Aubrey Plaza gets mean on demand - CNN.com Video
Showing posts with label demand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label demand. Show all posts
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Mortgage applications down as purchase demand falls (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Applications for home mortgages slipped last week, pulled lower by a steep drop in demand for home purchases, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, dipped 1.0 percent in the week ended Feb 10.
The gauge of loan requests for home purchases tumbled 8.4 percent, though the index refinancing applications edged up 0.8 percent.
The refinance share of total mortgage activity also rose to 81.1 percent of applications from 80.5 percent the week before.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.08 percent, up 3 basis points from 4.05 percent.
The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.
(Reporting By Leah Schnurr; Editing by Diane Craft)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Mortgage applications jump on refi demand: MBA (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Applications for home mortgages jumped last week, fueled by increased demand for refinancing as interest rates fell, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 7.5 percent in the week ended Feb 3.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications climbed 9.4 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases was nearly flat, edging up just 0.1 percent.
The refinance share of total mortgage activity also increased to 80.5 percent of applications, from 80.0 percent.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.05 percent, down 4 basis points from 4.09 percent the week before.
The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.
(Reporting By Leah Schnurr; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Mortgage demand fell at year-end, purchases sag (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Demand for loans to buy homes and refinance mortgages slid in the final week of 2011, even as mortgage rates dipped, an industry group said on Wednesday.
Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell 4.1 percent in the week ended December 30, weighed down by a 9.6 percent drop in purchase loan requests and a 2.5 percent decline in refinancing requests, seasonally adjusted data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed.
Average 30-year conforming mortgage rates dipped to the year's low of 4.07 percent from 4.10 percent the prior week, and well below 4.82 percent at the end of 2010.
The slide to near-record-low borrowing rates has spurred more homeowners to seek refinancing, propelling that index up more than 60 percent in 2011.
But demand for loans to buy homes fell in the year, as borrowers struggled to come up with enough cash for down payments or stayed on the sidelines due to worries about unemployment. Some buyers had also leapt into the market in 2010 to take advantage of a first-time buyer tax credit.
The MBA said it does not expect any quick rebound in the mortgage market.
"As part of legislation to extend the payroll tax holiday, guarantee fees for loans purchased by the GSEs and mortgage insurance premiums for FHA loans will eventually increase," Michael Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. "Given the announced implementation of this change, we do not expect to see an impact on mortgage rates and application activity until at least February."
Bob Moulton, president of Americana Mortgage Group in Manhasset, New York, said the company's pipeline of loan requests is off to a better start in 2012 than the same time a year ago, boosted by refinancing.
But caution prevails with a big overhang of unsold homes and the presidential election looming, he said.
Refinancing applications represented about 82 percent of total mortgage activity in the latest week, the highest share of the year.
"It's going to be another couple of years until these short sales and foreclosures are flushed out of the system, so you might see a little weakness in prices this year," Moulton added. "We're feeling a little better about 2012 than 2011, but you're always waiting for the next shoe to drop."
The MBA released data for two weeks on Wednesday, rather than one, because of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
In the week ended December 23, total mortgage demand climbed 0.3 percent, with refinancing up 0.5 percent and purchase applications down 0.1 percent.
The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
New IRS rules demand more info on foreign holdings (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of U.S. taxpayers must reveal for the first time detailed information about foreign stock holdings, pensions and life insurance policies, under new U.S. Internal Revenue Service rules detailed on Monday.
The new requirements may present legal risks for U.S. taxpayers living in countries with broad or vague privacy laws, said international tax experts.
Designed by Congress to snare tax dodgers with funds stashed abroad, the new rules are also likely to hit unsuspecting immigrants and first-generation Americans. Even tax preparers may be caught off guard.
"The days of the secret, offshore trust are over," said Richard Luthmann, a lawyer in New York who said he is working with clients from India and Canada on tax disclosure.
The rules are "really hitting a lot of unsophisticated persons with international ties," he said.
The IRS on Monday published nine pages of instructions for filling out a new form that taxpayers must file with 2011 tax returns due on April 15, 2012. The exact number of taxpayers affected is unclear, but is in the hundreds of thousands.
The new form applies to U.S. taxpayers living in the United States with at least $50,000 in assets abroad as of December 31, and to Americans living abroad with at least $200,000 in assets.
Taxpayers who duck the new reporting requirement could face up to $50,000 in penalties.
U.S. taxpayers have always had to pay tax on foreign income. The new requirements are likely to expose income that in the past has been hidden from IRS view, intentionally or not.
'VIRGIN TERRITORY'
The IRS is "out in virgin territory" with these regulations, said Charles Bruce, an attorney with the Bonnard Lawson International Law Firm.
"The degree of complexity is extraordinary for a form aimed at individuals. Few people will be able to fill out this form without hiring a return preparer or making a lot of mistakes."
The new disclosure rules are part of 2010's Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA.
Under the new rules, taxpayers must disclose foreign stock and bond holdings; foreign pensions that start to pay out when the taxpayer reaches retirement age; and hedge fund and private equity accounts. Foreign assets held by a U.S. institution, like shares of a foreign company managed by a U.S. mutual fund, are not subject to the reporting requirements.
Foreign real estate is also exempt, though taxpayers owning foreign property through a company or a trust must disclose.
Individual reporting requirements will be followed in 2013 by requirements for financial institutions to release account holder information to the IRS. With the two data streams, IRS will be able to cross reference information, said Stanley Ruchelman, a tax-planning lawyer in New York.
The IRS "expects to receive the same information from two difference sources" to "ensure that each one is reporting correctly," he said.
HARSH RECEPTION
FATCA is getting a harsh reception abroad.
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, in a September letter to U.S. and Canadian media outlets, said the FATCA requirements "would turn Canadian banks into extensions of the IRS and would raise significant privacy concerns for Canadians."
Foreign banks may decide to drop U.S. customers rather than submit information to the IRS, experts said.
FATCA's individual reporting requirements may be problematic for some U.S. expatriates. Revealing too much information about business associates could break the law in some countries, but that does not mean the IRS will let expatriates off the hook.
"You've got to face this issue of, do I face the U.S. penalty or do I face a criminal sanction in the country where I live? That's pretty harsh," said Laurie Hatten-Boyd, a principal with the Big Four accounting firm KPMG LLP.
Such a scenario could arise, she said, with a swap where the counterparty is a foreign entity. The new IRS form demands disclosure of a swap counterparty's name and mailing address.
(Reporting By Patrick Temple West in Washington; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Mortgage refinance demand jumped last week: MBA (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Applications for refinancing on home mortgages jumped last week, even as demand for new home purchases dried up, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 4.1 percent in the week ended Dec 9.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications climbed 9.3 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases tumbled 8.2 percent.
The refinance share of total mortgage activity rose to 79.7 percent of applications from 76.0 percent the week before.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.12 percent, down 6 basis points from 4.18 percent the week before. It was the lowest rate this year, MBA said.
The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.
(Reporting By Leah Schnurr; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Mortgage applications jump on refinancing demand: MBA (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Applications for U.S. home mortgages surged last week, driven by increased refinancing demand as interest rates dropped, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, climbed 10.3 percent in the week ended Nov 4.
"Treasury rates dropped last week, as renewed turmoil in Europe once again led to a flight to quality, and 30-year mortgage rates dropped to their second lowest level of the year," Mike Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics, said in a statement.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications rose 12.1 percent to its highest level in a month. Fratantoni said some lenders saw even bigger increases. Fixed 30-year mortgage rates dropped 9 basis points to average 4.22 percent.
The refinance share of total mortgage activity rose, after declining for three weeks, to 78.6 percent of applications from 77.1 percent the week before.
The gauge of loan requests for home purchases gained 4.8 percent.
The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Monday, September 12, 2011
Mortgage demand slides despite low loan rates (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Demand for U.S. home loans fell for a third straight week last week although mortgage rates fell to or near record lows, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted mortgage applications index, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, dropped 4.9 percent in the week ending September 2.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted refinancing application index fell 6.3 percent while its gauge of loan requests for home purchases climbed 0.2 percent.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.23 percent, down from 4.32 percent the prior week and the second lowest rate since the group began its survey nearly 22 years ago.
Fifteen-year loan rates averaged 3.41 percent, down from 3.49 percent a week ago to a new survey low.
"Despite these rates, refinance application volume fell for the third straight week and is more than 35 percent below levels at this time last year," Mike Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics, said in a statement.
"Purchase application volume remains relatively flat at extremely low levels, close to lows last seen in 1996," he said.
Rock-bottom borrowing costs did breathe some life into the housing market during the summer, boosting demand for purchase and refinance loans from extremely low levels.
But housing remains in a "deep freeze," and a stumbling block for the broader U.S. economy, HSBC Securities economists Kevin Logan and Ryan Wang wrote in a Tuesday report. The still-excessive inventory of unsold homes keeps depressing prices.
"The ongoing process of household debt deleveraging and balance sheet repair creates another persistent headwind on the economy that is closely related to the housing market," they wrote.
Concerns about the wealth effect, along with ongoing steep unemployment and financial market turbulence, keep many potential buyers from committing to such a large purchase.
"In my line of work, we're doing okay with rates dropping, but it doesn't mean we don't worry about the rest of our money ... whether it's going to lose its value," said Naela Sharuk, senior loan officer at Mortgage Master Inc in Walpole, Massachusetts.
The 30-year fixed rate loan hit its lowest rate of 4.21 percent, just 0.02 percentage point below the current rate, last October, the MBA said.
Many borrowers who could refinance at these low rates have already done so, several housing analysts said.
On the purchase side, consumers often purchase homes to move in time for the start of a new school year.
"Purchases boomed for me through the summer but have started to slow down," said Sharuk. "It's the end of summer, it's classic."
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