Rent a home or buy? Depends where you live

Source: Today   As the housing market stages an uneven recovery, whether it is cheaper to rent or buy a place depends on where you live. In addition, just because it's cheaper to buy in some markets doesn't mean potential homeowners will be able to qualify for a loan—especially if they’re one of the 7 million former homeowners who lost their property to a foreclosure or short sale. Read the full story

3 reasons cheap mortgages won't help first-timers

Source: CNBC Mortgage rates hit a record low about a year ago, but they are still pretty cheap, making now a good time to get into the market, according to Anika Khan, Wells Fargo Securities senior economist. However, these cheap mortgages are still out of reach to many first-time home buyers due to tight lending requirements, low inventory, and high prices pushed up by investors. Read the full story

Happy Father's Day

What a mortgage calculator won’t tell you

Source: MarketWatch   Resources like mortgage calculators can help you figure out the price range of homes you may be able to afford and estimate your monthly mortgage payment. However, the math alone won’t always tell you if you’re ready to buy a home, since other big factors are credit standing, job security, family plans, and other financial goals. Read the full story

Interest Rate Update

30 Year Fixed up to $417,000 3.99% to 4.50%
30 Year Fixed “Agency” up to $625,500 4.125% to 4.625%
30 Year Fixed FHA up to $417,000 3.50% to 3.75%
30 Year Fixed FHA “Jumbo” up to $729,500 3.625% to 3.875%

The Search for Affordable Housing Is Pushing Middle Class to Exurbs

Source: The Atlantic The median family needs to devote up to nearly 40 percent of its income on mortgage payments for a median home in metros like San Jose (36 percent); San Francisco (39 percent); and Los Angeles (40 percent). The locations of homes that are within reach for the median family vary substantially, which indicates the uneven nature of housing prices across several major U.S. cities and metros. Read the full story

Market Matters

Moving in with parents becomes more common for the middle-aged Source: LA Times Due to the effects of the sluggish economy, older people are quietly moving in with their parents at twice the rate of their younger counterparts. The number of Californians aged 50 to 64 who live in their parents' homes swelled 67.6 percent to about 194,000, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. Read the full story

5 Questions on the State of Mortgage Lending Source: Wall Street Journal   There are growing signs that lenders are becoming less picky amid a rebound in home prices and a drop-off in mortgage refinancing, but questions remain about the impact of down-payment standards, the stringency of credit requirements, and the fate of the U.S. economy after the mortgage-credit pendulum has swung from one extreme to the other. Read the full story

More homeowners are becoming first-time landlords Source: LA Times In Western housing markets like Los Angeles, there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of home buyers who want to rent out their old place rather than selling. Rents continue to climb, and if the trend continues, it could mean even fewer homes for sale in an already tight market. Read the full story