Category: recent

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, MAY 05, 2017
Homeowners with a bad credit score can expect to pay double—in some cases, even nearly triple—what owners with solid credit pay for their home insurance, according to a new state-by-state study by insuranceQuotes.

Policyholders with fair credit pay an average of 36 percent more than those with excellent credit, the study found. When a consumer’s credit is poor, premiums can more than double, increasing an average of 114 percent.

“Many consumers aren’t even aware that, in most states, credit plays a significant role in determining how much you pay for home insurance,” says Laura Adams, senior insurance analyst of insuranceQuotes. “So, even if you don’t plan on using credit to borrow money, it still affects your finances.”

Consumers in these states saw the greatest spike in home insurance premiums when their credit was poor:

South Dakota: 288.1%
Arizona: 268.6%
Oklahoma: 248%
Nevada: 235.3%
Oregon: 234.9%
On the other hand, consumers in these states saw the smallest increase:

North Carolina: 0.2%
Florida: 25.7%
New York: 29.3%
Wyoming: 43.9%
Hawaii: 53.1%

The list excludes California, Massachusetts, and Maryland, which prohibit the use of credit scores when setting home insurance rates, the authors note.

View the full report to see state-by-state rankings.

Source: insuranceQuotes

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, MAY 05, 2017

Mortgage rates were mostly in a holding pattern this week, which may have been welcome news to borrowers after last week’s uptick.

“The 10-year Treasury yield remained relatively flat this week, as did the 30-year mortgage rate, which fell 1 basis point to 4.02 percent,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Markets have been erring on the side of caution following a weak advance estimate for first-quarter GDP and the FOMC’s broadly expected decision to leave rates unchanged.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending May 4:

30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.02 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling slightly from last week’s 4.03 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.61 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.27 percent, with an average 0.5 point, the same average as last week. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.86 percent. 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages averaged 3.13 percent, with an average 0.5 point, rising from last week’s 3.12 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.80 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac