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Recent home buyers are staying well within their means with notably higher incomes and modestly higher down payments than buyers in the previous year, due to the restrictive mortgage credit environment, despite historically favorable housing affordability conditions, according to a study released at the 2011 REALTORS® Conference & Expo. The 2011 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers is the latest in a long-running series of large national NAR surveys evaluating demographics, preferences, marketing and experiences of recent home buyers and sellers.

The national delinquency rate for residential home loans fell to 7.99 percent in the third quarter—the lowest reading since the fourth quarter of 2008. This represents a decline of 45 basis points from the second quarter of this year, and a drop of 114 basis points from the third quarter of last year. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported recently that the 30-day delinquency rate reached its lowest level since the second quarter of 2007 at 3.19 percent. Cumulative default rates among U.S. residential mortgage loans continued to level off in third-quarter 2011, furthering improvements that began at the start of the year.

Unemployment and other factors have caused many homeowners to involuntarily default on their mortgages. At the same time, falling home prices, the possibility of being underwater for many years and advice from certain influencers, or "mavens," may have encouraged others to simply stop paying, with deleterious consequences in some markets, according to a study released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The study titled "Strategic Default in the Context of a Social Network: An Epidemiological Approach," conducted by Michael J. Seiler of Old Dominion University, Andrew J. Collins of the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center and Nina H. Fefferman of Rutgers University and sponsored by MBA's Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA),

MRIS, the Mid-Atlantic region’s multiple listing service (MLS) marketplace that facilitates $36 billion in yearly sales, has launched a new “Lifestyle Search” feature as a major upgrade and enhancement to its consumer website HomesDatabase.com, the organization has announced.

Mortgage applications increased 10.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 4, 2011.

Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) released the results of its third quarter refinance analysis showing homeowners who refinance continue to strengthen their fiscal house by maintaining or reducing their mortgage debt. In the third quarter of 2011, 82 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first-lien home mortgage either maintained about the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table. Of these borrowers, 44 percent maintained about the same loan amount, and 37 percent of refinancing homeowners reduced their principal balance.

Consumer money resource Bills.com recently released its 2011 Third Quarter Mortgage Report. Driven by an increased demand for refinance loans, consumer traffic to the company's mortgage tools and calculators more than doubled from the second quarter. The majority of homeowners preferred 15-year fixed-rate loans as a way to combine lower interest rates with the stability of a fixed-rate product. Consumers in this quarter were also more accurate in estimating both their credit score and the value of their homes.

Effective October 1, 2011, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lowered their conforming loan limits back to 2008 levels. And that means many home buyers suddenly need a jumbo loan to qualify for the homes they want. Real estate professionals who have worked with jumbo loans in the past know that the process and underwriting guidelines are far different than they are for conforming mortgages. So it’s important to choose a lender well experienced with jumbo loans.

Despite the “doom and gloom” in today’s headlines, in the current economic climate, homeownership is more affordable than ever, thanks to low interest rates and lower home values. For those buyers who manage to have a 20% (or more) downpayment, they believe this will get them the lowest monthly

Eliminating or curtailing the mortgage interest deduction would have a disproportionate impact on younger, middle-class families, who would see their ability to become home owners significantly diminished, with sober implications for their longer term financial prospects, the National Association of Home Builders

Pending home sales slipped in August with a mixed regional performance but are higher than a year ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.  The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, declined 1.2 percent to 88.6 in August from 89.7 in July but is 7.7 percent above August 2010 when it stood at 82.3. The data reflects contracts but not closings.

A home inspection is a crucial component of making a smart home-buying decision. According to Jay Gregg, director of marketing for Pillar To Post, not all home inspections are equal. Gregg, who has experience in home inspections, sales marketing and as a previous Pillar To Post franchisee,

You’re about to put an offer on a home, but you’re worried that prices will sink and you won’t get the best deal. You’re putting your home on the market and you want to get the most you can for it but you can’t wait forever to sell it. You’ve found a great deal on a foreclosure that looks like a great investment, but how will you know what will it be worth a year from now? Wouldn’t it be nice if you had more than a guesstimate to guide you as you make one of the most expensive decisions in your life?

What do you do when the appraisal on the dream home you want to buy comes in below the price in the offer the seller has accepted—even as much as 10 to 20 percent below? Chances are that raising the cash for your down payment and closing cost has tapped you out. Finding thousands more to make up the difference between the appraised value and the contracted amount is out of the question. You’re not the only buyer who has hit the low appraisal snag. This past June and July, 16 percent of real estate pros reported a cancelation in a sale, mostly due to a large number of low appraisals.

(MCT)—With mortgage interest rates hovering around 50-year lows, refinancing is an appealing prospect for many homeowners. I think this is especially true considering the stock market’s August gyrations. Taking nervous energy and using it to focus on