Mortgage Loan Applications Rose

Looking for a Credit Card for Christmas Shopping? Before you submit a credit card application, first review the main points which will help you choose the right credit card for your needs.

What Charges You'll Make - If you're going to use the credit card mainly for booking airline reservations and hotels, it might be best for you to get a travel credit card that offers sky miles and hotel points or cashback. If this will be an emergency credit card only, then your main concern may be for a low interest rate credit card with low fees.

When You'll Repay Charges - Will you pay off credit card charges in full every month, or will you carry a balance month to month? If you're going to carry a balance, you want the lowest possible interest rate as well as a low introductory rate. But if you'll payoff balances in full every month, then interest rate really doesn't matter so no annual fee and/or a long grace period would be a bigger concern. If you're going to carry a balance, be concerned about how the finance charge is calculated. The most common method is the Average Daily Balance, which means that the daily balances are added together and then divided by the number of days in the billing cycle. Stay away from credit cards that compute the balance using two billing cycles, as this method costs more money in financing fees.

What Amount You'll Charge - If you're going to use the credit card for all your monthly expenses, then you need a card that has a high credit limit and a high cashback percentage.

More info about Interest Rates, Credit Limits, Incentives, Fees and Penalties

Interest Rates - The interest rate (Annual Percentage Rate) APR can either be a fixed rate or a variable rate that is tied to another financial indicator, most commonly the prime rate. With a fixed rate credit card you know what the interest rate will be every month, whereas a card with a variable rate can fluctuate. Of course, even the interest of a fixed rate card can change based on certain events, such as paying your credit card bill late, exceeding your limit, or simply because the credit card issuer decides to change it after providing you ample advance notice.

Credit Limit - This is the amount of money the credit card company will let you charge to the card. This amount varies depending upon the card offer and your credit history. Be sure to get a credit card with an ample limit, because getting close to your max can hurt your credit score. Just remember that you don't have to max out your limit just because it's available.

Incentives - To compete for and to gain customers, many credit card companies offer rewards. Even if you normally use cash, why not use your credit card and then use the cash to make the payment during the grace period? You still won't pay interest and meanwhile you'll rack-up rewards. A credit card with 5% cashback will earn you $5 for every $100 charged. If your total bills come to $2,000 per month, you'll earn a free $100 every month. Look for a rewards program that you'll use and which offers flexibility, such as cashback or travel.

Fees and Penalties - Compare common charges such as late fees, overlimit fees, balance transfers, cash advances, and for making payments by telephone. Regarding balance transfers, look for credit card offers with no transaction fees and zero percent interest for at least 12 months.

Affiliate Program

» Articles » News » Mortgage Loan Applications Rose

Credit Federal

Personal loan and credit card resource serving millions of good and bad credit U.S. consumers.

View all news by Credit Federal...

Mortgage Loan Applications Rose

By Credit Federal | Published 03/30/2006

Mortgage loan applications rose slightly last week ahead of the anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

At the same time, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that borrowing costs on 30 year fixed rate mortgages averaged 6.36% excluding fees, up 0.05 percentage point from the previous week.

The 30 year fixed rate mortgage was also substantially above its 2005 low of 5.47% in late June and above last year's high 6.33% the week of Nov. 11.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended March 24 increased 1.2% to 571.7 from the previous week's 565.0, which was its lowest level this year.

The federal funds rate is the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase mortgage index rose 2.7% to 404.1 from the previous week's 393.6.

However, the index, widely considered a timely gauge of U.S. home sales, was well below its year-ago level of 470.9.

The group's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications fell 1.0% from the previous week, to 1,558.4. A year earlier the index stood at 1,857.2.

Historically low mortgage rates have fueled a five-year housing boom, helping support the economy despite uncertain business investment.

Most analysts contend that mortgage rates are on the rise. While they may differ on whether or not there is a housing bubble, most agree the market is cooling from its record run.

Fixed 15 year mortgage rates averaged 6.00%, up from 5.99% the previous week. Rates on one-year adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) increased to 5.83% from 5.68%.

The MBA's survey covers about half of retail residential mortgage originations. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts.

The MBA data is seen as an indicator of latest trends, following what were mixed signals on housing tendencies from other sources earlier this month.

Last Friday, the U.S. government said sales of new homes took their biggest plunge in February in nearly nine years, while prices fell and the number of homes for sale hit a high, signaling significant slowing in the housing market.

But the day before, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 5.2% in February, defying forecasts of a slowdown as warm weather boosted single-family and condo sales.

Visit Credit Federal to submit your good or bad credit mortgage loan application.

Share this Financial Article with a Friend - click here

Webmasters: Free Financial Content for Your Website!

Multiple ways to use our financial content:

1) You can use our RSS Feeds for automatic insertion and updates

2) You can simply link to this article

3) You can copy/paste the HTML code below (do not remove any links).

Mortgage Loan Applications Rose - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> Mortgage loan applications rose slightly last week ahead of the anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate hike. At the same time, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday that borrowing costs on 30 year fixed rate mortgages averaged 6.36% excluding fees, up 0.05 percentage point from the previous week. The 30 year fixed rate mortgage was also substantially above its 2005 low of 5.47% in late June and above last year's high 6.33% the week of Nov. 11. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended March 24 increased 1.2% to 571.7 from the previous week's 565.0, which was its lowest level this year. The federal funds rate is the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans. The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase mortgage index rose 2.7% to 404.1 from the previous week's 393.6. However, the index, widely considered a timely gauge of U.S. home sales, was well below its year-ago level of 470.9. The group's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications fell 1.0% from the previous week, to 1,558.4. A year earlier the index stood at 1,857.2. Historically low mortgage rates have fueled a five-year housing boom, helping support the economy despite uncertain business investment. Most analysts contend that mortgage rates are on the rise. While they may differ on whether or not there is a housing bubble, most agree the market is cooling from its record run. Fixed 15 year mortgage rates averaged 6.00%, up from 5.99% the previous week. Rates on one-year adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) increased to 5.83% from 5.68%. The MBA's survey covers about half of retail residential mortgage originations. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The MBA data is seen as an indicator of latest trends, following what were mixed signals on housing tendencies from other sources earlier this month. Last Friday, the U.S. government said sales of new homes took their biggest plunge in February in nearly nine years, while prices fell and the number of homes for sale hit a high, signaling significant slowing in the housing market. But the day before, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 5.2% in February, defying forecasts of a slowdown as warm weather boosted single-family and condo sales. Visit Credit Federal to submit your good or bad credit <a target='_blank' href="http://creditfederal.com/mortgage-loan.html">mortgage loan</A> application. This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

Credit Tip: Need a high limit for Christmas credit card charges? If you have bad credit, consider a personal loan by refinancing your mortgage. Even if you have cash to buy Christmas presents, we recommend using a prepaid card to make purchases because it's safer than carrying cash.