Category Archives: Mortgages

Are we sure eliminating F&F is the best approach to reforming mortgage finance?

Posted on August 6, 2013 by grim

From Reuters: Obama to back mortgage finance reform to speed housing recovery President Barack Obama will propose overhauling the U.S. mortgage finance system in a speech on Tuesday, weighing in on a tangled and polarizing problem that was central to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, Politics, Risky Lending | 204 Comments

Richmond, CA moves forward with nuclear option loan mods

Posted on August 2, 2013 by grim

From CNN/Money: California city’s drastic foreclosure remedy: Seizure The California city of Richmond said Tuesday that it’s ready to take an extraordinary step in its bid to stop foreclosures — threatening to wrest mortgages from the investors who now control … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, Politics, Risky Lending | 98 Comments

Pending home sales slip, but still up big over last year

Posted on July 29, 2013 by grim

From the WSJ: Higher Mortgage Rates Pinch Pending Home Sales The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes slipped in June, a sign higher mortgage rates could slow housing-market momentum in coming months. The National Association of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 100 Comments

Rates rates rates rates rates rates rates

Posted on July 22, 2013 by grim

From the WSJ: Higher Rates Aren’t Enough to Stall Housing The U.S. housing recovery that began unfolding early last year faces its first serious test: In the span of just two months, mortgage rates have jumped by a full percentage … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Recovery, Mortgages | 33 Comments

How I learned to stop worrying and love rising rates

Posted on July 17, 2013 by grim

From HousingWire: Fannie Mae economist: Rates will not halt current housing recovery Interest rates on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage have risen from 3.35% at the beginning of May to 4.51% in mid-June. This 116 basis-point increase in nine weeks has … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 52 Comments

Rates to drag the market down (or maybe not)

Posted on July 11, 2013 by grim

From CNBC: Dire Predictions For Housing Recovery The housing recovery is in for a major pause due to higher mortgage rates. It is not in the numbers now, and it won’t be for a few months, but it is coming, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages | 75 Comments

Delinquencies ease, fewer homeowners underwater

Posted on July 9, 2013 by grim

From HousingWire: Less sickness in housing as delinquencies fall 43% from peak The housing market continues to recover from post-meltdown levels with mortgage delinquencies down 43% from 2010 levels, Lender Processing Services Applied Analytics said Monday. The number of borrowers … Continue reading →

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

Buyers beg to get off rate roller coaster

Posted on July 4, 2013 by grim

From CNBC: Housing Recovery Rides Mortgage Rate Roller Coaster Mortgage rates are moving so fast and so dramatically that even reports from barely a week ago seem suddenly outdated. The average rate on the 30-year fixed conforming loan moved to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages | 17 Comments

Waters recede, homeowners learn to float

Posted on June 12, 2013 by grim

From Bloomberg: Homeowners With Negative Equity Fall Below 20% of U.S. Borrowers The share of U.S. borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth fell to less than 20 percent in the first quarter as prices surged in hard-hit … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages | 61 Comments

Will rising rates push sales even higher?

Posted on May 31, 2013 by grim

From the LA Times: Rising mortgage rates could fuel already hot housing markets Mortgage rates have risen half a percentage point since setting record lows last fall, and many economists expect them to continue rising for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 81 Comments

No equity, no sellers, no sales

Posted on May 23, 2013 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Lack of equity slows home sales in New Jersey Although the number of homes in foreclosure or struggling to make mortgage payments in New Jersey has been slowly dropping, it hasn’t been translated into a rise … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, New Jersey Real Estate | 94 Comments

Banks halt foreclosures … again.

Posted on May 20, 2013 by grim

Will we ever get through the backlog? From the WSJ: Some Banks Halt Foreclosures, Citing Regulator’s Bulletin Some of the nation’s largest banks, including Wells Fargo & Co., suspended foreclosure sales in a number of states following guidance issued last … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, National Real Estate | 68 Comments

Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me that you built a time machine out of a DeLorean?

Posted on May 18, 2013 by grim

From Loans.org:

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate | 20 Comments

Foreclosure Enron?

Posted on April 5, 2013 by grim

From DealBook/NYT: Blame Abounds Over a Flawed Foreclosure Review Private consultants and federal regulators are facing a fresh round of scrutiny in Washington after botching a broad review of foreclosures and failing to thwart financial misdeeds. A new report by … Continue reading →

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

Greedy Banksters can’t stop picking on Helpless Victims

Posted on March 29, 2013 by grim

From HousingWire, a pawn of the real-estate-industrial-complex: Borrower spends on lingerie … should they get a loan mod? During the course of foreclosures when parties are discussing or attempting loss mitigation, borrowers submit financial records for lenders and servicers to … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, Risky Lending, Unrest | 108 Comments