The Oregon Real Estate for April 2026
If you’ve been waiting for the Oregon housing market to "calm down" before making a move, your patience may have finally paid off. As we hit the heart of the spring season, the data is telling a fascinating story: for the first time in years, the scales are starting...
The New Era of Credit: What Vantage Score 4.0 Means for Your Next Mortgage
If you’ve been following the news lately, you might have heard that the mortgage industry is going through its biggest credit score shake-up in decades. For years, "FICO" was the only name in the game. But now, Vantage Score 4.0 has arrived on the scene, and it’s a...
Big News for first time buyers in Oregon that need down payment assistance
The Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) has just expanded its Flex Lending program. This isn't just another loan—it’s a pathway to homeownership that many people think is out of reach. The Flex Lending program is designed specifically to help Oregonians...
Stagflation concerns and the effects on mortgage rates
Stagflation is an economic term created by combining the words stagnation and inflation. It describes a rare and highly challenging economic condition where three negative trends occur simultaneously: 1) Slow economic growth (stagnation) 2) High unemployment. 3)Rising...
Mortgage rates are in the 5% range. Why…and will they stay that way?
In early January 2026 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased up to $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The administration's stated goal for this intervention is to increase demand for these bonds, thereby narrowing the "spread" between Treasury yields and...
Tariffs effects on mortgage rates
Mortgage rates have shown significant volatility in response to tariff announcements, often moving in two stages: a brief initial drop followed by a sustained climb as inflation fears set in. When major tariffs were announced (e.g., April 2025), mortgage rates...
Affordability isn’t all about home prices and rates
Affordability is often associated primarily with home prices and mortgage interest rates. However, mortgage payments generally include not only principal and interest, but also property taxes and homeowner's insurance. For loans exceeding 80% loan-to-value, private...
Prepayment penalties may be coming back
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman’s call for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer new government‑backed mortgages with prepayment penalties put a spotlight on how much United States borrowers have paid for the right to refinance at will. Ackman wrote “One of...
Portable mortgages are better than 50-year mortgages but demonstrate that billionaires shouldn’t be the ones to solve housing market problems
A portable mortgage lets you move your existing loan and its interest rate to a new property rather than getting a completely new mortgage. For example, if you've paid off half of a $400,000 home at a 3% interest rate, you could sell that house and transfer the...
Fed rate cut at next meeting in December may be a coin flip
On October 29th, 2025, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate for the second consecutive time, reducing it by a quarter point to set the target range at 3.75%-4.00%. The next opportunity for a potential rate cut will be at the upcoming Federal Open Market...