers have to do their part, making surelenders have all the necessary documents. Though much of the government's focus is on servicers, this week the Treasury Department is sending so-called SWAT teams out to study servicers' operations with an eye towards speeding up the loan modifications. Servicers could face penalties if they don't deliver on the promised relief, but an assistant Treasury secretary refused to elaborate on what those penalties might be. Consumer advocate Julia Gordon of the Center for Responsible Lending says even if all the borrowers now in the government's program got permanent help, it wouldn't be enough.

Ms. JULIA GORDON (Center for Responsible Lending): If all 650,000 were magically converted tomorrow, we're still not at a scale that is solving this problem to the extent that it's going to help the numbers of homeowners who are at risk right now.

HORSLEY: For every borrower in the program there are about nine more falling behind on their monthly payments. Gordon says voluntary fixes are inadequate. She wants the government to requirelenders to explore alternatives before starting the foreclosure process, and she'd like to give bankruptcy judges the power to modify loan terms, an idea the Senate rejected earlier this year.

Ms. GORDON: The judicial modifications piece would have provided what you might call the stick to go along with the carrot of the Treasury and Senate payments to servicers for participating in the HAMP program.

HORSLEY: Lenders oppose any effort to let bankruptcy judges tinker with home loans, warning that would simply drive up future borrowing costs. CEO John Courson of the Mortgage Bankers Association calls the administration's goal of helping three to four million struggling borrowers unrealistic.

Mr. JOHN COURSON (Mortgage Bankers Association): I think the goal doesn't recognize the change in economic realities that we've been dealing with from the time the goal was originally announced.

HORSLEY: Since the announcement in February, the nation's unemployment rate has jumped from 8.1 percent to 10.2 percent. Chief economist Mark Fleming of the research firm First American CoreLogic says rising unemployment rather than exotic adjustable mortgages is what's responsible for a lot of today's foreclosure problem.

Mr. MARK FLEMING (First American CoreLogic): People who can't make their mortgage payments, little less than one in four are under water on their home. Therefore (unintelligible) re-finance is less of an option. These are the real driving forces of delinquency these days.

Attractive rates coupled with high affordability have been positives for the U.S. housing market, which has been showing signs of stabilization. Sales have surged in recent months as buyers scrambled to take advantage of the government's first-time home buyer tax credit.

"Buyers are tentative, however, and seem to need to think hard before moving ahead with a refinancing," he said.

"Earlier this year, borrowers were more active and willing to say 'I'll take it' more quickly," he said. "Now, they are tentative."

The MBA said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week to November 27 increased 2.1 percent to 613.7.

The four-week moving average of mortgage applications, which smooths the volatile weekly figures, was up 0.2 percent.

"It is taking people a long time to decide," he said.

The MBA said borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 4.79 percent, down 0.03 percentage point from the previous week, the lowest since the week ended May 15.

The rate remained above the all-time low of 4.61 percent set in the week ended March 27. The survey has been conducted weekly since 1990. Interest rates were also well below the year-ago level of 5.47 percent.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index, a tentative early indicator of home sales, rose 4.1 percent to 232.3. The seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications increased 1.7 percent to 2,866.4.

The MBA said the results include an adjustment to account for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Last month the Obama administration extended the $8,000 first-time buyer credit, added a $6,500 provision for move-up buyers and increased income limits. The eligible borrowers must sign contracts by April 30 and close loans by June 30, 2010 instead of closing by the end of last month.

The U.S. housing market has suffered the worst downturn since the Great Depression and its impact has rippled through the recession-hit economy, as well as the rest of the world. Home price declines have been moderating in many regions of the country and in some areas have risen.

Many analysts, however, say prices are poised to fall again, with a new wave of foreclosures in the pipeline that is viewed as one of the largest obstacles to a recovery.

Problems in the housing market have also been moving up the loan quality chain. The current housing crisis had its roots in subprime mortgages made to borrowers with poor credit histories, which dominated the lower end of the market, while the middle and upper tiers of the market performed better. These higher tiers, however, have appeared increasingly troubled in the last quarter or two.

The MBA said fixed 15-year mortgage rates averaged 4.27 percent, down from 4.32 percent the previous week, and the lowest ever recorded in the survey, with the previous low being 4.32 percent recorded the previous two weeks and in October.

Rates on one-year ARMs decreased to 6.56 percent from 6.66 percent.

Mortgage interest rates slipped further still this week, down to 5.01 percent, from 5.07 percent a week ago for fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) on conforming 30-year loans, according to December's first weekly Interest Rate Review by Calabasas, CA-based Informa Research Services , a market research, analyses, and intelligence gathering service for the financial industry since 1983.

Informa's average 30-year conforming FRM of 5.01 percent was down from a year ago when it was three-quarters of a percentage point higher at 5.76 percent.

This week's Informa survey also said both the highest 30-year FRM with an annual percentage rate (APR) of 6.96 percent, and the lowest, at 4.34 percent, were virtually unchanged from last week's survey.

The average 15-year FRM came in Dec. 1 at 4.51 percent, down from 4.53 a week ago, was also down from 5.55 percent a year ago.

The average interest rate for the 5/1 adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), was 3.49 percent, down more than a full percentage point from 4.79 percent a year ago.

The FRM rates for 15- and 30-year mortgages and the 5/1 ARM rates are all based on a $200,000 purchase loan, with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio, for an owner-occupied, single-family residence.

Informa's National APR (annual percentage rates) numbers are tallied from a survey of 200 mortgage originators.

Informa also reported an average 6.05 percent fixed rate for 30-year, non-conforming jumbo loans, up a tad from 6.02 percent a week ago, but well off the 7.38 percent rate this time last year.

The jumbo averages are based on a $450,000 purchase loan with an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio for an owner-occupied, single-family residence.

For home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) of $50,000, with an 80 percent loan-to-value note, the variable rate came in at an average 4.98 percent, identical to the rate a week ago, but up slightly from 4.88 percent a year ago.

Also relatively unchanged were average FRM rates on 15-year home equity loans of $50,000, with an 80 percent loan-to-value note. They came in at 7.61 percent, down from 7.63 percent last week and down from 8.06 percent a year ago, according to Informa's survey.

The U.S. Treasury Department is looking into ways to help people who are temporarily unemployed stay in their homes, including adjustments in mortgage principal, an official said Thursday.

"There are a number of models that can be used to do that. I just think we need to look at a process, if we come to this point, that is fair to everyone, that is cost effective, that protects the taxpayers, and that gives people, responsible homeowners, a chance to stay in their home," Barr said.

Barr didn't say whether additional funds from Treasury's Wall Street rescue package would be used for mortgage assistance for the unemployed. Already, $75 billion of the $700 billion rescue fund has been devoted to helping strapped borrowers get loan modifications.

Taking questions from the audience of consumer advocates, Barr said Treasury is looking at a variety of ways to help people who "have borrowed more than their home is now worth."

Some of these individuals will continue to live in their homes, stay employed and pay their mortgages, Barr said.

"But there is a category of people for whom there is going to be an event in their life that's going to make it hard for them to stay in that home. And I do think we need to have better answers for people who are in that latter circumstance."

Some of the options for helping such people include principal forbearance or principal forgiveness, Barr said. "Others may need more serious adjustment in their principal, and I do think that's an area worth looking at more carefully," he said.

The administration is under pressure to help the unemployed make mortgage payments as joblessness has eclipsed exploding subprime mortgages as a major driver of foreclosures. Lawmakers are pushing the administration to use Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to offer the unemployed stopgap loans to cover their mortgage payments until they find work.

The Congressional Black Caucus, which is prodding the administration to do more to help ease unemployment among their constituents, backs this idea. It also wants the administration to force lenders to take certain steps, including writing down principal, before they can begin foreclosure proceedings.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.), a caucus member, criticized the administration's foreclosure-prevention effort, saying attempts to jawbone lenders into making loan modifications won't work.

"They need more advice and input from sources other than inside that White House," she said in an interview.

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) and Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) have introduced legislation that would devote $2 billion in TARP funds to bridge loans of up to two years for people who are unable to make their mortgage payments because they've lost their jobs. The legislation would mimic on the federal level a Pennsylvania program that has been in place since 1984.

Under the program, qualified homeowners who have lost their jobs apply to a state agency for loans to cover their mortgage payments for up to two years. They repay the loan once they find work again. The program has provided loans to more than 43,000 people since 1984 at a cost of $236 million, according to Philadelphia Unemployment Project Director John Dodds.

Through HomePath.com, potential homeowners can access a database that includes a wide selection of homes from around the country – including the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico – which can be purchased directly from Fannie Mae. Properties include detailed information and photographs of single-family homes, condominiums, and town houses located in a variety of neighborhoods.

“HomePath.com is a great resource that can help people find a lifelong home for themselves and their families,” said Fannie Mae Executive Vice President, Terry W. Edwards. “The website has a wealth of information to inform and guide potential homeowners through the process of buying a Fannie Mae-owned property.”

The new release of HomePath.com in Spanish is part of a continuous effort aimed at improving access to information and resources which play a vital role in aiding both English and Spanish-speaking populations in the U.S. purchase homes, while helping minimize the impact on communities hit by foreclosures.

For more information about HomePath, please visit www.HomePath.com and click “En Espanol”, or for direct access to the website in Spanish, visit www.es.HomePath.com

Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to enhance the liquidity of the mortgage market by providing funds to mortgage bankers and other lenders so that they may lend to home buyers. Our job is to help those who house America.

Making Home Affordable is a trademark of the United States Department of the Treasury and is used under license. “