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Fannie Mae Economists Lower First Quarter Forecast
Unpleasant surprises in January home sales and home starts have convinced Fannie Mae's economists to lower significantly their projection of real residential investment in the first quarter released yesterday.
Delinquencies Slow But They Exceed Modifications
By: Steve Cook; Mon, Mar 15, 2010
The February 2010 Mortgage Monitor report, released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. shows that while delinquency rates in the U.S. have risen to historic highs, the pace of deterioration has slowed. However, the nation's housing market remains far from a full recovery.
Risk of Mortgage Default Rises 58 Percent Higher than in 1990s
By: Steve Cook; Thu, Mar 4, 2010
Lenders and investors can expect defaults on loans currently being originated today to be 58 percent higher than the average of the 1990, according to the latest University Financial Associates (UFA) Mortgage Report.
One Quarter of Mortgage Holders Sink Underwater
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Feb 23, 2010
More than 11.3 million, or 24 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages, were in negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009.
Ready for a Housing Shortage this Year?
By: Steve Cook; Mon, Feb 15, 2010
With healthy inventories, 3 million foreclosures, more and more short sales, falling values, rising vacancy rates, shrinking rents and one third of all homeowners underwater, could we possibly be heading for a national housing shortage this year?
Homeownership Hangs Tough
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Feb 2, 2010
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.
Obama Was Quiet on Housing
By: Steve Cook; Thu, Jan 28, 2010
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.
Property Taxes Clobber Hurting Homeowners
By: Steve Cook; Fri, Jan 15, 2010
Local governments across the country are responding to the threat to their bottom line by raising taxes.
Ten Percent of Wealthier Homeowners are Delinquent on Their Mortgages
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Jan 12, 2010
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.
Mortgage Rate Prospects Stir Fears of Re-Recession
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Jan 5, 2010
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
By: Steve Cook; Mon, Jan 4, 2010
More than 200 mortgage-related firms ended operations or failed last year.
NY Fed Economists Foresee Steep Decline in Homeownership
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Dec 29, 2009
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.
Fannie Mae’s Delinquencies Rise 163 Percent in 12 Months
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Dec 29, 2009
The percentage of seriously delinquent loans in Fannie Mae's portfolio jumped in October, rising 26 basis points to 4.98 percent.
RE/MAX Sees New Federal Short Sales Guidelines Helping Chicago
By: Steve Cook; Mon, Dec 14, 2009
New Federal guidelines on short sales are likely to have a beneficial impact on the metropolitan Chicago real estate market.
Ten Percent of Homeowners Would Walk Away
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Dec 8, 2009
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.
Ohio AG Holds Appraisers Accountable
By: Steve Cook; Mon, Dec 7, 2009
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray charged a Washington D.C. area home appraisal company with improperly influencing Ohio appraisals.
Unemployment Drives Record Mortgage Delinquencies
By: Steve Cook; Thu, Nov 19, 2009
Fourteen percent of all American mortgages are either delinquent or in the process of foreclosure.
Delinquent Mortgages Will Set a Record This Year
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Nov 17, 2009
Mortgage delinquencies hit an all-time high of 6.25 percent in the third quarter.
Lenders Torpedo Home Sales
By: Steve Cook; Sun, Nov 15, 2009
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.
Homebuyer Tax Credit Set to Pass Senate This Week
By: Steve Cook; Mon, Oct 26, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Fri, Oct 23, 2009
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.
Lend America Charged with Fraud
By: Steve Cook; Thu, Oct 22, 2009
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.
Analyst Report Trashes Fannie and Freddie
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Oct 20, 2009
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.
Fitch Downgrades Prime Mortgages
By: Steve Cook; Thu, Oct 15, 2009
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.
Fed Vice Chair Sees “Subdued” New Home Starts in 2010
By: Steve Cook; Wed, Oct 14, 2009
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.
Negative Equity Cripples Mortgage Performance
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Oct 13, 2009
Negative home equity is preventing sustained improvement in U.S. mortgage performance, according to the new monthly report from Fitch Ratings released today
Data Confirms Government Dominated the U.S. Mortgage Business Last Year
By: David Lereah; Thu, Oct 8, 2009
Just released mortgage data for 2008 confirm that the federal government effectively took over the housing credit markets last year.
Reverse Mortgages Could Become a Fiasco for Senior Citizens
By: David Lereah; Wed, Oct 7, 2009
Senior households may become the next group of consumers harmed by irresponsible marketing and selling practices according to a report released by a major consumer organization released yesterday.
One in Ten Homeowners with a Mortgage is Delinquent
By: Steve Cook; Wed, Sep 30, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Sep 29, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Sep 29, 2009
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).
New Home Orders Increase 62 Percent at KB Home
By: Steve Cook; Fri, Sep 25, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Fri, Sep 25, 2009
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.
FHA is Now Running on Empty Says Noted Housing Economist
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Sep 22, 2009
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?).
Loss of State Consumer Powers Contributed to Mortgage Crisis
By: Steve Cook; Mon, Sep 21, 2009
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.
Home Prices Will Fall Five More Years
By: Steve Cook; Thu, Sep 17, 2009
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.
Did Household Debt Trigger Worldwide Recession?
By: Steve Cook; Sun, Sep 13, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Fri, Sep 11, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Fri, Sep 11, 2009
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.
Reverse Mortgage Fraud Targets Elderly
By: Steve Cook; Mon, Aug 31, 2009
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.
Foreclosures Set a New Record–Again
By: Steve Cook; Thu, Aug 13, 2009
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
Sizing up The Deutsche Bank Study
By: Steve Cook; Sat, Aug 8, 2009
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."
The Pending Supply
By: Steve Cook; Wed, Jul 15, 2009
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.
Real Progress on the Foreclosure Front
By: Steve Cook; Wed, Jul 1, 2009
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.
Public Utilities Numbers One and Two
By: Steve Cook; Sun, Jun 21, 2009
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.
Don’t Forget! June is Homeownership Month
By: Steve Cook; Wed, Jun 3, 2009
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.
Delinquencies: Trading One Nightmare for Another
By: Steve Cook; Thu, May 28, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Sun, May 24, 2009
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.
One Fifth of Homeowners Now Underwater
One fifth (21.9 percent) of all American homeowners have negative equity in their homes, a 4.3 percent increase over the fourth quarter of last year, as property values continued to fall nationally at an alarming rate.
First-timer Tax Credit is Working
By: Steve Cook; Tue, May 5, 2009
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.
Cram Downs Fade Away
Four months ago they were just about the only part of the new Administration's foreclosure policy that seemed to be going anywhere.
Second Lien Compromise Puts Obama Plan Back on Track
Second lien servicers and investors are the big winners in changes to the Administration's loan modification program announced April 28.
Treasury Sets New Affordability Requirements for GSEs
By: Steve Cook; Wed, Apr 29, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Wed, Apr 29, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Wed, Apr 29, 2009
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.
Moratoria Mask Foreclosures
By: Steve Cook; Sat, Apr 25, 2009
For real estate market watchers anxious to see the end of the foreclosure plague that has poisoned property values across the nation...
Secondary Loans Send Obama Plan Back to the Drawing Board
By: Steve Cook; Fri, Apr 24, 2009
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...
The Bad News in the Latest Re-default Numbers
By: Steve Cook; Sat, Apr 4, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 24, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 24, 2009
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.
States Woo Buyers with Tax Credits.
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 17, 2009
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.
Cram Downs Cool Down
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 17, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 17, 2009
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.
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 10, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 10, 2009
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.
Bank Problems and the Housing Sector
By: David Lereah; Tue, Mar 3, 2009
The U.S. banking system is ailing and further deterioration could have serious negative implications for the economy and housing sector. To date, the Treasury has injected $196 billion into the nation's top banks by purchasing preferred bank stock. In addition, the Federal Reserve has increased its lending facilities, including the Term Auction Facility, which offers $150 billion in secured loans to banks per auction. And now the government has increased its ownership of Citigroup.
How Far Has Fannie Mae Fallen?
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 3, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 3, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Mar 3, 2009
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.
Credit Union Bailout Ignites Civil War
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Feb 17, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Feb 17, 2009
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?
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Feb 10, 2009
Did the 1975 tax credit really work as its advocates claim? Are tax credits what the housing market needs today?
Is USDA’s Loan Guarantee Program Broke?
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Jan 20, 2009
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
By: Steve Cook; Tue, Jan 13, 2009
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.”
Get this widget See local rates - Senate Clears Homebuyer Tax Credit Extension to Pass This Week
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