Category Archives: Risky Lending

“We have found neighborhoods with abandoned homes, 200 at a shot”

Posted on March 8, 2007 by grim

From Bloomberg: Fed Warned on Foreclosures as Mortgage Growth Cools Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and other policy markers were warned that rising mortgage foreclosures are likely to get worse, as the central bank reported the slowest pace of … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 15 Comments

“The biggest fear is that the trouble will move up the food chain.”

Posted on March 8, 2007 by grim

From BusinessWeek: The Mortgage Mess Spreads The canaries in the coal mine are keeling over fast. After years of easy profits, the $1.3 trillion subprime mortgage industry has taken a violent turn: At least 25 subprime lenders, which issue mortgages … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 104 Comments

Interesting look into foreclosures

Posted on March 8, 2007 by grim

From the Denver Post: Nonbank lenders lead foreclosure data The standard profile of a mortgage that went into foreclosure in Colorado last year: an adjustable-rate loan with an average value of $202,000 made by a nonbank lender between 2003 to … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 1 Comment

Mortgage fraud on upswing

Posted on March 8, 2007 by grim

From the Philly Inquirer: FBI dealt with more mortgage fraud The number of mortgage-fraud cases investigated by the FBI almost doubled in the last three years, reflecting a problem that is “pervasive and growing,” the bureau said yesterday in its … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 2 Comments

Horses long gone

Posted on March 6, 2007 by grim

From Bloomberg: As Housing Goes Bust, Lenders Become Predators?: Caroline Baum Congress is gearing up for hearings on predatory lending, the latest chapter in its long history of barn-door-closings on already-departed horses. Just some background in case anyone hasn’t picked … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Risky Lending | 129 Comments

Subprime under scrutiny

Posted on March 2, 2007 by grim

From the AP: Fed: Use Caution in Subprime Mortgages Federal bank regulators, worried about a surge in defaults on high-risk home mortgages, on Friday called on lenders to exercise caution in making subprime loans and closely evaluate borrowers’ ability to … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 2 Comments

Cracks forming on Wall Street?

Posted on March 2, 2007 by grim

From Bloomberg: Goldman, Merrill Almost `Junk,’ Their Own Traders Say Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley, which earned a record $24.5 billion in 2006, suddenly have become so speculative that their own traders are valuing … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 1 Comment

Alt-A mortgage market beginning to show cracks

Posted on March 1, 2007 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: Mortgage Defaults Start to Spread New Data Show That Nontraditional Loans Are Beginning To Haunt Borrowers With Midlevel Credit; Prime Still Fine By RUTH SIMON and JAMES R. HAGERTY March 1, 2007 The mortgage market … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 147 Comments

Risk back on the table

Posted on February 28, 2007 by grim

From Bloomberg: Risk Returns, Not Just to the Subprime Market: Caroline Baum Problems in the subprime loan market have been front-page news for weeks, with a total of 27 mortgage lenders going belly up since December, according to The Mortgage … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 2 Comments

Subprime shakeout spilling over?

Posted on February 27, 2007 by grim

From the Wall Street Journal: Housing Sector May Be Knocked By Mortgages Investors looking to see whether trouble in risky mortgages will spill over into the broader housing market could find solace in today’s home-sales report. But such complacency would … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 4 Comments

The end of easy (subprime) money?

Posted on February 21, 2007 by grim

From the Boston Globe: Fears of increased mortgage defaults put spotlight on subprime lenders If it looks like a bubble, smells like a bubble, and tastes like a bubble, it must be a bubble. Or is it? The smart money … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 198 Comments

Do CDOs place the housing market at risk?

Posted on February 18, 2007 by grim

From Joseph R. Madison and Joshua Rosner, as presented at the Hudson Institute: How Resilient Are Mortgage Backed Securities to Collateralized Debt Obligation Market Disruptions? (PDF) A summary, provided by reader/commenter abamitphd: Some highlights: 1. Since the last cycle, servicers … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Risky Lending | 1 Comment

Credit crunch deja vu

Posted on February 17, 2007 by grim

From HSH Associates: Is a ‘Credit Crunch’ Coming to the Mortgage Market? Part I: History Lessions Like many of you, we’ve been following the issues of mortgage risks and housing bubbles for an extended period. Of late, certain of those … Continue reading →

Posted in Risky Lending | 4 Comments

Is this the tipping point?

Posted on February 15, 2007 by grim

From Salon (Registration/SitePass Required): Brother, can you spare a sub-prime (insurance policy)? Wanna raise hackles on Wall Street? Sneak up behind an investment banker and whisper the words “systemic risk.” As in: The miseries currently being experienced by subprime mortgage … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing Bubble, Risky Lending | 76 Comments

“The last time I saw it this bad was in the early 1990s”

Posted on February 12, 2007 by grim

From the NY Daily News: Foreclosures in city jump 18% The number of city foreclosures jumped 18% in the last half of 2006 – with as many as 100 homes going on the block each week in both Brooklyn and … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 2 Comments