Massachusetts Home Buyer Guide

Massachusetts homebuyers, especially in the Greater Boston area, have seen real estate inventory decline for several years, and some real estate professionals believe rising mortgage interest rates may exacerbate the situation. 

Despite concerns among potential Massachusetts first-time home buyers over the Federal Reserve raising short-term interest rates and how that might eventually affect mortgage interest rates, 30-year, fixed-rate interest rates for home loans have declined and remain low.   

Not since Y2K have so many predicted such great disruption and chaos in our lives.

MassHousing launched Operation Welcome Home last month, a new conventional loan product for eligible Veterans that combines a traditional 97 percent loan-to-value first mortgage with a zero-interest second mortgage of up to 3 percent to create a 100 percent financing product that offers essentially the same attributes of a traditional VA loan.

The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage interest rate in the United States remained less than 4 percent when it declined to 3.95 percent from 3.97 percent the previous week, according to government-sponsored mortgage buyer Freddic Mac.  

Boston has happy home buyers, while Las Vegas lacks reliable residents, according to a new study by WalletHub, a consumer finance website. The study looked at how the housing recovery affected consumers across the country. Having the right type of financing could set home buyers up for happy home ownership while risky mortgages could set families up for failure down the road. Metro areas with high equity values, low interest rates and strict lending practices show promise for a stable housing market recovery. The following 1:24-minute video is from USA Today. 

If you're in the market to purchase a home, you may have heard that mortgage interest rates have increased in recent weeks after declining earlier in the year to the lowest level in about two years. 

Many potential Massachusetts home buyers may have heard the recent news that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) reduced cost of private mortgage insurance (PMI), but there are two other important things to know about PMI as it applies to FHA mortgages. 

The real estate media, as well as many real estate bloggers, have been buzzing about the announcement that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will now offer first-time home buyers conventional mortgages with only a 3 percent down payment, but in Massachusetts home buyers already have two options for low down payment mortgages.

Mortgage applications for home purchases rose 1.1 percent for the week ending November 7, 2014, according to a report by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Reuters reported November 12, 2014. 

Have you been on the fence about starting the home-buying process? You may want to take advantage of what may be a limited window of opportunity. 

ZIllow reported on its blog September 2, 2014, that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage interest rates declined "12 basis points this week," with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgages at 3.96 percent. The interest rate is down from 4.08 percent at the same time the previous week. These rates are averages across the United States, and may include points or other fees that increase the overall cost of borrowing, but overall rates are down.