The economy has continued to show signs of gradual but consistent improvement over the past month or so, while the Federal Reserve has pledged to keep its target rate at zero to 0.25 percent for the next six weeks. As the mortgage market's slow season begins to set in, interest rates are most likely … [Read more...]

To determine maximum mortgage amounts, lenders use guidelines called debt-to-income ratios. This is the percentage of your monthly gross income (before taxes taken) that is used to pay monthly debts. Because there are two calculations, there is a ‘front' ratio and a ‘back' ratio and they are … [Read more...]

Pending home sales have increased for seven straight months, the longest in the series of the index which began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in August, rose 6.4 percent to 103.8 … [Read more...]