Category Archives: Mortgages

Fewer and fewer underwater owners

Posted on December 9, 2016 by grim

From National Mortgage News: Homeowner’s Equity Rises 11% from 2015 Levels: CoreLogic The amount of equity homeowners hold grew by $726 billion, or 10.8%, in the third quarter of 2016 versus the year before, according to data from CoreLogic. On … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 33 Comments

10 years later, conforming loan limits finally increase

Posted on November 28, 2016 by grim

A couple of days old, but it’s big news and I missed it. From HousingWire: FHFA increases conforming loan limits for first time since 2006 For the first time since the housing crisis, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is increasing … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate | 53 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

refinance … BOOM!

Posted on July 7, 2016 by grim

From National Mortgage News: Brexit Drives Mortgage Application Activity Surge: MBA Mortgage applications increased 14.2% from one week earlier as rates dropped in reaction to the Brexit vote, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA’s Weekly Mortgage … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 62 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

Negative equity improves … except for the low-end

Posted on April 5, 2016 by grim

From CNBC: How are millions still underwater as home prices rise? Fast-rising home prices brought 1.5 million borrowers up from underwater on their mortgages in 2015, but there are still twice as many drowning. In total, 3.2 million homeowners nationally … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 60 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

Last Call!

Posted on January 11, 2016 by grim

From HousingWire: Black Knight: Will 2016 end refinance demand? Approximately 5.2 million borrowers could likely both qualify for and benefit from refinancing, but it’s possible that this number will be slashed in half by the end of the year. Black … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 65 Comments

Did TRID cause the November dip?

Posted on December 23, 2015 by grim

From HousingWire: The TRID effect is real: Existing-home sales fall sharply in November First there was anecdotal evidence that the implementation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule in October had caused issues with the housing industry, … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 121 Comments