Springtime is for selling houses. The months of April, May, June and July typically account for more than 40% of all housing transactions annually, in large part thanks to weather. Are you looking to sell your home? Or do you have friends that are looking to sell? Here’s something to remember – While mortgage rates are expected to rise throughout the year, they not only will remain historically low by the time 2014 comes to an end, but will be much lower by comparison during the spring buying season.

So don’t forget to tell your friends about us so we can help them find the best mortgage rates around! We have several convenient locations – give us a call today!

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index increased by 4.4 points, averaging 81.7, the highest level seen since early 2008. This new data suggests that now is a great time for buying a home. The Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, Lynn Franco said, “while consumers were moderately more upbeat about future job prospects and the overall economy, they were less optimistic about income growth,” Franco said. “The Present Situation index, which had been on an upward trend for the past four months, was relatively unchanged in March. Overall, consumers expect the economy to continue improving and believe it may even pick up a little steam in the months ahead.” More here

Many baby boomers are turning to reverse mortgages for extra income, according to recent data. Loan percentages are expected to increase over the next several years as 77 million baby boomers make their way into retirement, and new reverse mortgage rules have been put in place to preserve the safety of the borrower. The new rules have made the reverse mortgage a more attractive option. Spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Melanie Roussell said, “as with any mortgage product, there is risk to financing a loan, but we have made, and continue to make, significant efforts to mitigate that risk.” More here

Mortgage rates fell this week after last week’s increase, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell 0.5% averaging 4.32% nationally this week. While the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage also declined 0.6%, averaging 3.32% nationally. Both the 30-year and 15-year, FRM are still up from this time last year. Additionally, the 5-year treasury-index hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage also fell to a national average of 3.02%, and the national average for the 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM increased to 2.49%. More here

New data released by TransUnion states that, as hiring increases and the housing market continues to improve, more consumers are making mortgage payments a priority once again. An increasing number of homeowners are beginning to pay off their mortgages instead of making large payments on credit cards, showing evidence that more consumers are out of debt. The mortgage delinquency rate fell in December 2013 to 1.71%, and credit card delinquencies fell to 1.83%. Ezra Becker, vice president of research and consulting for TransUnion said. “as unemployment rose and home prices cratered, many borrowers chose to value their credit card relationships above their mortgages.” More here