Mortgage foreclosures are increasing in South Carolina and nationwide, and so are the number of companies who say they can help people in debt.
The trend has consumer advocates warning the public about “mortgage rescue scams.” They also say most people can do for themselves what these companies charge hundreds of dollars for.

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Alan Greenspan said Wednesday that the central bank will keep raising interest rates to ensure that the economy expands at a solid pace with tame inflation. He also warned of “speculative fervor” in housing markets.
“Our baseline outlook for the U.S. economy is one of sustained economic growth and contained inflation pressures,” Greenspan told the House […]

For the first time in 13 years, Orlando, Fla., home sales failed to top the same month of the previous year as 2,883 homes sold in June, compared with 2,952 in June 2004.
June 2004 sales had the record for most sales in any single month in Orlando’s history.
According to the ORRA Roth Report of local […]

This from the Detroit News:
Sometimes called a “lock-in period,” this is the 30- to 60-day time during which a mortgage lender agrees to hold the mortgage rate and points paid by the borrower to a set level. Frequently, the locked-in rate is the one that was in play when the application was first taken, but […]

AP reports that Mortgage rates around the country rose for a second straight week but still remain below rates seen a year ago.
In its weekly survey, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.66 percent, up from last week’s 5.62 percent. The increases were coming after rates had […]

Freddie Mac’s July Economic Outlook Report states that housing is indeed providing substantial impetus to the U.S. economy. Housing consumption and investment provided 22 percent of the growth in the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) according to revised figures for the first quarter of 2005.

Online loan broker E-LOAN Inc. announced it will introduce a mortgage to facilitate homebuyers purchasing as tenants in common, Bizjournals.com reported July 13. E-LOAN said it will begin offering the loan in 45 to 75 days.
The loan is expected to be a 30-year fixed-rate loan that might allow several buyers to purchase a building with […]

Applications for home mortgages increased last week as purchasing and refinancing activity climbed despite a rise in mortgage rates, an industry group said Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity increased 9.6 percent to 853.4 in the week ended July 1, more than erasing the previous week’s 1.1 percent […]

Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose for the first time in three weeks despite higher loan rates, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said both refinancing and purchasing activity rose sharply in the week ended July 1.
The MBA said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity increased 9.6 percent to 853.4, […]

Rates on 30-year mortgages declined this week to their lowest level in more than a year, mortgage giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday in its weekly nationwide survey.
During the week ending on June 30, rates on 30-year, fixed-ratemortgages averaged 5.53 percent, down from 5.57 percent last week.The reading for this week was the lowest since early […]