Category Archives: Risky Lending

“Take a vacation on the house.”

Posted on January 18, 2017 by grim

From CNBC: Rising home values aren’t enough to shake consumers’ memories of the financial crisis Consumers still see value in buying and owning homes. Yet with memories of the recession still fresh in their minds, the recent lift in real … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 86 Comments

As rates rise, FHA cuts premiums

Posted on January 10, 2017 by grim

From MarketWatch: After mortgage-rate spike, FHA to cut insurance premium The Federal Housing Administration will reduce the annual premium borrowers pay, in order to expand credit access to more Americans, the government announced Monday. Borrowers who close on an FHA … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 74 Comments

Yeah, this again.

Posted on December 30, 2016 by grim

From the WSJ: House Flipping Makes a Comeback as Home Prices Rise House flipping, a potent symbol of the real-estate market’s excess in the run-up to the financial crisis, is once again becoming hot, fueled by a combination of skyrocketing … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, Mortgages, Risky Lending | 82 Comments

Time to lube the mortgage market

Posted on December 23, 2016 by grim

From Business Insider: It hasn’t been this hard to buy a house in America since the financial crisis Housing affordability in the US is at an eight-year low, according to Attom Data Solutions. The parent company of RealtyTrac released its … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 102 Comments

Now lending standards go the other way

Posted on December 17, 2016 by grim

From the WSJ: U.S. Home Prices Soar, But Minorities and Young People Miss Out U.S. home values have jumped to records over the past four years, but some demographic groups have participated more in the rally than others. A study … Continue reading →

Posted in Demographics, Economics, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 28 Comments

Time to increase loan limits? (Haven’t we heard this somewhere before?)

Posted on November 4, 2016 by grim

From the WSJ: Home Builders Say Federal Loan Limits Shut Out Many Buyers At the New Haven housing development in Ontario, Calif., Brookfield Residential is building 189 townhomes priced below $378,000. So far, the moderately priced homes have sold at … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate, New Development, Risky Lending | 194 Comments

Conforming loan limit holding back prices?

Posted on October 10, 2016 by grim

From HousingWire: Is it now time to finally raise conforming loan limits? The chances the Federal Housing Finance Agency will raise the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2017 is … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 113 Comments

Welcome back old friend!

Posted on September 20, 2016 by grim

From the WSJ, Hat Tip Moose: Freddie Mac Starts Pilot Program With Looser Standards Mortgage-finance giant Freddie Mac and two nonbank lenders are loosening income and documentation requirements for mortgage applicants in a new pilot program. The changes announced Monday … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 116 Comments

Purchase Mortgages highest since 2007, Credit still tight

Posted on September 7, 2016 by grim

From HousingWire: Black Knight: Mortgage originations surge to highest level in three years The purchase market is booming, fueling the overall mortgage market and helping set the highest first-lien mortgage originations volume in a single quarter since the second quarter … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 52 Comments

Tan Man Walks

Posted on June 20, 2016 by grim

From Bloomberg: Countrywide’s Mozilo Off Hook as U.S. Said to Abandon Suit U.S. prosecutors have abandoned their case against Angelo Mozilo, a leader in selling the risky subprime mortgages that fueled the financial crisis, after a two-year quest to bring … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, Risky Lending | 57 Comments

Hubler does somewhat better in the real-world market

Posted on May 11, 2016 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Notorious ‘subprime villain’ Howie Hubler unloading Rumson estate for $4.5M The former Morgan Stanley bond trader believed to have lost more money than any single trader in the history of Wall Street has put his Rumson … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, Mortgages, Risky Lending, Unrest | 103 Comments

Freddie and Fannie to reduce principal

Posted on April 15, 2016 by grim

From HousingWire: FHFA makes it official: Principal reduction is coming A day that many in the housing industry thought would never come is finally and actually here, as the Federal Housing Finance Agency is making official what was first reported … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, Politics, Risky Lending | 116 Comments

More settlements … no guilt … no prosecution

Posted on April 12, 2016 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Goldman Sachs to pay $5 billion for its role in housing bubble Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay more than $5 billion to settle charges it sold mortgages it knew were likely to fail during the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, Politics, Risky Lending, Unrest | 69 Comments

In 5 years, remember this one

Posted on March 14, 2016 by grim

From the NY Post (Hat tip Chi): Obama is setting us up for another housing crash We learned nothing from the last financial crisis. The housing market is set to collapse, again, and a key culprit, again, is artificial demand … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate, Politics, Risky Lending | 95 Comments

Welcome back our subprime overlords

Posted on February 23, 2016 by grim

From HousingWire: Bank of America now offers 3% down mortgages without mortgage insurance Bank of America unveiled a new affordable mortgage program that offers consumers the option of putting as little as 3% down and requires no mortgage insurance. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 86 Comments