What We're Hearing

According to one media outlet (which shall remain nameless), some lender somewhere is offering a 3.99% fixed-rate mortgage. Of course, this general media outlet isn't telling the listener all about the points and GSE "adder" fees they must pay to get the loan. Which brings me to a point: Over the past few weeks I've been talking to bankers and brokers about the "refi" boom. They all admit that yes it's here. Loan applications are flooding their desks. But they're not so sanguine about how many of these apps will pull through and actually fund. One N.J. area loan officer told me that during the past week he took in 35 applications. "Basically, I can't close any of them," he said, noting that even though the FICOs are north of 700 GSE "adder fees" which ding the consumer for high LTVs (among other things) ultimately will make the loans too expensive for the applicant…