Last week, Freddie Mac's survey of mortgage lenders led folks to believe that rates are inching back up.  As we know from following the weekly survey, rates have been bouncing around for quite some time averaging around 5%.  The weekly rate for a thirty (30) year fixed rate mortgage fell back to 5.07% (5.21% last week).  The fifteen year fixed  rate also dropped back down to 4.4% (4.52% last week).  The regional rates bounced around a little bit with the West being slightly below the average.  Across the country, points down averaged 0.7 to get the rate.  The trend is: no real movement since the increases are negated by the declines.  In this report, it was reported that credit standards to obtain a mortgage are not changing.  The quality of applicant's credit is mixed.

This week Forbes released its latest list of best cities for business and Colorado scored big!  Four Colorado cities were in the running including Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins.  Many of the cities on the list are located in the geographic middle of the country.  The report cited that many of the east and west coast states are mired in debt and the economies are in tough shape making for a difficult business environment. Along with being a great place for business, honorees are also cited as being great places for career since there have been and will continue to be opportunities...

The factors determining inclusion ranged from business growth to number of foreclosures.  Education, enterprise opportunities and future tax burden were also important factors to the survey results.  In the midst of the economy, this is a great acknowledgement!

Homeowners hoping to move up and get approved for a loan on the new house before selling the old have had a rude awakening the last few months as new FHA guidelines have come into play.  For many years, homeowners could obtain a bridge loan or even a new mortgage while saddled with the mortgage of the first.  The trouble is that as the housing market has slowed in terms of ability to sell, some of the approved homeowners let go of the original house and its associated mortgage.  A mortgage fraud scheme (known as Buy and Bail) was borne by which homeowners would detail a fake plan to rent out the original home in the event of no sale only to not even try and the house fell into foreclosure.  This rental income could count towards the payment of the mortgage giving a great deal of flexibility to the borrower.  This mortgage fraud is bad in any economy but in light of the current recession, this has only added to housing market woes.  The numbers have become so high in fact that any FHA backed loans now require 30% equity in the first house.  Lenders have tagged additional requirements onto this such as six months worth of payments in the bank.