Sales of new U.S. homes surged 9.6 percent in July, another sign the housing market is climbing back from the historic bottom it reached early this year. Driven by falling prices, the fourth-straight monthly increase was greater than expected.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000 from an upwardly revised June rate of 395,000. Sales are now up more than 30 percent from the bottom in January, but are still off nearly 70 percent from the frenzied peak four years ago.

Increased demand for both purchase and refinance loans drove a 6.6 percent increase in mortgage applications last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in releasing the results of its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

Requests for purchase loans for the week ending June 19 were up 7.3 percent from the previous week, and applications for refinancings rose 5.9 percent. Compared to a year ago, applications for mortgages are up 17.2 percent, the MBA said.

The MBA this week cut its forecast for total 2009 mortgage originations by more than $700 billion, or 27 percent, saying rising interest rates and a slow start to the Obama administration's Making Home Affordable loan refinance program have slowed a boom in refinancing.

Before you sign on the line, there are a few things you should know about the way refinancing works so you don’t make a mistake that could wind up costing you big time.

With refinancing as popular as it is right now, most residents have to be careful about shopping for the best loan.

Even the most attractive offer can wind up being a disaster once you realize how much the loan is really costing you.

You should get a significantly lower rate for refinancing to make sense. Don't rush to refinance unless it's truly worth your while. If you're working with a mortgage broker rather than going it alone, you can be assured that they're bringing you the best offers out there. If you're going it alone, you'll have to do the legwork for yourself.

Consolidating unsecured debt with a refinance loan can be a dangerous idea. You may not be in financial trouble now, but if in a few years things change, instead of simply missing a credit card payment or two, you'll now be in danger of losing your home as well.

Your credit score counts... big time. If you've had credit problems in the past like a bankruptcy, it might make sense to wait a while for your credit score to recover before trying to refinance. Most lenders make it hard for people with less than perfect credit to get the best deals. But, again, if you choose to let an expert like a mortgage broker get involved in the process, they can often find loan options that most homeowners didn’t even know existed - which can save you thousands over the long haul.

Scottsdale, Arizona - based mortgage expert William Acres specializes in providing mortgage information to Arizona residents that allows them to make informed decisions about their mortgage financing options and learn the insider secrets that can save them thousands of dollars over the life of their loan.

Daniel Mudd, director ejecutivo de la empresa de financiación hipotecaria Fannie Mae, aseguró que la crisis hipotecaria y sus efectos en el mercado inmobiliario representarán una carga para toda la economía de EU, y urgió a los legisladores y a los servicios de préstamo a buscar "los medios que sean lo más generosos posible" para ayudar a los prestatarios que enfrentan un aumento considerable en los pagos de sus hipotecas en los próximos años". Como Comprar Una Casa

Algunas de las empresas participantes brindarán la opción al inmigrante de comprar una casa o si tiene el terreno, de construir la vivienda.

Si tienen una cuenta de banco, también deben mostrar evidencia de que deposita regularmente. El precio de las casas fluctúa, pero el mínimo inicial es de dos mil dólares para un modelo sencillo con una mensualidad de 150 dólares. El comprador tendrá la opción de pagar en un plazo de hasta 35 años. Abogados en Mexico

* Hipoteca cambio de casa: te permite comprar una nueva casa y vender sin prisas la actual.

* Hipoteca para autoconstrucción de casa. Te permite financiar la construcción de tu propia vivienda

* Hipoteca rehabilitación vivienda. Te permite financiar la reforma de tu vivienda.

* Hipoteca segunda residencia. Para comprar una casa donde pasar tus vacaciones.

* Hipoteca compra sobre plano. Te permite comprar la casa en la fase de promoción, teniendo en cuenta la entrada.

Las hipotecas suelen contratarse directamente en bancos o cajas de ahorro, también se ofrecen por empresas de intermediación financiera, que sólo cobran una comisión (un % del importe de la hipoteca.

Es fácil calcular lo que un nuevo préstamo añadirá a sus cuotas mensuales, pero es difícil determinar cuánto tiempo necesita usted permanecer en su casa para estar seguro de que la refinanciación ha pagado todo los costos de refinanciación, entre otras consideraciones.