All Articles Tagged "mortgage rates"
6 Reasons Why African-Americans Should Care About the Debt Ceiling
The current news cycle has been inundated with the tense struggle between the White House and Congressional Republicans and Democrats. Whether on prime time news or in major newspapers, commentaries appear to focus on which side is right and who really is at fault for the present situation in which the country finds itself relative to debt.
President Obama has tried his best to work with House Speaker John Boehner and Congressional Republicans, and Vice President Joe Biden has been leading a bipartisan committee for months to establish a proposal to reduce the current deficit while attempting to satisfy both aisles and chambers of Congress. Unfortunately, due to political posturing and an unwillingness to bypass pride for the benefit of the country, no deal has yet to be reached on arguably the most important decision of our era.
Because of the general perception that the debt ceiling issue is strictly confined to the geographical dimensions of the nation’s capital and Wall Street, there a plethora of individuals who believe that the failure to raise the debt limit for the country will not affect everyday citizens. To be sure, there will be adverse implications for the nation if Congress is unable to reach a compromise before recessing on August 5, which is fast approaching.
Below are six ways in which the failure to raise the debt ceiling would trickle down and negatively affect everyday folks. For many African-Americans, who have and continue to suffer significantly from the Great Recession in terms of unemployment, underemployment and personal finances, these ramifications could be extremely damaging.
Programs designed to help the poor such as HUD, temporary welfare, food stamps and WIC would likely lose funding.
One of the primary consequences that would assuredly take place if the Treasury is unable to pay all of its bills is that it would be forced to prioritize its payments. Bipartisan economists agree that the Treasury’s highest priorities would be to ensure that it pays interest on treasury securities, social security benefits, Medicare/Medicaid, defense vendor payments and unemployment insurance benefits.
Unfortunately, continual funding for programs such as food stamps (SNAP), Woman, Infants and Children (WIC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Health and Human Services grants and housing assistance for the poor would likely become impossible pretty quickly. These aforementioned programs are not only important for the public-at-large but very essential for a large number of African-Americans.
Education programs such as Pell grants and special education state grants IRS refunds, veterans’ affairs and military active duty pay would likely lose funding.
Again, if the Treasury is forced to “prioritize” its payments, then continual funding for programs such as military active duty pay, veterans’ affairs, certain Department of Education programs such as Pell grants and special education state grants and IRS refunds, would likely become impossible pretty quickly. Again, these aforementioned programs are not only essential for individuals across the board but very important for a substantial number of African-Americans.
Mortgages Cheap But Rules Strict
(Wall Street Journal) — With interest rates near rock bottom and home prices down, this ought to be a great time to buy a home. But for most people, it’s a lousy time to get a mortgage. Years after the collapse of the real-estate market and resulting financial crisis, it takes nearly pristine credit scores and hefty down payments to get the best rates. ”Since 2009, credit has become a lot tighter,” says Greg Reiter, who follows mortgage-backed bonds at RBS Global Banking & Markets. For borrowers, this highlights the need to pay close attention to credit scores. New rules unveiled last week should make it easier for consumers to see how their credit scores affect the interest rates they pay.
Refinancing Now Could be Better Than Waiting for Mortgage Rates to Drop Further
(LA Times) — When the Federal Reserve recently rolled out its plan to pump $600 billion into the credit markets, many homeowners and buyers might have figured that because mortgage interest rates are now likely to fall again, why not postpone the loan application they were contemplating? Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke offered implicit support for that scenario when, in a Washington Post op-ed column Nov. 4, he wrote that as a byproduct of the $600-billion infusion “lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance.”
Mortgage Rates at Record Lows
(Reuters) – U.S. mortgage rates reached new record lows in the latest week as economic data raised the appeal of safe-haven government debt, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company. While rock-bottom rates offer a glimmer of hope for a housing market struggling to find footing in the aftermath of the expiration of popular home buyer tax credits, their impact on home loan demand has been tepid. A weak jobs market and flailing economy continue to weigh on consumer confidence. Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, the most widely used loan, averaged 4.27 percent for the week ended October 7, down from the previous week’s 4.32 percent and the lowest on record, according to the survey.
How Low Can Mortgage Rates Go?
(Smart Money) — A mortgage with an interest rate lower than 4% may have seemed like a pipedream during the housing boom five years ago, but plenty of Americans are locking them down in August. Could they be kicking themselves in September? With mortgage rates hovering near 40-year lows and selling prices still depressed, many potential borrowers are wondering whether rates have further to fall.
