As we’ve discussed recently, the two-month payroll extension passed late last year included a new fee that lenders must pay to the government each time Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac buy a loan from them. Already, we’re seeing interest rates increase anywhere from .125 percent to .25 percent on home purchase loans and home refinance loans that are eventually sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

How, you might ask, are interest rates and mortgage costs related? It’s actually pretty simple: Fannie and Freddie buy the bulk of home mortgages sold in America. They do this in order to allow lenders to dole out a far higher number of loans than they would if their books were weighed down with a bunch of 30-year-long loans. If a home lender had to wait 15 or 30 years to recoup the money lent out on each loan, they wouldn’t have the capital resources necessary to keep more than a handful of loans open at any one time. By using Fannie and Freddie to buy outstanding loans from lenders and relieving that decades-long burden from their books, the federal government supplies the capital needed to keep home loans available and affordable.

For the most part, this is good for the Texas housing market. But there can be lots of complications, such as this new fee. For the most part, lenders are simply passing the bulk of new cost on to consumers through higher interest rates.

On his weekly radio show, The TexasLending.com Mortgage Hour, (Saturdays on AM 570 KLIF from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. across Dallas-Ft. Worth), our CEO Kevin C. Miller put it this way:

“The impact of the Obama Mortgage Tax has been large for those who thought they would get the lowest home loan rates on record only to be surprised by the increase in rates.”

Here at Texas Lending, we’re proud to offer the lowest home interest rates in Texas and just about anywhere, but these increases will still hurt potential home-buyers everywhere.

However, there is a bit of good news on the interest rate front: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in an interview this week that his agency will keep federal interest rates at about the same historic low we’ve seen over the past couple years.

According to Bloomberg:

“Policy makers are “prepared to provide further monetary accommodation if employment is not making sufficient progress towards our assessment of its maximum level, or if inflation shows signs of moving further below its mandate-consistent rate,” Bernanke said at a news conference today after a Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington. Bond buying is “an option that’s certainly on the table.”

Stocks and Treasuries rose after the Fed extended its previous pledge to keep borrowing costs low at least until the middle of 2013. Fed officials lowered their forecasts for economic growth and price increases this year and in 2013 and set a long-term goal of 2 percent inflation.

We hope to convey to the market the extent to which there is support on the committee for maintaining rates at a low level for a significant time,” he said.”

Home interest rates in the 4 percent range still qualify the current housing market as a solid buyer’s market when you consider all the other factors such as home prices and unsold inventories. In other words, this is an excellent time for a home interest loan, a home refinance loan, or a home equity loan. But when the massive glut of unsold homes begins to finally sell off and when unemployment drops, this historic buying window of opportunity might just close.

If 2012 is the year for your family to buy a home, apply for a home loan online now to get the process started. The tax cut-related interest rate jump shows just how unpredictable housing can be.

Existing Home Sales

For example, according to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes across America rose approximately 1.7 percent in 2011, from 4.19 million to 4.26 million.  This stat is extra positive considering the fact that existing home sales in 2010 actually fell 3.5 percent from the year before, showing that we avoided another prolonged slide.

It’s also good news because sales of existing homes are needed perhaps as much as anything else in order to see a sustained housing recovery.  While sales of newly constructed homes are important (home-building adds much-needed construction jobs and other ancillary benefits), there’s still a massive glut of unsold houses available on the market. This “shadow inventory” needs to be sold off before we can get back to normal.

Still, as the statistics note, we’re a long, long way from normal. The year before the housing bubble popped, 5.04 million homes sold — approximately 15.5 percent more than last year.

New Home Construction

On the flip side, according to the Commerce Department, 2011 was the worst year for new home construction since the economy crashed. Construction began on just 428,600 single-family homes in 2011, just half of what’s standard in a normal U.S. economy

On the bright side, even housing starts ended the otherwise dismal year on a positive note: housing starts increased for the third consecutive month in December. So maybe 2012 will show more signs of a recovery across the board.

The Takeaway

All these stats show two things: 1. Better times are likely ahead (so long as, you know, Europe’s problems don’t spread, or China doesn’t crash, or our debt problems finally catch up to us, or Wall St. flips out again). 2. We’re not there yet.

So it’s still a historic buyer-friendly housing market  in Texas. And here at TexasLending.com, we’re proud to offer a full range of affordable Texas home loans if these stats tell you it’s time to buy.

But there are a few positive indicators out there that show some promise for 2012 — especially if you’re a potential home-buyer here in Texas. Here are the two biggest areas to watch as the new year unfolds:

1. (Slowly) Recovering Home Prices

When you can’t sell your home, you can’t move to a more affordable home, nor can you move to a better job. You could sell the home for a loss, but you’d end up carrying a hefty chunk of debt with you into the next home and basically be paying for part of a home in which you don’t even live.

Housing is central to our struggling economy. So here’s a bit of good housing news in Texas. According to Texas A&M’s Texas Real Estate Center:

Sales of existing single-family Texas homes in November were up 9 percent from a year ago, according to the most recent Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

More than 15,000 homes were sold, data showed. The median home price was $147,600, up 1 percent from a year ago, and the state’s overall inventory was at 6.6 months.

For families who’ve been stuck underwater on a home they can’t sell for anything near the price they need to, better times might just be ahead.

2. Low Interest Rates

Week after week, we continue to marvel at how extraordinarily low Texas home interest rates remain. Combine this with still-affordable home prices and slowly recovering unemployment (at least here in the Lone Star State), and we’re still in thick of a historic buyer’s market.

The implications of  for the broader economy are, like most things, mixed at best. Eventually, the Fed will start letting interest rates rise again. But in an election year, with unemployment still relatively high, this seems pretty unlikely.  2012 will be a great year to buy.

At TexasLending.com, we’ve got a full slate of Texas home loans available at rock-bottom rates. These rates are ideal for an Austin home refinance loan, Dallas home refinance loan, or Houston home refinance loan as well.

The combination of high unemployment, huge federal deficits, a still-messy housing market and an uncertain regulatory environment in Washington forecasts a pretty unstable few years ahead for the housing market. In other words, expect unexpected costs, confusing rules, and frustrating delays.

Here at TexasLending.com, we’ll do everything we can to keep the home loan experience simple and affordable. Here’s how:

We Keep Rates Low

Even if taxes increase, 2012 will still be a historic year to buy a home. Simply put, home interest rates are unbelievably low, and we’re not afraid to brag about the fact that we’ve got the lowest Dallas home interest rates, Austin home interest rates, and Houston home interest rates you’ll find.

We Keep Customers Informed

Knowledge is power, and we’re determined to help make our customers the most well-informed group of homeowners anywhere. So check back here at Texas Lending Today each week to learn what’s new in Texas cities local housing markets, how what’s happening in Washington effects homeowners in the Lone Star State, and how the Texas mortgages services provided here at TexasLending.com can help. Or tune in each Saturday to our CEO’s radio show on 570 KLIF — The TexasLending.com Mortage Hour With Kevin Miller — to hear more.

Similarly, to learn more about our Texas home loans services such as, say, home refinance loans in Dallas, Houston home equity loans, or Austin home purchase loans, take a look at our website. In our mortgage resources section, you can use such nifty tools as our mortgage calculators, peruse the mortgage glossary, and learn more about our loan process.

We Keep Communication Lines Open

Contact us — our unparalleled team of Texas home loan specialists would love to answer any questions, listen to any frustrations, and ease any concerns we can. Or apply online to get the process started today.

This surge in spending is promising news for the economy. Shops, restaurants and other businesses of all shapes and sizes need customers to spend just a bit more. But, of course, for families still struggling from unemployment or high credit card debt, the holidays can make for a tight squeeze come January.

We can help homeowners in two ways. As we mentioned last week, interest rates are currently holding at an unprecedented sustained low, which means that homeowners can get much-needed access to cash in a financially sound way. And here at TexasLending.com, we’re always proud to offer among the lowest home interest rates anywhere in the Lone Star State and beyond (currently as low as 3.75 percent).

Texas Home Equity Loans

Make your most valuable asset — your home — work for you. Our Austin home equity loans, Houston home equity loans and Dallas home equity loans can give you much-needed flexibility in terms of how you manage your finances. For every $10,000 of credit card debt you’re currently carrying, a home equity loan can help you reduce interest payments by as much as $400 per month. What could you do with that cash?

Texas Home Refinance Loans

If you originally took out your home loan at a time when home interest rates were much, much higher, it’s probably a good idea to consider one of our Austin home refinance loans, Dallas home refinance loans, or Houston home refinance loans. For example, refinancing a $120,000 loan could save you $100 per month and more than $3,000 over three years. Larger loans will give you even higher savings. Again — what could you do with that extra bit of freed up cash?

For the two additional months of payroll tax break they threw in this long term bomb to the housing market.

1. The administration will impose a tax on all new loans for the next 10 YEARS that are bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This increase in fees will increase will be passed on to those refinancing and buying homes with the cost to homeowners of about $180 per year for a $200,000 home. This equates to over $1,500 in interest charges over the next 10 years to get a $180 break over the next two months. It will increase the interest rate on mortgages by about 0.1% which will kill some refinances and lower home values by making them less affordable. Making this kind of deal with the government is like selling your soul for a lollipop.

Since the government doesn’t like you to do the math I will do it for you. It will cost over 700% more out of pocket to the homeowner over 10 years than they will get in a 2 month payroll tax cut. And you thought it was the banks who were screwing the consumer. This is what I call predatory tax breaks and predatory government.

The government will come back in January to then extend the tax break for the rest of the year. This additional extension will undoubtedly throw more tax burdens on the middle class and working man and further subdue the economy.

Hopefully if it will be a further drag on the economy this will lead to lower mortgage rates. So in that case, I take it all back.

No hyperbole. This year truly was a record one for Dallas home interest rates, Houston home interest rates, and Austin home interest rates.

According to The Dallas Morning News:

Mortgage rates remain near decades-low levels, and even the most pessimistic forecasts don’t foretell a big run-up in rates. That’s good news, because there are enough obstacles these days to buying a house — from tougher mortgage qualification standards to home appraisals that miss the mark.

The average long-term, fixed-rate mortgage is still going for less than 4.5 percent. Not too long ago, anything under 7 percent was considered a steal.

Current mortgage rates are so low that some housing economists worry that recent homebuyers or refinancers will be reluctant to move a few years from now because they won’t want to give up their absurdly cheap interest rates.

Home interest rates like these make life easy for both potential home-buyers and current homeowners in a couple of ways:

First, they make housing more affordable, which makes it both easier to buy a home and, therefore, easier to sell as well. In a sluggish market like the one we’ve been stuck in for the past few years, this is excellent news. And here at Texas Lending, we’re proud to continually offer just about the lowest rates you’ll find anywhere in the Lone Star State on Austin home loans, Dallas home loans and Houston home loans.

Similarly, low interest rates also lower the cost of refinancing your home. As we’ve mentioned in the past, refinancing can give homeowners an enormous amount of much-needed flexibility during an economically uncertain time. And again, you won’t find more affordable Austin refinance rates, Dallas refinance rates or Houston refinance rates than you will at Texas Lending.

Rates will continue to stay low well into 2012, but this historic buyer’s window can’t last much longer. Contact us if the time is right for you to buy or refinance before rates begin to rise.

There’s a clear winner in this year’s report: Texas.

Nine of our great state’s cities were listed in the top 25 of the nation’s 200 largest metropolitan areas, including four of the top five. San Antonio earned the top-spot crown. El Paso and Austin also made the top five, while Killeen-Temple-Ft. Hood, Houston, McAllen, Dallas, Ft. Worth and Lubbock also each made the top 25. Even the state’s less-populated regions finished with flying colors, with College Station, Longview, Waco, Tyler, and Midland each rated among America’s top 25 smaller cities.

According to the Texas Real Estate Center:

“While it’s good news for Texas to do so well on an index that is based largely on employment growth, Real Estate Center Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines said the state looked good mainly because other states didn’t.

“Our growth rate and advancement isn’t all that wonderful,” Gaines told the San Antonio Express-News. “We’ve managed to stay flat or have very small positives. But because everybody has so many negatives, we look so much better.”

According to the report, nearly one out of every five jobs created across the entire United States of America was created here in the Lone Star State. Houston and Dallas alone — an area roughly the size of Massachusetts — created nearly one out of every ten jobs created in America. Imagine that.

This news isn’t really that new. Everybody knows that the Lone Star State is simply a fantastic place to live. If the upcoming New Year has you considering a move to a new home, we’ll welcome you with an unmatched range of Dallas home loans, Houston home loans, and Austin home loans. Happy holidays!

So what about 2012? Will this year be the year when we finally see a real, robust, sustained housing recovery? We’ve seen a slew of positive signs recently, but there’s been several times in the past couple years when we thought the promised land was just over the horizon. So what could be different about this next leg of this journey through housing wilderness?

With the end of 2011 just around the corner, let’s begin taking a look at what housing markets in Austin, Dallas, and Houston might look like in the coming year.

Let’s start with the Texas A&M Real Estate Center’s monthly review of the state’s economy. According to the report, promising private sector signs indicate that a broader economic recovery might be forming:

Government job losses are slowing Texas’ employment growth rate but the state’s private sector continues to create jobs, offsetting government job losses. The state created 15.4 percent of total jobs created in the United States from October 2010 to October 2011.

The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area’s annual employment growth rate from October 2010 to October 2011 was 1.7 percent, ranking it 13th. The Dallas-Plano-Irving metro area posted an annual employment growth rate of 1.6 percent in October 2011. The metro area ranked 14th in employment growth rate. The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metro area posted an annual employment growth rate of 3.1 percent for the period and ranked 6th among Texas metro areas in employment growth rate.

Nationwide, CNBC notes that home prices are expected to lag behind the broader economic recovery and decline another five percent by the end of 2012. Part of this is due to the major backlog of delinquent loans that won’t be sorted out till things pick up steam again:

Prices are already on a downward trajectory, as foreclosure inventories rise. Banks/mortgage servicers are finally working through a huge backlog of delinquent loans, and as those distressed properties come to market, they will consequently lower home prices. With lower conforming-loan levels, as well as a tight lending environment and the possibility of rising mortgage rates, prices will bottom out in the fall.

Still, Texas is more primed for a robust housing recovery than most places. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas will hit its nadir early, allowing prices to begin rising more thoroughly as 2012 marches on:

Analysts at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas expect home prices to hit bottom by early 2012 as job growth expands in areas like Texas where comparably less overbuilding occurred in the decade leading up to the housing bust. They believe the negative impact of housing supply overhang has been overstated because the housing market is a regional business, where states with expanding job growth, such as Texas, could see a bottom soon, as economy recovers and the pace of household formation rises.

“Although the short-run outlook for the housing market is uncertain, it appears that new home construction and house prices at the national level will stabilize and start slowly recovering within the next year or so,” they said.

In other words, 2012 looks to be an uncertain year — but one arriving with plenty of cautious optimism. Whenever the time is right, we’ve got a slew of Dallas home loans, Austin home loans, and Houston home loans ready for you.

There’s a host of explanations for this. For example, according to the report, residual issues from the economic crisis like unemployment, tight credit, and poor conditions of properties up for sale are partly to blame.

We’ve noticed a few factors as well:

• Nearly 95 percent of all loans closed these days are sold to the federal government, which means that loans must meet a slew of guidelines and regulations. The upside of this is increased access to affordable loans. But the downside is that increased government involvement brings with it a heavy amount of additional paperwork and mandated delays. Closing costs increase, as labor costs are usually passed on to the consumer.

• Similarly, regulations have increased in hopes of preventing a housing-fueled financial meltdown such as the one from which we’re still recovering. In general, regardless how much regulations are needed or how good intentions were when implementing them, they usually bring with them unintended side effects as well. In housing, new regulations from the Dodd-Frank Act have removed some of the incentives for loan providers to fast-track loans — especially for smaller loans. Whether or not this is effective or necessary, it adds yet another drag and additional costs for folks looking to buy a home quickly.

• Many homes have appraisal values less than the purchase contract, which usually causes a delay of at least three days after the loan is re-quoted. Furthermore, the Appraiser Independence Act, which was passed in order to protect consumers from collusion between predatory lenders and appraisers, has a side effect of significantly reducing communication between trustworthy lenders and appraisers as well. This too slows down the process.

Here are two things you can do :

1. Stop Using National Banks

The big banks are taking months longer than community lenders like us. You’ll get better service — and faster service — with us.

2. Start Now

Contact one of our Texas home loan specialists to get the process started today. We’re determined to go above and beyond the service and attention you’ll find anywhere else, and our team is motivated to serve each customer equally — regardless of how large of a Dallas home loan, Austin home loan, or Houston home loan they’re seeking.