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Mortgage rates managed to ease yet again last week, despite being on the cusp of uncertainty as the Federal Reserve’s exit from the mortgage market is just two and one half weeks away. According to the latest issue of HSH.com’s Market Trends Newsletter, “there’s not a great amount of clarity into what comes after.”

The Fed meets on Tuesday [of this] week for a one-day meeting, the shortest such event in over a year. It’s more than likely that there will be discussions of contingency plans for mortgages should market conditions turn adverse in the months ahead, imperiling the relative stability forming in the housing market.

At blog.HSH.com we strive to write about the hot topics in the mortgage and housing markets. Once in a while we delve into personal finance, credit cards, or anything else that’s bound to have a profound impact on your bottom line.

Friday:

Just as many experts were claiming that the residential housing market had hit bottom, others warned that the crisis was only beginning to develop in the commercial real estate market.

Now it seems that the same can be said for the public and private job markets. As the private job market trends toward improvement, the public job market is slated to be the next shoe to drop in the unemployment crisis.

At blog.HSH.com we strive to write about the hot topics in the mortgage and housing markets. Once in a while we delve into personal finance, credit cards, or anything else that’s bound to have a profound impact on your bottom line.

That said, we want to make sure that we’re writing about the issues that matter most to you. If you have an idea for a story, or would like us to look into an issue that we haven’t yet discussed, feel free to let us know.

There’s a significant divide between those at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and its critics over how the FHA can improve their fiscal situation and the housing market as a whole.

To balance both their struggles and success in the market, the FHA announced “a set of policy changes” back in January that were designed to both strengthen their shaky capital reserves, and to enable the administration to aid in housing’s recovery. For the most part, the changes amounted to an increase in the up-front mortgage insurance premium (MIP).

“Striking the right balance between managing the FHA’s risk, continuing to provide access to underserved communities, and supporting the nation’s economic recovery is critically important,” said Commissioner [David] Stevens.

Through the first three months of the year, the answer so far is “no,” says the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

After writing a post yesterday on the homebuyer tax credit — asking readers just how well they know the tax credit — the question popped into my head: “I wonder how successful the tax credit has been this year in comparison to last year?” I got an answer from one source.

From National Mortgage News (emphasis added):

Is the homebuyer tax credit a loan? Is it a credit? Is it a one-time check for a couple grand? Does it ever have to be repaid? These are all good questions, and questions we’re not sure everyone knows the answers to. As tax time is upon us, it’s more important than ever to understand such things.

In late January, we wrote a post on the homebuyer tax credit because many consumers were complaining about just how long it was taking to receive their check. The reason for the delay? Due to rampant fraud surrounding the program, the IRS decided to change the documentation it required in order for homebuyers to receive their “credit.”

According to the latest issue of HSH.com’s Market Trends Newsletter, “The all-important 30-year fixed conforming average slipped to 5.07% [last week],” a 10-week low point:

[Last] week, the overall average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages tracked by HSH.com’s FRMI sported a decline of six basis points (.06%), ending HSH.com’s survey week at 5.34%, the lowest such average since mid-December 2009. The FRMI includes conforming, jumbo and the GSE’s “high-limit” conforming products in its calculation. The average interest rate for the FRMI’s Hybrid 5/1 ARM counterpart lost a full tenth-percentage point (.10%) during the latest survey cycle, closing the survey week at 4.48%.

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While we try to publish about five new articles each week on HSH.com, last week’s snow storm put a little crimp in our schedule. The result: twice as many articles published this week on HSH.com.

Let’s take a look at the fresh content on our home page:

Another month with consistent unemployment numbers isn’t all that encouraging for a country that is struggling to find its grip on economic recovery. However, some analysts are hopeful since many predicted February’s decline of 36,000 jobs to be worse.

The “good” news is that the unemployment rate held steady — remaining at 9.7% — but last month marked the 25th time payrolls have dropped in 26 months, according to MarketWatch.com.