Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News
Lisbon, Portugal (AHN) – Portuguese caretaker Prime Minister, Jose Socrates, announced the country has reached a bailout agreement with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday. Socrates said Lisbon will ask the two bodies for a $116 billion (EUR 78 billion) financial assistance in the form of a three-year loan. The deal is the end-result of three weeks work by officials of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and IMF. In addition to the bailout, Portugal will be given more time to achieve its budget deficit reduction targets to 5.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product [...] Continue Reading…

Ayinde O. Chase – AHN News Editor
Seattle, WA, United States (AHN) – A recent survey on home buyers has revealed that most don’t know the basics about mortgages. Researchers in a new Zillow Mortgage Marketplace report outline how 46 percent of survey respondents answered questions about mortgage information wrong. As the housing market continues its struggle to rebound from the economic crisis that was fuelled by risky home loans, 44 percent of home buyers admitted they still are not confident in their knowledge of mortgages or the mortgage process. An example of this is trend is when questioned about the specifics of adjustable rate mortgages more [...] Continue Reading…

In its Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices , the Federal Reserve said that “moderate net fractions of banks” said that demand weakened for prime mortgages. In fact, demand for closed-end loans has declined for three consecutive quarters. But demand for commercial mortgages strengthened.
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“Pocket deals,” in which a seller informally engages a broker but doesn’t sign a contract or list the property, are on the rise.

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Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Frankfurt, Germany (AHN) – Inflation in the eurozone rose slightly in April to 2.8, percent up from 2.7 percent in March according to data from Eurostat. Higher energy costs and the cost of raw materials were blamed for pushing the inflation rate upward. European Central Bank officials have set a target inflation rate of just below 2 percent, so the April rate was a disappointment. In addition, the higher rate of inflation will create pressure on the ECB to raise its interest rates. There are 17 participating member states in the euro area. Those states are Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, [...] Continue Reading…

A new trial will be sought by former employees against Quicken Loans Inc., Nichols Kaster PLLP said in March following a jury verdict in favor of Quicken. California’s Second District Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision to award a former employee substantially less than she was seeking [...] Continue Reading…

Depending upon your financial position there can be both benefits and negative aspects to 40 year mortgage programs. The biggest advantage of a 40 year fixed rate mortgage is the ability to amortize the repayment of the loan’s principal and interest over a 480 month period of time rather than the 360 months that are associated with a 30 year loan. This means that one’s monthly payment will likely be lower than with any fixed rate mortgage program with a shorter amortization schedule. The biggest downside to 40 year home loans is that, due to the longer duration of the loan, consumers will end up paying considerably more in [...] Continue Reading…

Linda Young – AHN News Writer
Moscow, Russian Federation (AHN) – Strong inflationary pressure that threatened to derail Russia’s feeble economic recovery prompted the central bank to raise its key interest rate by 0.25 basis points to 8.25 percent. The Russian Central Bank announced the increase in its refinancing rate on Friday and said it would take effect on Tuesday. It marked the second time since February that the bank has raised its rate, before that the bank had not raised its main interest rate in two years. Bank officials said their focus was to combat inflation. The inflation rate reached 9.6 percent on April 25. [...] Continue Reading…

Patton Boggs LLP announced that its mortgage group has teamed up with The Collingwood Group LLC. In a telephone interview, a Patton Boggs partner noted that right out of the gate the two firms hope to help mortgage firms tackle the Federal Reserve Board’s loan originator compensation rule. Other [...] Continue Reading…