Mortgage rates rose this week but still remained below 5 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday. ...more

December 11, 2009

A broker for a Tampa mortgage company has agreed to plead guilty to federal conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for falsifying information on mortgage applications. Gilberto Jesus Lima, a licensed mortgage broker, worked for Mortgage Corporation of America when he was supposed to pair qualified borrowers with lenders, according to his plea agreement. For his work, he received a commission of 70 percent of fees, while his employer received 30 percent. ...more

August 12, 2009

Mortgage applications surged last week, coming mostly from borrowers looking to refinance at sharply lower rates after the Federal Reserve unveiled plans to buy Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities. ...more

March 26, 2009

New glimmers of hope emerged in economic figures released Wednesday: •The Commerce Department said orders for durable goods, manufactured products expected to last at least three years, increased 3.4 percent in February, much better than the 2 percent economists had expected. It was the strongest one-month gain in 14 months. ...more

March 26, 2009

Mortgage interest rates are at a 58-year low, and according to Fifth Third Bank, homeowners are applying for new loans at near-record levels. ...more

December 22, 2008

Far too many people are buckling under the strain of trying to run their households as consumer prices rise, home values decline and banks get tougher on letting them use credit to make up the shortfall in their pay. ...more

July 6, 2008

Countrywide Financial Corp. said Friday that home loan delinquencies and foreclosures rose in January as more borrowers struggled to make their mortgage payments. ...more

February 16, 2008

Judging by some of the national media reports on the state of the housing market, many people probably are thinking that now's not the best time to buy a home, says Bob Glaser, president of Smith & Associates. He disagrees, arguing that, unlike other parts of the country, the Tampa Bay area's economy is strong, which makes the housing market more resilient. ...more

December 23, 2007

Miami-based Lennar Corp. on Tuesday walked away from developments planned for Pasco, Hillsborough and five other Florida counties. The troubled builder sold 8,300 homesites to Tampa-based Metro Development Group for an undisclosed sum. ...more

December 4, 2007

U.S. mortgage applications rose 5.5 percent last week, reflecting gains in both purchases and refinancing. ...more

September 13, 2007