Category Archives: Risky Lending

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

Trenton and AC lead national foreclosures

Posted on December 11, 2015 by grim

From Reuters: Two New Jersey cities top November U.S. metro foreclosure rates Two New Jersey metropolitan areas, Atlantic City and Trenton, had the highest U.S. metro foreclosure rates in November, RealtyTrac data showed on Thursday. It was the fifth straight … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending | 106 Comments

GSE High-LTV Mortgages Vaporware?

Posted on December 7, 2015 by grim

From HousingWire: Black Knight: Consumers aren’t getting Fannie, Freddie 3% down mortgages For all the uproar that surrounded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac introducing loan programs that allowed buyers to put down as little as 3% around this time last … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 59 Comments

New tunnel? We can’t afford it.

Posted on November 30, 2015 by grim

From NJ Spotlight: HOW WILL CASH-STRAPPED NJ PAY ITS SHARE OF GATEWAY RAIL-TUNNEL PROJECT? Federal and state officials gave the plan to build a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River a major boost earlier this month when they announced … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending | 81 Comments

The HELOC is back!

Posted on November 14, 2015 by grim

From the NYT: Cashing in on Home Equity Rising home prices are raising equity levels, and homeowners are cashing in on these gains. In the first three quarters of this year, the sales volume of single-family homes and condominiums reached … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, Housing Recovery, Risky Lending | 80 Comments

GSE Reform Dead

Posted on October 21, 2015 by grim

From HousingWire: GSE leadership no longer expecting reform The government-sponsored enterprises are getting back to their core mission, shaking the idea that a resolution to conservatorship is just around the corner and reshaping their business models to reduce risk to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, Politics, Risky Lending | 84 Comments

The Subprime Myth

Posted on August 31, 2015 by grim

From PBS: The U.S. foreclosure crisis was not just a subprime event Many studies of the housing market collapse of the last decade, and the associated sharp rise in defaults and foreclosures, focus on the role of the subprime mortgage … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, Risky Lending | 65 Comments

Shocker – Not foreclosing on delinquent homes means high delinquencies

Posted on August 18, 2015 by grim

From the Star Ledger: N.J. has highest rate of distressed mortgages in nation, study shows A greater share of residential mortgages in New Jersey were distressed at the end of the second quarter of this year than any other state … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Politics, Risky Lending | 64 Comments

Mortgage delinquencies down 20% since last year

Posted on August 17, 2015 by grim

From HousingWire: TransUnion: Mortgage delinquency rates continue rapid decline The mortgage delinquency rate — the rate of borrowers 60 days or more delinquent on their mortgages — continued its rapid decline, falling to 2.72% in Q2 2015, according to TransUnion. … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, Risky Lending | 69 Comments

Don’t you worry about those unintended consequences

Posted on August 3, 2015 by grim

From NJ Spotlight: REPORT: FORECLOSURES, EMPTY HOMES STILL DRAGGING DOWN NEWARK’S ECONOMY Baraka’s response – a plan for eminent-domain acquisition of inflated mortgages in two ‘model neighborhoods’ – may be needed citywide. A new report finds foreclosures and housing vacancies … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Risky Lending | 146 Comments

In-depth look into NJ’s foreclosure situation

Posted on July 19, 2015 by grim

From the Record: Fuller impact of home foreclosure debacle hits N.J. The number of New Jersey home repossessions by lenders has soared in the past two years and is on track to increase again in 2015, in sharp divergence to … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate, Risky Lending | 119 Comments

Subprime wasn’t the problem?

Posted on June 22, 2015 by grim

From Fortune: The subprime mortgage crisis wasn’t about subprime mortgages In the years following the financial crisis, a cottage industry arose that tried to explain just what happened to the American economy and the financial system. Early on in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Bubble, Risky Lending | 70 Comments

Boomerangers

Posted on June 20, 2015 by grim

From the NYT: Mortgage Market on the Mend New research from TransUnion, the credit information service, predicts that some 1.5 million homeowners who were forced out of the mortgage market after the housing bust will have recovered sufficiently to re-enter … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, National Real Estate, Risky Lending | 63 Comments