RealEstateEconomyWatch.com

Fed Official Hints at More MBS Purchases

As the Federal Reserve Bank of New York completed its latest purchases of mortgage backed securities to prop up mortgage interest rates, its president went public with hints that the Fed would consider reopening its soon-to-end program if interest rates spiked or the economy showed new weakness, The Fed is buying $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities [...]

FTC Bans Up-front Fees for Mortgage Modification

The Federal Trade Commission moved to protect distressed homeowners from bogus foreclosure rescue and mortgage modification services...

Obama Budget Limits Mortgage Interest Deductions…Again

The fiscal year 2011 budget submitted to Congress this week by the Obama Administration caps the value of itemized deductions based on income, effectively eliminating the mortgage interest deduction for single taxpayers making more than $200,000 a year , $250,000 for joint returns.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Deadline Freezes Out Short Sales

Time is running out on homebuyers interested in buying hundreds of thousands of affordable homes, as much as 20 percent of the inventory in high foreclosure markets, and still qualify for the homebuyer tax credit.

Homeownership Hangs Tough

Homeownership, thought by many to be a certain victim of the foreclosure crisis, weathered a record year of foreclosures without losing a beat...statistically speaking.

Illegal Aliens Suspected of Massive First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit Fraud

In Texas, 1,000 applications for the tax credit have been filed by people employing a special taxpayer identification number that is used primarily by illegal immigrants.

Home Builders Court Equity Financing

An amazing event at the International Builders' Show earlier this month promises to change the industry's financing structure forever and breathe new hope into the industry.

Obama Was Quiet on Housing

Though most economists believe the nation's housing crisis shares the stage with unemployment as the two fronts where we are failing in America's war to revive its economy, housing barely received a mention in President Obama's first State of the Union message last night.

Cash Offers Foil Homebuyers

With prices hitting or approaching bottom in markets nationwide and record number of foreclosures available, professional investors armed with cash-rich investors are emerging as factor in the lower end of the residential market.

Eminent Domain is Alive and Well

There are indications that as stimulus funds make their way to the state and local levels, more property than ever may be at risk.

First-time Buyers Faded in Q4

First-time homebuyers, the most important segment of the home purchase market in 2009, accounted for a shrinking share of the housing market as 2009 drew to a close.

Real Estate Goes Back to Print

Newspaper real estate ad spending is projected to rise 16 percent in 2010, to $4.4 billion, after falling 34 percent last year.

Property Taxes Clobber Hurting Homeowners

Local governments across the country are responding to the threat to their bottom line by raising taxes.

’09 Foreclosure Binge to Produce Hangover in ‘10

So many properties are in the pipeline that huge numbers of delinquent properties won't come to market until this year or later.

State Homebuyer Tax Credits Sweeten the Pot at Tax Time

First-time homebuyers in California, Texas, New York and Kentucky will have bigger smiles on their faces than those in other states when they do their taxes this year.

Ten Percent of Wealthier Homeowners are Delinquent on Their Mortgages

 The report is yet another sign that the housing crisis and the negative equity it has caused is climbing upscale to some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in America.

Recasting Mortgages Worth $47 Billion Will Increase Defaults

Thousands of homeowners who have been making payments on interest only mortgages are in for a rude shock this year

Foreclosed Fowl Forfeit Roost

At first, all was well at the new location until a neighbor reported the chickens to the county's nuisance line last month.

Commissions Reach Nine-Year Peak

Real estate commissions have risen for four straight years and they are higher today than they have been since 2001.

Mortgage Rates Finally Fall

Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages switched gears this week, falling slightly for the first time in a month, but remained above last month's record lows.

Crime Falls in Foreclosure Hotbeds

Crime rates fell in nearly every one of the nation's leading foreclosure markets last year, exceeding a decline in the national crime rate in many cases, despite the widespread belief that foreclosures spawn crime.

There’s a Land Rush on USDA Housing Loans

As more and more suburban and exurban buyers figured out how to qualify and an infusion of stimulus funds made more direct and guaranteed loans available, the program doubled its volume last year, making 27,871 loans for the year.

Mortgage Rate Prospects Stir Fears of Re-Recession

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman told Bloomberg News yesterday that he sees about a one-third chance the U.S. economy will slide into a recession during the second half of the year.

Lender Failures Set New Record

More than 200 mortgage-related firms ended operations or failed last year.

Prediction: Foreclosure Mills Will Prosper

To a small group of legal professionals who have figured out how to made foreclosures their pot of gold, the Foreclosure Era continues to be a time of prosperity and profit.

Rates Rise Into 2010

Mortgage rates on  30-year fixed-rate mortgages ended 2009 with the longest ascending streak of the year, rising for the fifth straight week, to 5.14 percent.

NY Fed Economists Foresee Steep Decline in Homeownership

The official homeownership rate "will experience significant downward pressure" in the coming years, according to the staff report as dramatic increases in negative equity reduce incentives to own rather than rent.

Consumer Confidence Ends 2009 on Mixed Note

In December, consumer confidence in the economy improved moderately for the second month in a row, but consumers' short term prospects fell.

Fannie Mae’s Delinquencies Rise 163 Percent in 12 Months

The percentage of seriously delinquent loans in Fannie Mae's portfolio jumped in October, rising 26 basis points to 4.98 percent.

Countdown to Change in 2010

As clocks tick down on 2009, its not hard to foresee big changes in store for home buyers and home sellers in the early months of the new year.

Speculator Sticks Ten Banks with 20 Mortgages Worth $6.4 Million

A New York speculator convinced ten different banks to give him 20 separate mortgages to buy 10 homes with no money down and he defaulted on every one.

Foreclosure States Lose Population

The real estate recession, which has frozen more then 10 percent of homeowners in their homes, has slowed domestic migration dramatically.

Mortgage Rates Break 5 Percent

After hitting historic lows three weeks ago, mortgage rates rose above 5 percent this week.

One of Five Modified Loans Fails in 90 Days

That's the good and bad news from the latest Mortgage Metrics Report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

How Your Tax Credit Can Pay Your Down Payment and Closing Costs

To help buyers who want down payment and closing cost assistance, including those who qualify for the Federal homebuyer tax credit, 19 state housing finance agencies (HFAs) offer special short-term second loans.

Spring Price Recovery Forecast

 Improvement in both levels of inventories and unemployment are projected to prevail in the spring of next year.

Lenders Modified Loans for 680,000 Homeowners

National bank and thrift servicers implemented more than 680,000 home loan modifications and payment plans in the third quarter.

God Bless ‘Em Every One

Unwilling to appear Scroogy a week before Christmas, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and OneWest Bank joined Citigroup, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in postponing foreclosure evictions through January 3.

Shadow Inventory Rises 54 Percent

The 1.7 million homes currently in the "shadow inventory" significantly increases calculations of the inventory of homes for sale, according to a new report from First American CoreLogic.

Some Foreclosure Evictions Break for the Holidays

 Not only were Fannie and Freddie 27 days later this year than last announcing their moratorium, they're giving families facing foreclosures only 15 days of holiday peace, from December to January 3, 2010.

Coldwell Banker’s Gillespie Looks Beyond the Tax Credit

No doubt the tax breaks for both first-time and existing buyers will mean a lot of business for real estate brokerages, but Coldwell Banker is also focused on what happens after credits expire next spring.

Bargains Get Tougher for Investors

Recent industry studies suggest factors are at work that will make bargains harder to find and profit margins slimmer.

Poll Finds 2 Million Unemployed Lost Their Homes

Some 4 million would be at risk of losing their homes and 2 million would have lost them, if the survey's findings proved to be true on a national level.   Total foreclosures in 2009 are expected to exceed 3.5 million, according to RealtyTrac.

Fitch Ratings Sees Better Times for Builders in 2010

A four-year downturn has evidently come to an end for U.S. homebuilders, according to Fitch Ratings in its outlook report for the sector.

HAMP Credited with 40 Percent Rise in California Foreclosure Cancellations

"While many have predicted a wave of foreclosures and REO's, I believe we are instead likely to see a wave of foreclosure cancellations as the Administration kicks off their conversion drive to make more modifications permanent, said ForeclosureRadar CEO Sean O'Toole.

RE/MAX Sees New Federal Short Sales Guidelines Helping Chicago

 New Federal guidelines on short sales are likely to have a beneficial  impact on the metropolitan Chicago real estate market.

Foreclosures Bring Out the Bugs

In the San Francisco Bay region, where foreclosures reached record levels this year, rats and bugs are moving into abandoned houses as quickly as humans depart.

Florida HOAs See Foreclosures Worsening

Some 86 percent of Florida condominium and homeowners associations expect foreclosures and delinquencies to stay the same or increase next year, creating additional revenue shortfalls for their associations.

Only Four Percent of Homeowners Get Obama Loan Modifications

Nine months after the program launched, only four percent of homeowners participating in the government's Making Home Affordable program have successfully had their mortgages modified.

Rates Rise After Record Lows

Thirty-year mortgages averaged 4.81 percent, up 0.10 percentage point from the previous week, when it hit the lowest level since Freddie Mac started tracking it in 1971.

Foreclosure Activity Falls Eight Percent

Foreclosure filings fell nearly eight percent from October and were down 15 percent from the July peak.

Realtors in HomeGain Survey See Prices Stabilizing or Improving

Three out of four Realtors, 72 percent, believe home prices will either stay the same or increase over the next six months.

Fed Governor Says Lenders Flee Foreclosures in Devastated Neighborhoods

Rather than foreclosing on defaulted mortgages in neighborhoods devastated by the economy, lenders are abandoning them because the cost of proceeding with foreclosure is greater than their value.

Farmer Sues Wells Fargo to Feed Foreclosed Animals

"I would have tried to place the animals somewhere safe," the farmer said. "Apparently they're not animal people at all."

Homeowners Lost Only $489 Billion in 2009

Forty-eight of the 154 markets tracked by Zillow showed gains in home values during 2009.

Ten Percent of Homeowners Would Walk Away

Nearly one out of ten homeowners, 9.2 percent or 7.4 million homeowners, say they would likely walk away from their homes, default on their mortgages and suffer the consequences to their credit if they felt financially vulnerable and owed more on their homes than they are worth, according to a new national survey released today.

Failures Cripple Obama Loan Modification Program

 As many as 85 percent of delinquent mortgages are failing the Administration's loan modification process.

Ohio AG Holds Appraisers Accountable

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray charged a Washington D.C. area home appraisal company with improperly influencing Ohio appraisals.

FHA Moves Upscale

The Federal Housing Administration is transforming itself from a lender of last resort serving mid to lower income borrowers into a more expensive lender with a safer, more upscale portfolio.

Wild Parties Trash San Diego Foreclosures

In San Diego, one person's pain is another's...place to party.

Home Pricing Tests Real Estate Agents

For the real estate professional whose role it is to get the most for his client that he can, these are hard times.

Mortgage Deterioration Rate Exceeds 3:1

Of home loans that were current as of December 2008, more than two million, or 4.02 percent, were delinquent or in foreclosure by the end of October 2009.

Are Foreclosures Igniting a Firestorm of Arson?

A year ago fire safety organizations and insurance companies warned that desperate homeowners and business owners facing foreclosure would be burning their property to collect insurance money and avoid the stigma of foreclosure.

Treasury Tweaks Short Sale Incentives to Cut Foreclosures

 This week the Treasury Department released new rules that will help homeowners who need to sell but can't get a price high enough to pay off their mortgage.

FHA and Ginnie Mae Kick Out Lend America

Yesterday the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) today withdrew approval for Lend America to participate in the FHA single family insurance program.

Once Again, Administration Tries to Save Foreclosure Program

The Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced their third attempt to breathe life into the Obama Administration's ailing Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Judge Wipes Out Mortgage, Shocks Lending Industry

Last week’s ruling by a Suffolk County, New York judge wiping out $525,000 in mortgage debt has sent shudders throughout the lending industry.

Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows

The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.00 percent, according to Bankrate.com.

Real Estate Investors Walk Away Before Homeowners

When they owe more on a property than it is worth, investors are more likely to stop paying on their mortgage and default than owners living in a primary residence.

Couple Steals Home from 93-year-old Alzheimer’s Patient

A Brentwood, Long Island woman was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years probation for stealing the home of a 93-year-old Queens man suffering from Alzheimer's disease and then let it fall into foreclosure.

Freddie Mac’s Delinquency Rate Rises for 30th Month

Freddie Mac's mortgage delinquency rate for its single family mortgages past due by 90 days or more rose for the 30th straight month in October, reaching a record 3.54 percent of its portfolio.

Frank Wants $2 Billion to Stop Foreclosures

 Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) is pushing to use left over TARP money to help unemployed homeowners stave off foreclosure

Existing Home Sales Soar Ten Percent

Driven by the first-time buyer tax credit, existing-home sales showed another big gain in October, while inventories continue to decline

Investors Fade While Short Sales Soar

Investors buying homes to rent or sell accounted for only 15 percent of the housing market last month as they competed with large numbers of first-time homebuyers.

Unemployment Drives Record Mortgage Delinquencies

Fourteen percent of all American mortgages are either delinquent or in the process of foreclosure.

The Last Days of the Homebuyer Tax Credit

This is it.  No more extensions.  When April 30 comes and goes, the tax credit for everyone is over and buyers have only until June 30 to close.

Foreclosures Overwhelm Rural Communities

 Like suburban areas, rural communities also are suffering the devastating impact of negative equity on their housing markets.

Ponzi Schemer Faces 52 Years for Real Estate Fraud

William Arthur Sassman, 41, is being held in the Sacramento County Jail and bail has been set at $3.2 million.

Delinquent Mortgages Will Set a Record This Year

Mortgage delinquencies hit an all-time high of 6.25 percent in the third quarter.

Hot Refi Checks Leave Illinois Homeowners in the Cold

Last month a process server drove up to his Mokena, Ill. home and handed Franson papers notifying him he owed  his old lender $93,702.51 and they were foreclosing on his home.

Housing Designed for Aging Boomers Perks Up

The National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) 55+ Single-Family Housing Market Index showed a six-point increase in the third quarter of 2009,

Lenders Torpedo Home Sales

While the Federal government will be paying out nearly $17 billion in tax credits over the next five months to stimulate home buying, the nation's system of mortgage finance is undermining their ability to get financing.

FHA Should Weather Loan Losses

Under most scenarios the agency should be able to continue to fulfill its mission of facilitating the market's recovery.

New Homebuyer Tax Credits Light Up the Holidays

 Home sales activity across the country is picking up even though we are entering a period when sales usually slow down as the holidays approach.

Mortgage Rates Sink to Seven-Month Low

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to a seven-month low of 5.19 percent.

Low Priced Foreclosures and High Hopes for Appreciation Draw Investors Back to Real Estate

The number of consumers interested in investing in real estate has doubled since March 2009.

Short Cuts Short Out Treasury’s Loan Modification Program

Short cuts, including lack of documentation by borrowers, are crippling the Obama Administration's loan modification program and threatening to significantly reduce the more than 650,ooo loans currently in the trial phase of the program.

Auctions Bid for Seventh Record Year

Gross revenue from residential real estate auctions have skyrocketed 49 percent over the past six years, an increase of $5.6 billion.

Underwater Homeowners Come Up for Air

The percentage of American single-family homes with mortgages in negative equity fell to 21 percent in the third quarter, down from 23 percent in the second, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Report.

Delinquent Mortgages and Foreclosures Soared in September

Today one out of every eight American homeowners with a mortgage (12.49 percent) is either in foreclosure or delinquent in their payments.

Banks Tighten Lending Standards Further

One out of every four banks continued to tighten lending standards and terms for prime mortgages in the third quarter.

Tidal Wave of New Defaults Arrives

The first wavelets of a long-dreaded tsunami of new defaults are washing up on the shores of California, Nevada and other markets where prices soared during the housing boom.

Pressure Builds on Property Taxes

A perfect storm is brewing for big property tax hikes across the nation next year, increases that could add significantly to the costs of homeownership

College Towns Cost Less than Average

The average four-bedroom home costs less than $250,000 in 62 percent of college markets surveyed.

How the New Homebuyer Tax Credit Works

 The extension and expansion of the homebuyers tax credit that passed Congress November 5 allows more first-time buyers to qualify and creates an entirely new credit for existing homeowners who buy a new home.

Congress Passes Homebuyer Tax Credit

 The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to pass legislation containing an extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit, completing Congressional action and sending the tax credit to President Obama for his signature, possibly as early as tomorrow.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Will Motivate First-time Buyers More than Move-up Buyers

The first-time homebuyer tax credit would do more to defray the purchase price of a starter home than the move-up buyer credit would do for existing homeowners buying a new home.

Senate Clears Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension to Pass This Week

 The Senate last night cleared the way to pass a seven month extension and expansion of the tax credit for homebuyers, making it virtually certain that the legislation will reach President Obama for his signature this week.

Vacancies, No Credit and Falling Values Stress Out Commercial Markets

With high unemployment pushing up vacancies, no credit capacity and property values plummeting, commercial real estate markets remain extremely stressed with little prospect for significant near-term improvement.

Rush to Tax Credit Deadline Pushes up Pending Sales

Contracts on existing homes rose 6.1 percent in September as first-time homebuyers rushed to take advantage of the $8000 Federal tax credit before it expires November 30.

Sales Fade As First-Time Buyers Give Up on Credit

With less than thirty days to go until the first-time homebuyer tax credit expires, home sales are starting to fade as buyers give up on making the November 30 deadline.

Apartment Market Improves Slowly, Vacancies Remain High

The apartment market showed signs of improvement in the third quarter, but vacancies and rent levels remain low.

Foreclosure Hot Spots Spread to Idaho and Utah

Foreclosures fell in five of the top ten markets for distressed sales during the third quarter, but new foreclosure hot spots cropped up in unlikely Western markets.

Rate on 30-Year Fixed Rises to 5.35 Percent

The average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate inched higher to 5.35 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey.

Homeowners Accused of Torturing Loan Modification Agents

A Los Angeles-area couple and three partners were charged last week with torturing two employees of a loan modification company who they believed had defrauded them and reneged on a promise to help save their home in a Los Angeles suburb.

Move-up Buyers to Get Homebuyer Tax Credit

The deal struck among key senators last night to extend the homebuyer tax credit will broaden the benefit to include existing homeowners who are buying a new home as well as first-time homebuyers.

Arizona, California Markets Lead Top Ten List for Home Sales

The country's top ten ZIP codes for home sales based on sales-to-list price ratio have diversified significantly this quarter.

Mortgage Rates Reach 4.92 Percent

The weekly average rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for 30-year fixed mortgages decreased ten basis points last week to 4.87 percent, down from 4.97 percent the week prior.

“Loan Modification Scam Alert” Targets Scam Artists

The campaign, “Loan Modification Scam Alert,” was launched in Los Angeles , which consistently ranks among cities with the highest foreclosure rates and has the highest number of homes in foreclosure in the nation.

Find the Right Mortgage

Finding the mortgage that is right for you is a very important decision

Homebuyer Tax Credit Set to Pass Senate This Week

An amendment to extend the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax through June and expand it to include all homebuyers is expected to pass the Senate this week despite recent headlines reporting extensive abuse of the program following an investigation by the Treasury Department.

Freddie Mac’s Delinquency Rate Rises for 29th Month

Freddie Mac's mortgage delinquency rate for its single family mortgages rose for the 29th straight month in September, reaching a record 3.33 percent of its portfolio.

Four-Year-Olds Get Homebuyer Tax Credits

Even though they were not old enough to buy a house, more than 580 children younger than 18 have claimed almost $4 million and received $627,000 in first-time homebuyer credits.  Some were as young as four years old.

Mortgage Applications Fall

Last week applications for mortgages fell 13.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Lend America Charged with Fraud

A mortgage lender known for  its television infomercials touting FHA-backed loans is the target of a Federal civil suit and an ongoing investigation for mortgage fraud.

New York Cracks Down on Mortgage Fraud

Forty-one defendants, in eight separate cases, were indicted yesterday for  allegedly engaging in various mortgage fraud scams that collectively defrauded lenders out of more than $64 million in home mortgage loans on more than 100 properties across New York State.

Fitch: Slowdown in Mortgage Modifications Won’t Last

Though fewer borrowers received modifications in recent months, the delay will be short-lived and soon, according to Fitch Ratings in a new report.

Analyst Report Trashes Fannie and Freddie

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shares each fell more than 21 percent yesterday after analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said their common stock was worthless.

White House Boosts Local Housing Programs

The White House yesterday announced a new program to give lower income home buyers and renters a temporary boost in the marketplace.

Home Builder Confidence Dips as Homebuyer Credit Deadline Nears

With the expiration date for the first-time homebuyer tax credit approaching, builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes slipped one point to 18 in October.

Foreclosures Drove September Prices Up Six Percent

Real estate agents participating in the Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions report that residential property values rose 6 percent from August to September.

More Churches Face Foreclosure

Churches, parsonages, church schools and other properties are becoming victims of the same sour national economy that has devastated secular real estate.

Foreclosures Seen Declining in 2010

After reaching an all-time high in 2009, foreclosure starts will to decline after the first of the new year, according to a new forecast from UFA LLC.

Fitch Downgrades Prime Mortgages

Rising unemployment and negative home equity are causing an increasing number of mortgage borrowers whose mortgages have been converted to prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) to fall behind on their monthly payments, according to Fitch Ratings.

Better Days Ahead for Remodelers

The remodeling industry is turning a corner and annual consumer spending for home improvement should start to rise in the beginning of next year

Foreclosures Reach All-Time High

Nearly one million homes received some form of foreclosure notice during the third quarter, setting an all-time high for foreclosure filings reported by RealtyTrac.

Guilty Plea Ends Mother of All Mortgage Frauds

The "mother of all mortgage frauds" came to an end Friday when an Indianapolis man has pleaded guilty for his lead role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme believed to the largest of its kind ever.

Fed Vice Chair Sees “Subdued” New Home Starts in 2010

The outlook for new housing starts in the coming years is "relatively subdued" due to an oversupply of vacant homes and the likelihood that foreclsures will remain elevated, the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve said yesterday.

Homebuyers Will Regain Negotiating Edge: Zillow Economist

Foreclosures and the demise of the first-time homebuyer tax credit will swing the negotiating advantage back to buyers and away from sellers, who have been enjoying an improved status in many markets as declining inventories discourage price reductions.

Negative Equity Cripples Mortgage Performance

Negative home equity is preventing sustained improvement in U.S. mortgage performance, according to the new monthly report from Fitch Ratings released today

Is a Reverse Mortgage Right for You?

  Reverse mortgages, the kind of loans marketed by aging celebrities to seniors interested in converting the equity in their homes into cash, aren’t the safe haven they are portrayed by marketers,

How to Protect Yourself Against Mortgage Fraud

During this time of financial crisis, an epidemic of mortgage rescue schemes is sweeping the country.  They prey upon families who are facing foreclosure in exploding numbers. Fraudulent mortgage rescue scams raise false hopes and cruelly exploit people who can ill afford it.

How to Obtain the Right Mortgage

Going into debt for fifteen or thirty years can be a scary process-which is exactly why you should make every effort to learn about mortgages, put your finance in shape so that you qualify for the best possible terms, determine what you can afford and then shop hard for the right mortgage for you.

Home Price Discounts Shrink as Inventories Fall

Falling inventories are helping home sellers gain a negotiating edge over buyers for the first time in many months.

Apartment Renters Save Money With Roommates

To save money, more and more renters are teaming up with a roommate or two in a larger unit rather than living alone in a studio or one bedroom apartment, but they are driving up vacancy rates.

Dodd to Push for Six Month Homebuyer Credit

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said yesterday he plans to attach an amendment that would extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer's tax credit  six months.

Hill Panel Says Foreclosure Program is Too Little, Too Late

A congressional oversight committee yesterday questioned whether the limited scope and scale of the Administration's Making Home Affordable program (HAMP) will be capable of stemming the ever-increasing flood of foreclosures.

Both Mortgage Modifications and Criticisms Increase

Nearly one month ahead of its self-set schedule, the government has reached the 500,000 mark for trial loan modifications under the Making Home Affordable program.

Higher Prices, Fewer Sales Forecast in California Next Year

California's real-estate market will rebound in 2010, with modest price increases and steady sales activity, according to a forecast by the California Association of Realtors released yesterday.

Apartment Rental Vacancies Go Through the Roof

After setting a 20-year record last summer, the national apartment vacancy rate has risen even higher in the third quarter and there is no relief in sight for landlords through the balance of the year.

National 30-year Fixed Mortgage Rate Falls Below 5 Percent

Yesterday rates for 30-year fixed purchase mortgages decreased 4.94 percent after falling last week to 4.96 percent, down from 5.02 percent the week.

Customer Satisfaction with Homeowners Insurance Rises

For the first time in five years, overall consumer satisfaction with homeowners insurance has increased significantly, driven by favorable customer perceptions of the value of their policies.

Nevada Suit Could Halt Thousands of Foreclosures

A Reno law firm is preparing a class action lawsuit on behalf of Nevada homeowners who face foreclosure by a surrogate company that represents thousands of mortgage owners but doesn't actually own the loans themselves.

Mortgage Rates Near All-Time Lows

In the week ending October 1, 2009, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate averaged 4.94 percent fell below 5 percent for the first time since May, nearing its all-time low of 4.78 percent reached last April.

“Marinstock” to Help Families Facing Foreclosure

A day of music, children's entertainment, food and a healing sanctuary begin at 10 AM tomorrow in Novato, California's Hamilton Amphitheater to raise money to help nearly 80 families from Marin and Sonoma counties who are facing losing their homes to foreclosure

Massachusetts AG Busts Scheme to Prey on Homeowners in Trouble

A Worcester, Mass. grand jury indicted an Oxford, Mass. attorney and three accomplices late last week for a complicated scheme to defraud desperate homeowners facing foreclosure..

Pot Planters Plead Guilty of Massive Mortgage Fraud

Four South Florida brothers pleaded guilty in Miami yesterday to obtaining 18 mortgages fraudulently in five different Florida counties to buy houses for a massive marijuana farming operation.

One-third of African-Americans Turned Down for Mortgages

Homebuyers of every racial minority from African-Americans to Pacific Islanders were more likely to be denied a mortgage last year than white Americans, according to data from lenders released yesterday by the Federal Reserve.

Move-Up Home Buyers are Stuck in Neutral

More renters became homeowners last month but fewer existing homeowners moved up to more desirable homes or neighborhoods even though they acknowledge current home prices are a good value, according to an industry-sponsored survey. Most potential move-up buyers believe homes are more affordable today than in recent months and 69 percent believe the economy is improving.  [...]

One in Ten Homeowners with a Mortgage is Delinquent

One out of ten American homeowners with a mortgage were seriously delinquent in the second quarter and more than half the homeowners whose mortgages have been modified to reduce monthly payments are re-defaulting within a year, according to a new study released today by two Federal financial regulatory agencies.

Fannie Mae’s Delinquent Loans Soar

Nearly one out of twenty mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae was seriously delinquent in July, according to the latest data released today from the Congressionally-chartered company.

Home Builders are Strapped for Credit

Nearly two-thirds of the nation's single-family home builders are putting single-family construction projects on hold due to a severe lack of acquisition, development and construction financing, according to a new builder survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

Brookings Economist Blasts First-Time Homebuyers Credit

In an article and video published on the home page of the Brookings Institution, the co-director of the prestigious think tank's economic studies program says extending or expanding the first-time homebuyer tax credit will cost far more than the $15 billion of the current credit, likely in excess of an additional $30 billion.

Price Cutting Eases Condo Glut

 The glut of unsold and foreclosed condos that paralyzed resort and urban markets two years ago has significantly eased in wake of price-cutting and discounting in a number of markets, signaling that the end of the bargain era is in sight and stable markets are on their way.

New Home Orders Increase 62 Percent at KB Home

KB Home (NYSE:KBH), the nation's fifth largest home builder, said orders increased 62 percent and 27 percent fewer consumers cancelled contracts during the third quarter, compared with 51 percent a year ago.

Freddie Mac’s Delinquent Loans Rise for 28th Month

Freddie Mac's mortgage delinquency rate for its single family mortgages rose for the 28th straight month in August, reaching a record 3.13 percent of its portfolio 1.11 percent in August 2008.

ASPCA Says Abandoned Animals are Starving in Foreclosed Homes

Owners may abandon as many as a million or more animals in foreclosed homes this year and many could possibly starve to death before they are discovered, a senior official of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said today.

Extending the Tax Credit Would Motivate 18 Percent of First-Time Buyers

If Congress extends the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers another year, about 18 percent of prospective first-time buyers, or 334,000 buyers, say taking advantage of the credit would be the primary reason they would buy a home next year, according to a new study released today by Zillow.com. About 25 percent of first-time buyers [...]

State Foreclosure Programs Stuck in Neutral

State and local programs to help troubled homeowners stave off foreclosure through mediation have yet to make much difference to date, according to a new report from the National Consumer Law Center.

California Markets Dominate Luxury Housing List

There's a $2 million chasm between America's most expensive housing market, La Jolla, California, where the average home costs $2,125,000, and Grayling, Michigan, where houses go for $112,675, according to Coldwell Bankers' annual home price comparison index.

Geithner Says Financial Reform Will Reduce Costs and Risks

Testifying this morning before the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Geithner said the financial regulatory reform proposed by the Administration will include a new consumer financial protection agency that will protect consumers from unexpected risks and reduce the cost of compliance for lenders.

Ex-NYC Police Commissioner Charged with Mortgage Fraud

Bernie Kerik, the former New York City Police Commissioner, was indicted today by a federal grand jury on conspiracy, tax fraud, and false statements on a mortgage application in connection with purchase of his Riverdale, New York apartment.

FHA is Now Running on Empty Says Noted Housing Economist

The Federal Housing Administration took the right steps last week to bring the agency's lending standards in line with private industry practices, but with the loss of its excess reserves, FHA is now essentially running on empty and the jury is out on whether the agency has adequate capital reserves to weather projected losses from defaults and foreclosures, said a noted housing economist who first raised concerns about FHA's financial condition in an article in Real Estate Economy Watch last June (Can FHA Dodge the Bullet?).

Moody’s Economist Sees Ten-Year Housing Recovery

It will take more than a decade for housing markets to regain the ground that has been lost since 2006 predicted a top economic researcher with Moody's Economy.com yesterday, the second leading housing economist to issue a gloomy recovery forecast in the past week.

Loss of State Consumer Powers Contributed to Mortgage Crisis

The assumption of states' powers to enforce consumer protection laws by the Federal government over the past 13 years is a significant cause of irresponsible lending and the housing crisis, according to a new white paper issued by the National Consumer Law Center.

Restitutions Ordered for Michigan Foreclosure Fraud Victims

Michigan homeowners who paid fees to three companies to help modify their mortgages-SaveMyHome USA, Payment Doctors, the Michigan Economic Reinstatement Program-or any other mortgage modification company for services that were not provided can contact the Michigan Attorney General's Consumer Protection for restitution.

Lennar Increases Home Starts

One of the nation's largest homebuilders reported increased losses during the third quarter but also issued a forecast on the housing market that was so rosy it moved stocks higher during pre-market futures trading this morning.

FHA Scrambles to Control Loan Losses

The Federal Housing Administration today tightened credit restrictions to reduce the agency's exposure to risk and announced it was hiring a chief risk officer after the Washington Post reported the agency is rapidly running out of money due to loan losses and its cash reserves are in jeopardy of falling below falling below the minimum level set by Congress.

Opposition Grows to First-Time Homebuyer Credit

Time is quickly running out on the first-time homebuyer tax credit, due to expire December 1 and despite an all-out lobbying campaign, the housing industry faces a battle to extend and expand it.

States and Feds Go to War Against Mortgage Fraud

Top Federal regulatory and law enforcement officials joined with attorneys general from 12 states in Washington today to go to war against financial predators who are practicing mortgage fraud against consumers, including financial rescue scams and loan modification fraud.

Home Prices Will Fall Five More Years

Home prices will continue to fall over the next five years, though the greatest declines have already occurred this year and property value reductions will gradually decrease until 2014, according to a national price forecast released Tuesday at a conference on Challenges in Residential and Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities hosted by Fitch Ratings.

Government Actions Saved Refinancing Homeowners $2.3 Billion

Homeowners who refinanced during the first six months saved $2.3 billion this year due to recent government actions to reduce mortgage rates, according to a new study by Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic.  The study found the median individual monthly savings was $120, a 10.5 percent reduction from the median borrower's previous mortgage payment, and the total benefit to homeowners who refinanced in 2009 will grow to $11.5 billion over the next five years.

Obama Program Slows California Foreclosures

For the first time since it was launched six months ago, the Administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is having a measurable impact on the rate of foreclosure filings in California, according to the latest report from ForeclosureRadar, a web site that tracks foreclosures California and four other Western states.

Wells Fires Executive for Partying in Malibu Foreclosure

Wells Fargo yesterday fired a senior vice president in charge of managing foreclosed commercial properties for holding parties in a foreclosed home  in an exclusive Malibu community whose previous owners were financially devastated in Bernard Madoff's massive fraud scheme.

Lavish Living Catches Up to Mortgage Fraudster

Last fall David Findel of Colt's Neck, New Jersey made headlines when he spent $400,000 for two season tickets on the 50 yard line in the new Meadowlands home of the New York Jets, scheduled to open next season year.   But he may never get to sit in them.

LA Lenders Charged with Refi Fraud

Since 2007, Los Angeles area homeowners got more debt and less cash than they bargained for when they refinanced through a local brokerage, ALG Inc., three of whose loan officers were arraigned today on a complaint listing 44 criminal charges.

Did Household Debt Trigger Worldwide Recession?

The national economic crisis was triggered by the red ink of millions of American homeowners who refinanced their homes, not the trading pits of Wall Street or the boiler rooms of fraudulent lenders, according to a new study released nearly one year after the stock market plummeted worldwide recession began.

GAO Defines the Future for Freddie and Fannie

After excoriating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for a history of undermining market discipline, missing goals to help underprivileged groups and failing to support housing finance markets during times of financial need, the Government Accountability Office yesterday urged Congress to consider only three options for the future structure of the two government-sponsored housing enterprises.

Foreclosures Will Overwhelm Government Efforts

Even if the disappointingly slow Federal foreclosure program achieves the goals for which it was designed, the foreclosure crisis could be as bad in three years as it is today.  A flood of new foreclosures generated by the double whammy of unemployment and resetting exotic loans will overwhelm the government efforts and impede recovery.

Waves of Resets Promise a New Foreclosure Flood

Two reports out yesterday revived fears that waves of new foreclosures will come crashing down on residential real estate markets as borrowers default on exotic adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) that will reset over the next three years.

3.7 Million Unemployed Miss Payments

About one quarter of the nation's 14.9 million unemployed workers have missed a mortgage, rent, or credit card payment according to a comprehensive national survey of 1,200 Americans nationwide who have been unemployed and looking for a job in the past 12 months, including 894 who are still jobless.

The Mortgage Interest Deduction is in Play

First, there were hints during the campaign.  Senator Obama's stump speech called for a more equitable tax system, which begins with a tax cut for most Americans-those making $75,000 to $100,000.  Then it's paid for by possible increases for those making $200,000 to $250,000 or more.  And the tax increases would include "closing loopholes."

Foreclosed Homes Spawn Violent Crime Wave

Record numbers of foreclosed homes, often empty and abandoned for months before they are resold, have become spawning grounds for violent crime-including assault, rape and even murder.

Reverse Mortgage Fraud Targets Elderly

Reverse mortgages, the kind of loans sold by aging celebrities to seniors interested in converting the equity in their homes into cash, aren't the safe haven they are portrayed by marketers, according to a General Accounting Office report released in July.

Will Greed Kill the First-Time Homebuyers’ Credit?

 With less than three months left before it joins Cash for Clunkers in the ash bin of stimulus programs, will Congress act quickly enough to extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit another year?

Foreclosures Dim Minorities’ Dreams

The make-up of American homeownership is becoming increasingly white as foreclosures turn the dream of owning a home into a nightmare for thousands of minority families, pushing the minority homeownership rate to its lowest level in decades.

Underwater Owners are Failing to Cure

"Cure rates," the percentage of borrowers who recover on their own after falling delinquent on their mortgages, may not be as great as previously assumed, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

Stocks Tank on First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

Even though the first-time home buyer tax credit doesn't expire for three months, analysts' assessment of the pending demise of the  credit sent helped end the stock market's four day rally today, driving down housing and financial stocks.

Delinquencies Soar Nine Percent in Second Quarter

Just when you think the foreclosure picture can't get any worse, it does. MBA's quarterly delinquency survey set another distressing record today.

Loan Demand is Strong as Fewer Banks Tighten Credit

Domestic banks reported increased demand from prime borrowers for residential mortgages for the second quarter in a row, though demand was 45 percent lower than in April, and fewer banks are tightening lending standards, according to the Federal Reserve's July 2009 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices.

Sales Surge as the Homebuyer Tax Credit Ticks Down

With fewer than three and a half months left to close on a home before the $8000 first-time homebuyer tax credit expires, field reports suggest that a surge in sales is already underway and will drive sales up over the next two months.

Foreclosures Set a New Record–Again

Foreclosure filings for July rose 32 percent over a year ago and seven percent over June, according to RealtyTrac.  One in every 355 US homes received a default notice, was scheduled for auction or was repossessed by a bank last month

Buying is Becoming as Cheap as Renting

Home prices have dropped so much in the past two years that if they continue to fall as expected, monthly ownership costs will be less than monthly rents in a number of major markets, according to a new study from the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Low Income Housing Coalition.

Home Values Keeping Sinking in Q2

There's little to smile about in Zillow's latest report on home values:  US home values fell 12.1 percent year-over-year, marking the 10th consecutive quarter of declines; Total home sales fell 23.7 percent in June versus a year earlier; and more than one-fifth (23 percent) of all owners of single family homes with mortgages owe more on a mortgage than their home is currently worth.

Wall Street Wonders About Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Suddenly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are behaving like Wall Street Wonders instead of government-run utilities with massive debt and virtually no prospect of ever again operating like private entities.

Sizing up The Deutsche Bank Study

Two analysts at Deutsche Bank issued a residential market forecast last week that shook the housing industry and cooled the sound bites about "signs of stabilization."

Report from Connect: Prepared for the Real Estate Recovery?

Like a bride preparing for her wedding, the residential real estate industry is slimming down, primping up, and generally working hard to reinvent itself in anticipation of the day when long-absent consumers will return to the marketplace.

Lenders Flunk First Foreclosure Program Report Card

"Uneven" is a popular word in Washington.  It means things aren't good, but it doesn't let on just how bad they might be.  Best of all, it conveys none of the emotion that normal people use in their daily speech.   "The data show that servicer performance has been uneven," said the Treasury news release accompanying the first monthly report card on the Making Home Affordable loan modification program, which was released today.

Match-up of the Fixes: Cash for Clunkers vs. Homebuyers’ Tax Credit

It's hard to turn on a newscast these days without hearing about the Cash for Clunkers program and what it has done for the auto industry.   It's also hard to resist the urge to make comparisons between Washington's two great fixes to stimulate the economy: C4C and the first-time homebuyers' tax credit.  If you're thinking that the real estate industry needs a Cash for Clunkers program, you might match up of the two fixes to see if it makes sense.   New Housing Forecasts available now at: http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/category/housing-forecasts/forecasts/

Minorities and Foreclosures

Increasing minority homeownership has been a national policy of both Republican and Democratic Administrations for decades, and for good reason.  Traditionally, homeownership has been the path most families have taken to establish financial security.  Moreover, homeownership has long been associated with such positive factors as safer neighborhoods and better neighborhood schools.

How to Find Your Next Home Online

If you're like nine out of ten home buyers today, you are using the Internet to look for a home.  Why not?  The Internet has transformed the way people buy and sell houses.  Real estate search sites make it easy for buyers to check out hundreds of properties in a matter of minutes and for sellers to reach thousands of buyers that they could never reach before.

How to Understand Your Housing Market

 “All real estate is local” is an industry dictum that’s not only obvious, it’s very true.  When you hear on the news that home sales or prices are up or down, chances are that those are national reports that may have little or nothing to do with conditions where you live.

On the Foreclosure Front, It’s Woodshedding Time

Back when people had woodsheds, "woodshedding" meant one of two things.  People "went to the woodshed" to practice  in private such public skills as singing, playing musical instruments and acting.  Woodsheds also were the places fathers took their naughty children and got out the belt or hairbrush, a practice highly discouraged today.

How to Find Your Next Home Online

 If you're like nine out of ten home buyers today, you are using the Internet to look for a home.  Why not?  The Internet has transformed the way people buy and sell houses.  Real estate search sites make it easy for buyers to check out hundreds of properties in a matter of minutes and for sellers to reach thousands of buyers that they could never reach before. 

This Schizophrenic Market is a Long Way from Healing

Like black markets that spring up in ravaged cities during wartime, there's something inherently unhealthy about the existence of a two-tiered housing market, one for "normal" sales and one for "distressed" sales.

Inventories Fall Despite Record Foreclosures

The best news in this week's June existing home sales report was not the increase in sales in the face of rising interest rates, which was certainly welcome news, but the fact that inventories declined despite record foreclosures during the first half of the year.

One-third of Mortgage Defaulters Don’t Need Help

Nearly one third of all homeowners who seriously default on their mortgages end up paying what they owe and don't need to renegotiate their loans, according to a new, massive study by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Foreclosures: Time for Heat or Light?

As long as Americans have owned homes and records have been kept, never have more families lost more homes to foreclosure than in the first six months of this year. The raw numbers in RealtyTrac's latest report are startling.

The Pending Supply

Perhaps you've heard of the pending demand for real estate-prospective buyers who have postponed taking action until they perceive conditions have optimized. There's also a pending supply of real estate and it's large enough to have a serious impact on the housing markets if a recent study is correct.

Take This House and Shove it

  Just what is the world coming to?

Reality Check for the Obama Foreclosure Plan

Five months and 1,1 million foreclosures after President Obama announced the Making Home Affordable programs, the Administration has yet to identify a single borrower who has closed on a modified loan under the program, though at least one servicer reports approving 87,100 mods.

Fear and Opportunity

A new national survey by Move, Inc, operator of Realtor.com, sheds some light on the two most powerful factors motivating buyers in this complicated market. Those would be fear and opportunity.

Why They Walk Away…

A recent study conducted by researchers from the graduate schools of business at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University found that one out of four homeowners who default on their mortgages make a strategic decision to clear out their belongings and walk away from their homes-even if they can afford to pay their mortgages.

S&P Counts the Dead Bodies

Standard & Poor's latest report on the cost of mortgage losses to the financial sector does a good job of totaling up the dying bodies to date killed by securities backed by tainted, exotic loans. The tally is frightening, but what may be scarier are the good old fashioned foreclosures yet to come.

It’s the Economy, Stupid

Last week's report that the economy lost 467,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 percent, the highest rate since August 1983, was not just bad news for Wall Street. It was also terrible news for the war against foreclosures.

Real Progress on the Foreclosure Front

With the raging recession killing jobs, falling prices driving even more homeowners underwater, and thousands of loans that should never have been made resetting, reports of record foreclosures have become the norm.

Can We Wait for the Echo?

It's clear the "echoes" will spawn a record number of households and boost housing demand but it's not such a given that they will become homeowners, at least right away. In fact, in the near term, demographic forces favor the rental over the for-sale market.

Public Utilities Numbers One and Two

Listening to the policy makers who will decide the fates of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac brings home the reality of how far these once mighty pillars of residential real estate finance have fallen-and that they will never rise again to their former glory.

Skin in the Game

Skin in the game means having a stake or a vested interest. Two of the most powerful members of the House on housing policy told a group of real estate journalists Friday that originators having skin in the game is the single most important feature affecting housing finance in the regulatory reform legislation now before the House Financial Services Committee.

HUD Secretary Shoots for Millions of Loan Mods

The Administration's loan modification program is aiming for millions of mods over its three year lifespan, HUD Secretary Shawn Donovan told a conference of real estate journalists today and there are 200,000 trial modifications in process right now, 40,000 were added in the last week alone .

Does the Shadow REALLY Know?

For a year or so, rumors of a "shadow inventory" of foreclosed homes have captivated the real estate industry.

California Credit Moves the Needle

As the housing lobby revs up for another push to expand the first time homebuyer tax credit (See ), it can point to the runaway success of California's $10,000 credit for newly built homes.

Take Another Look at May Foreclosures

The May foreclosure numbers from Realty Trac show a six percent decrease in Foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions—over April and several media outlets decided the report was good news.

CEOs Launch New Drive for Expanded Homebuyer Tax Credit

Just six months after Congress came within a whisker of getting a $15,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, a group of chief executive officers in the real estate, building products and home goods industries are mounting a new effort to expand the credit from its current $8,000 maximum and make it available to all buyers, not just first-timers.

Micro Markets Shine in Gloomy Times

These days, it’s hard to find much to cheer about in the Case-Shiller top twenty or NAR’s quarterly metro market report.  Yet far beneath the radar of the national or MSA level data, some folks are smiling.

The Last Great No-Down Loan

Thought no-down payment mortgages were a thing of the past?

Don’t Forget! June is Homeownership Month

With barely a whisper, HUD ushered in its most celebrated month of the year, National Homeownership Month, so quietly most of the nation didn't even take notice.

The Delinquency Catch-22

What was suggested strongly by the latest MBA quarterly delinquency survey (see Delinquencies: Trading One Nightmare for Another) has been confirmed by a new report from TransUnion.

HUD Tweaks First-Timer Credit

HUD announced last week it has found a creative way to made the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers even more useful than it was when passed by Congress last February.

Home Warranties Boom in Real Estate Bust

There's a silver lining in every cloud and in the real estate recession, that lining is called home warranties.

Delinquencies: Trading One Nightmare for Another

If there is any slight comfort to be taken from today's record-breaking mortgage delinquency numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association, it's that there are early signs that the option ARM nightmare may not be as bad as many feared.

Remodelers on the Rebound

There's an old construction industry adage that goes something like this: when home builders prosper, remodelers have hard times and when remodelers are doing well, it's a bad market for builders.

A Shadow Threatens Home Values

It's called the "shadow inventory" and it's scarier than a ghost because it is very real.  It's hanging over your local real estate market ready to ambush property values at the first sign of a rebound.

Jumbos Go to Washington

Just when it looked as though the jumbo business was coming back to life, Realtors and are mounting a lobbying campaign to get Congress to lower their cost by making permanent the current rules for determining limits that apply in 2009, use the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) to buy jumbo loans,.

Homeowners Accept Reality

For the first time during the current real estate recession, most homeowners have come to grips with the fact that their homes have lost value during the past year.

Major Lenders Implement “Making Home Affordable”

Making Home Affordable, the Administration's program to reduce foreclosures through refinancing, modification of loans held by borrowers in trouble, and lowered interest rates, is finally moving ahead with critical loan modifications after hitting a snag over how to handle secondary liens.

What One Hand Giveth…

Families struggling to stay in their homes and working through loan modifications with their lenders are being targeted with the following message broadcast by the National Taxpayer Advocate.

Is a Flood of New Foreclosures Coming to Market?

For the past three months, the number of homes possessed by lenders (REOs) has fallen, reaching the lowest level in a year in April, even though the total level of foreclosure filings has risen to a record high.

I’m the Economy

Public Mood Swings to Real Estate

National surveys over the past month are detecting a change in public attitudes towards real estate for both homeowners and investors.

Lenders Tighten Standards on Prime Mortgages

Even though demand is up, home buyers will find it tougher to get a mortgage today than last fall, even if they qualify for a prime mortgage.

First-timer Tax Credit is Working

Looks like last year's first-time homebuyer tax credit-the one the housing industry pooh-poohed because it required buyers to pay it back over 15 years-is doing a lot better than most people expected.

Treasury Sets New Affordability Requirements for GSEs

Many observers of the housing crisis lay at least some blame at the feet of housing affordability targets for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mandated by Congress and administered by the executive branch—first the Department of Housing and Urban Development and now the Treasury Department.

Bank of America Begins Refinancing Under Obama Plan

Last week Bank of America became the first of the mega-lenders to invite homeowners to apply for refinancing applications under the "Making Home Affordable" program.

Senate Doubles Tax Credit in Stimulus

With its back against the goal line and the fourth quarter clock ticking down, the housing industry broke off a big touchdown run, but missed the field goal that would have given it the lead in the struggle for stimulus funds. However, the titanic and critical contest over how to jump start the housing markets is still up in the air, and will end in the next week or two as pressure to act becomes overwhelming.

Reality Check on Inventory

Today's real estate economy watchers are focused on inventory as they look for a break in the...

Foreclosure Filings Rise

Foreclosure filings surge in March to an all-time record as banks lifted moratoria on filings. Five states accounted for nearly 60 percent of foreclosures in the first quarter of the year.

Moratoria Mask Foreclosures

For real estate market watchers anxious to see the end of the foreclosure plague that has poisoned property values across the nation...

Surveys Find Consumer Confidence Improving

Two new public opinion surveys taken last week found encouraging stirrings of consumer confidence and pent- up demand for homeownership. A new national survey conducted last weekend and commissioned by Move, Inc. found that 23 percent of adults plan to purchase a home in the next five years, and more than half of them are first-time homebuyers, even though half of all Ameri­cans are concerned they or someone they know will face foreclosure in the next six to 12 months. The Move survey also found nearly one out of five home owners plan to take advantage of the Administration’s new program to help prevent fore­closures. While searching for answers in the past 12 months, 21 percent of all homeown­ers with a mortgage contacted a lender to restructure their loan. Half of those homeown­ers who contacted their lender experienced success while six percent still await an answer. Despite today’s challenging market conditions, 18.1 percent of adults plan to buy a home this year in or­der to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit recently passed by Congress in the Administration’s economic stimulus package.

Secondary Loans Send Obama Plan Back to the Drawing Board

Barely a month old, the Administration’s Home Affordability Program is going back to the drawing board to resolve an issue that has tied up the modification of billions of dollars of worth of secondary mortgages and home equity lines of credit and threatens the future of the $75 billion program to keep 3 to 4 million families from foreclosure...

Pre-retirees Perk Up Retirement Market

According to a recent national survey of Coldwell Banker® real estate professionals, over half-53 percent--of those who work in popular retirement areas are seeing younger retirees (ages 60 and under) looking to purchase homes in their markets...

HOPE for Homeowners

The HOPE for Homeowners program helps those at risk of default and foreclosure refinance into more affordable, sustainable FHA loans. H4H is an additional mortgage option designed to keep borrowers in their homes.

FHASecure

Purpose: To help an estimated 240,000 borrowers who were steered into high-cost adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) loans with teaser rates refinance into a safe, affordable FHA mortgage product that will help build wealth.

Bottom, Bottom, Wherefore Art Thou, Bottom?

The Web is littered with predictions, forecasts, hunches and wild guesses about the long anticipated housing bottom, but only two things are certain.  The first is that almost all of today’s bottom diviners will be wrong.  The second is that no one will know for sure whether we have reached bottom of the real estate depression until it is past and we are into a period of recovery.

The Bad News in the Latest Re-default Numbers

The headlines from the first joint Mortgage Metrics Report for Fourth Quarter 2008 by two of the Federal agencies that regulate banks and thrifts are a shocker.

Credit Union Woes Worsen

Friday the National Credit Union Administration sent a shock wave through the credit union industry when it seized control of two of the 28 large corporate credit unions that provide financing and investment services to the nation’s 7,800 federally insured credit unions.

REO Discounts Drive Down Values

Last year the gap between sales prices of REO properties and non-foreclosed homes grew dramatically in a number of the nation’s leading residential markets, suggesting that REO properties are increasingly discounting their prices and driving down home values at a faster rate.

S&P Turns Negative on Apartment REIT Sector

S&P Equity Research recently lowered its fundamental outlook for the residential (apartment) REIT sector to negative from neutral based on the excess supply of vacant houses being rented out.

What’s Up With Foreclosures?

Foreclosures in February soared 30 percent in 12 months, increasing 6 percent over January. The rise cannot be blamed on the lifting of moratoria on foreclosures alone because moratoria instituted in January by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and leading lenders remain in effect to allow defaulting borrowers to participate in the Administration’s new foreclosure prevention program.

States Woo Buyers with Tax Credits.

California new home buyers now have an $18,000 reason to get off the fence. That’s how big a tax credit they will receive from both the Federal ($8,000) and a new state tax credit ($10,000) when they buy a newly built home in the Golden State after March 1.

Support Grows for Foreclosure Policy

Two national surveys conducted immediately after President Obama released the outline of his foreclosure plan ten days ago show a marked shift in public opinion in support of using government aid to help homeowners having problems paying their mortgages. Yet the nation remains split over whether the policy is fair or unfair to those who have met their mortgage payments.

Cram Downs Cool Down

An intense lobbying campaign by the financial services industry has slowed and possibly killed legislation that would give bankruptcy courts the power to write down mortgages

Treasury Sets New Affordability Requirements for GSEs

Many observers of the housing crisis lay at least some blame at the feet of housing affordability targets for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mandated by Congress and administered by the executive branch—first the Department of Housing and Urban Development and now the Treasury Department.

Cram Downs Are Coming.

Banned since Congress reformed the bankruptcy laws in 2006, cram downs are making a come back and may reappear in thousands of bankruptcy courts. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on who you ask, because every side has its own studies and experts to prove its case.

Delinquencies Set a Record, Moratoria Create Artificial Spike

In the fourth quarter of last year, more homeowners—nearly 8 percent—were delinquent on their mortgages than 1972, when records were first kept. Jay Brinkmann, MBA’s chief economist and senior vice president for research and economics attributed the increase in delinquencies to factors that had nothing to do with the economy.

How Far Has Fannie Mae Fallen?

Nearly half of Fannie's loss occurred in the fourth quarter, after it was "placed under conservatorship" by the Treasury Department in September. Immediately, Treasury began to use Fannie and Freddie to buy up mortgage backed securities at a loss in an effort to restore faith in the MBS market. Now it is clear that Fannie and Freddie will be the Obama Administration's primary conduits for refinancing and modifying mortgages held by foreclosure prospects-and the costs will be borne by the taxpayers.

Federal Ownership of Citigroup Reaches 36 Percent

Investors have punished the shares of Citigroup and other banks in recent weeks out of concern the government could nationalize troubled banks, which would involve replacing management and wiping out shareholders.

Obama Budget Limits Mortgage Interest Deduction

Last week President Barack Obama proposed $634 billion in new taxes on upper-income Americans and cuts in government spending over the next decade to pay for his promised health care expansion. The new taxes included a limitation on the amount taxpayers earning over $250,000 can deduct for mortgage interest payments and other deductions.

New Foreclosure Program At a Glance

A new refinancing program will help four to five million homeowners with less than 80 percent equity and who hold conforming loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie of Freddie allows them to refinance at current rates.

Credit Union Bailout Ignites Civil War

Until very recently, credit unions have gloated over the woes besetting their competitors in financial services. Unshackled by mark-to-market accounting requirements, largely untaxed, non-profit and free of the pressures of Wall Street, and only minimally exposed to the risk of subprime defaults, credit unions as a whole survived 2008 like islands of soundness in a sea of chaos.

Buyer Tax Credit is Cut to $8,000 in Stimulus

It was fourth and goal and time was running out in the conference committee between the House and Senate on the stimulus package. The quarterback stepped back to pass but…there was no one to catch the ball.

Did the 1975 Tax Credit Really Work?

Did the 1975 tax credit really work as its advocates claim? Are tax credits what the housing market needs today?

AmeriDream, Nehemiah Lobby for their Lives

Was the ban on seller-financed down payment assis­tance passed by Congress last July a death warrant to down payment assistance groups like AmeriDream and the Nehemiah Corporation and a blow to builders like Lennar Corporation, who at one point relied on down payment assistance for a third of all the mortgages it originated?

No End to REOs

Selling foreclosed properties after lenders have taken possession—known in the business as REOs or real es­tate owned properties—is not for everyone. Prices are lower than market values, reducing commissions. Then there’s the cost and stress of cleaning up and main­taining properties that are usually ill-maintained if not outright trashed. Finally, collecting money from slow-paying banks is a pain.

Lending Standards Ease Slightly

Slightly fewer banks reported tightening their lending standards for prime mortgages during the third quar­ter of 2008, according to the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Survey on Bank Lending Practices. The number of banks tightening standards decreased from 75 to 70 percent, the first time the survey has shown a net decrease since banks started [...]

Is USDA’s Loan Guarantee Program Broke?

Loan guarantees provided through the US Department of Agriculture’s Housing and Community Facilities Programs are the lat­est victims of the financial crisis. The pro­gram is virtually on hold, but don’t fret. Help is on the way.

Bankruptcy Cramdown Bill Takes Off

Underwater homeowners could soon have a power­ful new weapon in their negotiations with lenders to modify their mortgages. New legislation on a fast track in the Senate would give judges the power to set new repayment terms for borrowers in bankruptcy court, including dramatically reducing the loan principal—known as a “cramdown.”