Finance Space

As the economy begins to mend, the cost of borrowing money for a big purchase could start to increase.

Mortgages, in particular, have flirted with record lows during the recession. Credit card rates have been bouncing upward and, while auto loan rates are expected to stay low for a little while longer, they can’t stay low forever.

The Federal Reserve has played a key role in keeping the cost of borrowing so low, through the so-called fed funds rate, a benchmark that determines the interest paid by consumers and businesses on a wide variety of loans. That has been near 0% since December 2008, as the central bank worked to spur greater lending and economic activity.

Canada is implementing three changes to mortgage rules that will help protect the housing market, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Tuesday.

You can arrange biweekly payments and save interest.

There is one universal goal that my clients share: They want to retire without a mortgage.

As retirement creeps closer, many of them start adding extra payments or prepaying additional principal in order to retire free of that monthly mortgage payment. Alternatively, you can start paying off your mortgage early by signing up for a biweekly mortgage payment plan.

My regular columnist, Mom2KG, checks in on the comings and goings of her family’s personal finance and why you should always stay sober at places designed to take your money.

Viva Las Vegas!

Vacations are lovely things. But a girls’ weekend in Vegas – that’s a whole different kinda lovely. I would like to share some lessons I have learned.

The process of choosing a running mate for Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has suffered a setback after a key adviser quit amid controversy over his business dealings.

Jim Johnson, the former head of mortgage giant Fannie Mae, was part of a three-person panel that was looking into the backgrounds of possible vice-presidential candidates.

Choosing the right candidate is seen as key to Mr Obama’s chances of beating Republican Senator John McCain in the race for the White House.

But damaging reports, published in The Wall Street Journal, claimed Mr Johnson received private loans at below-market rates from Countrywide, another mortgage firm, which has been linked to the subprime mortgage crisis.

BANGALORE, June 12 (Reuters) – Thornburg Mortgage Inc, a specialist in jumbo home loans that nearly went bankrupt in March, posted a $3.31 billion first-quarter loss on Thursday as the value of mortgages and other securities it owns plummeted. The company said its net loss before preferred stock dividends totaled $20.64 per share, and compared with a year-earlier profit of $75 million, or 62 cents per share.

Foreclosure prevention is a messy business — more art than science. Here, an inside look at why some people get a loan workout and others don’t.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — More than 3,000 times daily, struggling homeowners call the foreclosure Help Hotline for advice on how to save their homes.

And so begins the complicated and time-consuming foreclosure prevention process. Working together are mortgage servicers – the companies that manage the loans – and the borrowers, with foreclosure prevention counselors often acting as go-betweens.

An investigation into a rash of arsons two years ago in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, helped prosecutors uncover a different crime in the neighborhood: mortgage fraud.

On Feb. 24, 2006, officials were investigating a possible link between two suspicious fires on neighboring blocks, one at 1033 Pacific Street in which four people died and another, barely 30 minutes later, at 1162 Pacific Street, where residents escaped.

No one has been charged with arson in either case, but the second fire has led to charges of fraud, the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, announced on Wednesday.

According to figures released by the Bank of England, the number of new house purchase mortgages approved in April 2008 was 58,000.

This is the lowest number since the bank started recording the figures in 1993, and 8% fewer than the March total.

For twelve consecutive months, the amount of money offered to borrowers, and the number of loans approved, has fallen. This trend is expected to continue, at least for the short-term.

These figures for April suggest that the fall in the number of successful mortgage applications will be greater than that predicted by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The real estate market in general is cyclic, with ups and downs. The United States is no exception from that rule. Currently the market in the US is finding itself in a depression, the low part of the cycle. While many are reluctant about real estate investments, you should have the upper hand.

Anyone who is trying to sell a property knows that now is one of the toughest periods of all. While they are having a hard time selling, an intelligent investor can take this chance and make an investment in an income property, and I will tell you why.