San Diego, CA (PRWEB) July 15, 2013

Blue Loan Services is a full service mortgage company that has been providing California home loan borrowers with the best wholesale home purchase and refinance rates, as well as access to the most trusted California mortgage lenders and specialized loan products for many years. The company’s website offers a number of tools that homeowners and home buyers can use to find the best mortgage scenarios for their unique financial situations and lifestyles, as well as news on the latest mortgage trends and other stories that affect mortgage rates and home prices. With the surprising sudden increase in mortgage rates last month, many borrowers are asking the question “Will mortgage rates go down again?” The answer to this, according to Blue Loan Services is: not any time soon. Mortgage interest rates are expected to rise rather than fall; however Blue Loan Services can help borrowers to benefit from the best available interest rates regardless of how mortgage rates move.

The company explains that the recent mortgage interest rate increase that happened so fast was the result of investors panicking when Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, made statements that seemed to imply that the Fed would be starting to wrap up some parts of their stimulus program. This turned out not to be the case, and later the Federal Reserve clarified that the statements were meant to be taken as good news about the improvements in the economy. However, as an article from the New York Times published last June 20th reports: “…the investors whose decisions spread Fed policy through the economy, responded as if the news had been grim. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index took its worst two-day dive since November 2011 and has lost 5 percent of its value in the last month. Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, raised its advertised rate on 30-year loans to [4.5 percent from 3.9 percent in the same period.”

Since then home mortgage interest rates have stabilized, but they are not expected to go back down to their former low levels. Those who have been planning to purchase a home or refinance before the increase, however, should not put off their plans just yet. The experts at Blue Loan Services point out that rates are still quite low, just a few points above the record lows seen last year and the beginning of this year, so those who wish to take advantage of these rates should do so as soon as possible. The company’s reputation for fast loan closing times, coupled with their online application and documentation system which allows Blue Loan Services clients to quickly find and apply for the best loan products, can help homeowners and buyers in California to quickly lock in these still low rates before they get any higher. A review of this online system from a client living in Pleasanton says:

“I've been through the loan process at least 8 times, combined of both loans for home purchases and refinances. This is by far the smoothest and most easy-to-use electronic-approach I've ever had, mainly due to Brandon Blue's expertise and knowledge of the loan process, the quick response times via emails, as well as use of electronic copies of documents. I love how they set up the system, by using an online portal to upload all required documents and update the loan status throughout the loan process, and also the convenience of communicating through emails. Lastly, Brandon Blue was easy to work with.”

According to a recent survey from Fannie Mae, the number of people who believe mortgage rates will increase over the next year jumped 11 percentage points from May to hit 57 percent in June, the highest level in the survey’s three-year history. The news, released Monday, came just three days before Freddie Mac reported that the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage hit a two-year high of 4.51 percent with a 0.8 point fee.

The spike in mortgage rate expectations this month seems to have had an impact on a number of the survey’s indicators and may increase housing activity in the near term by driving urgency to buy,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. Supplementary data from the survey confirm his belief.

While the share declined 4 percentage points between May and June, a full 72 percent of people still think it is a good time to buy a house. People expecting home prices to increase over the next year hit a survey high of 57 percent. Only 7 percent believe prices will decline. A majority of people also expect renting prices to increase over the next year. All told, the data suggest that those who want to get into the market should so do sooner rather than later.

“Consumers may recognize that today’s still favorable mortgage rates and homeownership affordability levels will recede over time,” Duncan said. “Given rising home and rental price expectations and improving personal financial attitudes, more prospective homebuyers may be deciding that now is the time to get off the fence.”

But with this in mind, the number of mortgage applications has actually been on the decline recently. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest report, for the week ended July 5, loan application volume dropped 4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. That’s the eighth weekly decline in nine weeks and comes after an 11.7 percent plunge in the previous week. The figures include both refinancing and home purchase demand, and cover more than 75 percent of all domestic retail residential mortgage applications.

Source: Wall Street Cheat Sheet

1. Kim Sears is the only serious girlfriend Andy has had. They met at the US Open in 2005.

2. As a boy, Andy spent his pocket money on Bond films – his favourite was Goldfinger. He was thrilled when he received a call from Sir Sean Connery during Wimbledon 2005 to wish him luck.

3. He once played tennis with David Cameron in the State Dining Room at 10 Downing Street during a reception. He admitted to being scared that he would break something but luckily they both managed to avoid hitting the chandeliers.

4. The 26-year-old appeared in a special edition of the BBC comedy show Outnumbered for Sports Relief where he showed his sense of humour. He was asked by the young character Karen what he did. When he replied, "I play tennis", an underwhelmed Karen replied, "But what do you do for a job?".

5. He once loaded so many Milky Way cake bars into his supermarket trolley that the lady at the checkout said, "Do you think these are on special offer or something?" Kim replied, "No, he just likes them a lot."

6. As Andy was born with a bipartite patella, where the kneecap bone fails to fuse together, he has required painkilling injections and pills to get him on court.

7. Andy sold his red Ferrari as he felt like an idiot in it. "I'm quite a conservative driver, but when I was driving that, I would get beeped just for getting out of the car," he said.

8. When Andy won the junior title at the 2004 US Open he dedicated his victory to the victims of a terrorist attack on a school in Beslan in Russia that year, as well as to the victims of the 1996 shooting at Dunblane primary school (where he and his brother were pupils). "I found it hard to watch those children coming out of the Russian school," he said. "I watched it on television and felt so much sorrow for them."

9. When Andy started playing on the tour, he often felt lonely and isolated. "I love company, I love being around a lot of people," he has said.

10. If you listen to the album produced by the world's leading doubles team, American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, you will hear Andy rapping about signing autographs. "During Wimbledon it gets really crazy. My hand cramps up and my mind gets hazy. I sign and I sign but the line doesn't end. Wake me up and let's do it tomorrow. Autograph."

11. Though the only book Andy ever read all the way through was a wrestler's autobiography, he has been acquainted with Shakespeare – he read some to Kim to help her learn her lines for a stage production.

12. As a young boy, Andy and his family would listen to cassettes of Billy Connolly's stand-up routines as they drove to tournaments. He says that Connolly taught him to swear.

13. Andy sometimes has been known to eat four Feast ice-creams a day (although he is now extremely strict when it comes to his diet). "I can eat ice-cream from midday until I go to bed," he once said.

14. Andy believes there is "a fear of emotion in tennis". "It wouldn't make me feel good to bottle up my emotions," he once said. "Saying nothing and standing there makes me feel flat. If someone in the crowd boos, everyone looks at them as if to ask, 'What the hell are you doing?'"

15. He recently bought a hotel, Cromlix House in Dunblane, where his brother Jamie got married.

16. His obsession with go-karting is such that he has his own racing shoes and helmet which has "The Stig" written on the back.

17. The tennis champion almost missed the 2004 BBC Sports Personality of the Year show, where he was given an award for young sportsman of the year, after he inadvertently locked himself in a hotel bathroom.

18. As tennis is a "diagonal sport", Murray's body is not totally in balance; he has a weaker left shoulder, because it never gets to work as hard as the right, and his left leg is a little stronger than his right.

19. Andy's middle name is Barron, which translates from Old English as "young warrior".

20. When Andy was seven, he spent £8 at a local market on getting the Andre Agassi ‘hot lava’ look in tribute to his idol — Andy bought some cut-off denim shorts, neon pink and purple cycling shorts, and a baseball cap with a long blond ponytail clipped to the back.

source: hellomagazine.com

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 The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 4.51 percent, a two-year high, on the possibility that the Federal Reserve would reduce future bond purchases, according to Freddie Mac.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.51 percent for the week ending July 11, up from last week when it averaged 4.29 percent. Last year at this time, it averaged 3.56 percent.

The 15-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 3.53 percent, up from 3.39 percent last week and 2.86 percent from a year ago.

On Thursday morning, stocks opened at record-high levels after comments Wednesday night from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that the Fed intends to keep its $85 billion a month bond purchasing stimulus program in place for the near future. The Dow closed at an all-time high on Thursday. 
 Before Bernanke spoke at a conference at the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Federal Reserve released minutes from its policy committee meetings from June 18 and 19. Those meeting notes indicated many members were waiting for further improvement in the labor market before bond purchases could be slowed.

Last month, Bernanke hinted that the Federal Reserve could begin tapering bond purchases as early as this fall if, among other factors, the country's unemployment situation improved. 

 Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist with Freddie Mac, said households were moving into the mortgage-lending market out of fear that interest rates might rise.

Nothaft said June's employment numbers, which indicated a higher than expected 195,000 jobs added last month plus higher revisions for the previous two months, led to more market speculation that the Federal Reserve would reduce future bond purchases. That caused bond yields and mortgage rates to rise, he said.

"Moreover, hourly wages rose by 2.2 percent over the last 12 months and represented the largest annual increase in nearly two years," he said. "However, the minutes of the June 18th and 19th Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee meeting, released July 10th, stated that many members indicated further improvement in the outlook for the labor market would be required before it would be appropriate to slow the pace of bond purchases."

The jobs report indicated part-time jobs increased to more than 350,000, an indication that the quality of jobs did not keep pace with the quantity of jobs added.

When asked if some people are just getting into the market on the fear that mortgage rates will rise further, Zillow senior economist Svenja Gudell said that may be only one part of the story.

"Some of the demand may be pulled forward for those that are already in the process of buying and they might try to speed up closing so they are able to lock-in the lowest rate possible, but it's unlikely that a flood of brand new buyers will enter the market just because mortgage rates are rising," she said.

It's important to remember that mortgage rates are still incredibly low, she said.

"Per Freddie Mac, the average 30-year fixed rate over the past 42 years was roughly 8.5 percent, so anything below 6 percent is a bargain. Also, rates of 6 or even 7 percent won't happen overnight. While it's expected that mortgage rates, in general, will continue to rise, it will take a few years for them to reach that level," she said.

Gudell said some investors are beginning to exit markets due to rising mortgage rates and home values, especially in areas like Phoenix and Las Vegas that have seen above average investor activity. With that view in mind, homebuyers could benefit.

"First-time homebuyers will no longer be pushed out of these markets and have more of a chance to be competitive, avoiding stressful and frustrating bidding wars," she said. 

Source: ABC News

Mortgage applications fell for the fourth straight week as interest rates continued to tick up.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), mortgage applications fell 4% last week after plummeting 11.7% the week before. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. Mortgage applications are now about a third below their level from a year ago.

The decline in mortgage activity is fueled by the rise in interest rates which have reached their highest level since July 2011. The average rate for the 30-year fixed rate-mortgage increased to 4.68% from 4.58% last week. The spike in rates has driven the refinance share of mortgage applications down to 64%.

Mike Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics, said last week that refinancing applications reached their lowest level in two years. The rate remains unchanged.

According to economists at Contingent Macro Advisors, mortgage activity has fallen 43.6% over the past two months.

"Mortgage applications had been on a rising trend over the past 18 months although there has been substantial week-to-week volatility, but the trend now appears to have topped out and begun a steady retreat," according to a statement from Contingent Macro Advisors.

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7% of total applications. Despite the rise in rates and declines in applications, the four-year average for home purchases continues to climb since it turned upward in November 2011.

WIMBLEDON, England — Andy Murray's long-awaited Wimbledon victory against Novak Djokovic could signal a tilting of an entrenched dynamic.

Murray, though it took him a while to break through, has become a significant force in the chase for majors.

Playing with a calm sometimes lacking in previous campaigns, No. 2 Murray knocked off top-ranked Djokovic 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on a brilliantly sunny afternoon — thus ending a cloud of anxiety that has hung over Britain.

Scotland's Murray is the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years, since Fred Perry won the last of three in a row in 1936.

"I still can't believe it," Murray said a couple of hours after sending the Kingdom into collective delirium. "Can't get my head around that."

Djokovic remains No. 1 in the rankings. It could be said, however, that at this moment Murray is at the top of the game.

The two 26-year-olds, born a week apart, have upped the physical stakes with Rafael Nadal and are threatening to separate themselves from Roger Federer, who turns 32 in August and has dropped to No. 5, his lowest ranking in a decade.

You're looking at a bit of the changing of the guard," John McEnroe said Sunday. "Roger is one of the greatest, if not the greatest ever, but it's going to be harder for him to hang with these guys in long matches now. And Andy's really come into his own."

One year after a crushing defeat to Federer in the Wimbledon final, Murray returned to the All England Club lawns to capture his second Grand Slam title. He broke through in September at the U.S. Open, where he beat Serbia's Djokovic in a rousing five sets.

Murray, who also won the 2012 Olympic gold medal at Wimbledon, ran his unbeaten string on grass to 18-0 since.

"I understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at Wimbledon so I hope you enjoyed it," Murray told the crowd at Centre Court, where the year before he broke down into tears in his on-court interview. "I tried my best."

Grueling groundstroke rallies

Meeting in their third major final in less than a year, the world's top two players and defensive standouts exchanged many grueling groundstroke rallies. A few went 30 shots or more.

Murray was quicker around the court and steadier in the clutch, taking advantage of Djokovic's lackluster serving and bouts of error-prone play.

"The bottom line is that he was a better player in decisive moments," said Djokovic, the 2011 Wimbledon winner. "He was all over the court."

Murray had a better ratio of winners (36-31) and unforced errors (21-40) than Djokovic, and also smacked more aces (9-4). But the biggest difference was his ability to put return after return in play — 77% in all.

"Even though when I was putting my first serves in he was always getting them back in the court and making me play an extra shot," Djokovic said. "That's why he won this tournament."

Murray, too, seemed energized by the nearly 15,000 screaming fans on sold-out Centre Court and thousands more watching the big screen from the grounds.

With them at his back, he recovered from a break down in the last two sets and shook off the loss of three match points when he was serving for the match at 40-0.

"At the end, mentally, that last game will be the toughest game I'll play in my entire career, ever," Murray said.

When Djokovic netted a backhand, Murray's racket and cap went flying as he pumped two fists at his box.

Soon he was there himself, hugging his coach of the past 18 months, Ivan Lendl, his girlfriend Kim Sears, his father Bill and other members of his team and family.

The Dunblane native nearly forgot the person most responsible for putting a racket in his hand and shaping his game before reversing course to give her an embrace — his mother Judy, Britain's Fed Cup captain and a former top player in her native Scotland.

Murray credited hard work and resolve for his win — making the incremental improvements from which champions are constructed.

"I think I persevered," he said. "That's really been it, the story of my career probably."

He also learned from his losses, particularly last year's four-set defeat to Federer.

"I think it was a turning point in some ways," Judy Murray said. "He had chances in the final last year and let it get away. I think every time you have a really tough loss, a loss that really hurts you, you learn a lot from it about how to handle the occasions better going forward."

Eight-time Grand Slam champion Lendl, who like Murray lost his first four major finals, provided the voice and mind-set to help him turn the corner.

"I think he believed in me when a lot of people didn't," Murray said of Lendl, who reached two Wimbledon finals but never left with the trophy. "He would have loved to have won here, but it's the next best thing."

Murray, who skipped the French Open with a bad back, ran his record in Grand Slam finals to 2-5. He lost to Djokovic in January in the Australian Open final. Djokovic fell to 6-5.

Together, they have contested four major finals and are tied 2-2, with Djokovic beating the Scot two of the last three years in Melbourne and Murray winning here and in September in New York.

Djokovic leads their head-to-head 11-8, but meetings in the latter stages of Slams seem likely in their budding rivalry.

"I could see them playing another four times over the next three years," ESPN's Brad Gilbert said.

Hardcourt summer ahead

With the season shifting to North American hardcourts, Murray and Djokovic won't slow down. Both defensive whizzes excel on cement.

If Nadal's knee is not a problem, it sets up a tantalizing summer between the trio that will culminate at the year's final Grand Slam in New York.

The fourth-ranked Spaniard tore up the tour after returning from a seven-month absence in February, winning seven titles and a record eighth French Open. But the 27-year-old limped out of Wimbledon's first round with his chronic knee issues again flaring up.

Federer, the all-time leader with 17 majors, appears to be in slow decline. He owns one win against a top-10 player in 2013 and has captured only one small title at Halle, Germany, last month on grass.

Perhaps to get more match play, the Swiss is competing in two minor claycourt events in Europe as he prepares for the summer swing.

"It's definitely a three-horse race for the year-end No. 1, but everything depends on how Rafa's knee is," Gilbert said. "Then we get the hardcourt season that we want."


Source: USA Today

If Andy Murray becomes Britain's first men's Wimbledon champion in 77 years, he'll celebrate with a modest plate of sushi and a piece of chocolate in stark contrast to the growing hysteria of his compatriots.

The 26-year-old Scot tackles world number one Novak Djokovic later Sunday bidding to be the first home winner since Fred Perry in 1936.

Not that Murray, who was beaten by Roger Federer in the 2012 final, will have his head turned.

"I don't actually like junk food these days. I used to love it but, apart from the odd pizza, nowadays I'd prefer to go for a nice meal. If I did win on Sunday sushi would definitely feature in there somewhere," Murray told the BBC.

On hand to watch in the Royal Box on Centre Court will be the usual mix of blue-bloods, sports stars and celebrities.

Victoria Beckham, Wayne Rooney as well as actors Gerard Butler and Bradley Cooper will be taking their seats in the hope of seeing history made.

With national media already crowing over the British and Irish Lions' rugby thumping of Australia and eagerly anticipating a landslide victory for their cricketers when the Ashes gets underway next week, Murray is expected to continue the theme.

"Whether or not Andy Murray can break through the next level of shackles the nation has wrapped around his psyche -- the 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men's champion -- his final against Novak Djokovic will almost certainly be an ordeal," wrote The Observer.

The Sunday Times added: "Andy Murray will wake today believing he will never have a better opportunity to end Britain's interminable wait for a winner of the Wimbledon men's singles".

The Sunday Telegraph predicts worldwide stardom for Murray should he win a second career major following his Grand Slam breakthrough victory at the US Open last year.

"A Wimbledon victory for Andy Murray today would turn him from a British hero into a global superstar," said the newspaper.

Murray already has lucrative sponsorship deals as well as having raked in over $27 million in career prize money.

On the 2013 Sunday Times Rich List, his wealth was estimated to be £32 million ($47.6 million) while victory on Sunday will guarantee a winner's cheque of £1,600,000 ($2.4m).

"He's reported to be earning £8m ($11.9m) or £9m ($13.4m) off court at the moment. We could see that edging up to £15m ($22.3m) if he wins at Wimbledon," Nigel Currie, director of the sports marketing agency brandRapport, told Sky News.

Meanwhile, host broadcaster BBC recorded a five-minute peak audience of 13.2 million viewers when Murray beat Jerzy Janowicz in Friday's semi-finals.

Other sportsmen were already getting behind Murray on Sunday.

"All we need now is @LewisHamilton & @andy_murray to WIN today and its a great day for British sport! come on booooooooys !!!," tweeted Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand.

Former England rugby union captain, Will Carling, wrote on Twitter: "I am on a roll, so whilst at it predicting Murray loses in 3 straight sets.....let's hope I am as right about that as Lions 3rd Test!

Source: Global Post


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My dedication to tennis has helped me achieve a National Senior ranking by the United States Tennis Association. There are a number of steps you can take to improve your tennis game.

1. Improving your groundstroke can greatly enhance your overall performance. Practice your groundstroke with a partner at least twice a week. Take lessons from a tennis pro at least once a month if possible.

2. Work to maintain your focus during a match. Instead of chastising yourself for making a bad shot, concentrate on what you must do to defeat your opponent.

3. Improve your fitness level. Losing a few extra pounds can make a huge difference in your stamina and lead to better performance.

4. Develop your serving technique. Serving is one aspect of your game you can work on alone as well as with a partner. Attempt to get to the point where you can serve effectively without having to think about your technique.




Written by Jim Clooney

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