Posted by admin! / Under Mortgage Rate
And so it begins. Big gun lawmakers are making the move toward principal writedowns as the last resort to save the housing market. In a letter to the CEOs of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank wrote, "To save homes on a large scale, we must move past temporary modifications in interest rates or terms and focus on permanent principal reductions that result in truly sustainable mortgages." I agree and disagree with that statement: I agree that temporary modifications (even though the Treasury calls them permanent) are going to...
Published on Thursday 11th of March 2010 09:50:27 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Mortgage Rate
he fear of losing one’s home in these difficult times sent hundreds of area homeowners Saturday to a free program designed to help them. More than 100 volunteers for “Keep Your Home,” held at the University Center in Grayslake, helped troubled homeowners to determine whether they qualified for President Obama’s Loan Modification Program. If they did, the volunteers, including judges, lawyers and community organizers, assisted them in filling out applications which were then filed electronically to their lenders seeking a reduction of monthly mortgage payments. Within an hour after the program started, more than 250 homeowners had come into the...
Published on Thursday 11th of March 2010 09:50:27 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Mortgage Rate
For the administration, there is also the concern that millions of foreclosures could delay or even reverse the economy's tentative recovery -- the last thing it wants in an election year. Taking effect on April 5, the program could encourage hundreds of thousands of delinquent borrowers who have not been rescued by the loan modification program to shed their houses through a process known as a short sale, in which property is sold for less than the balance of the mortgage. Lenders will be compelled to accept that arrangement, forgiving the difference between the market price of the property and...
Published on Thursday 11th of March 2010 09:50:27 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Mortgage Rate
Fannie and Freddie have over $6.5 trillion in mortgage and guarantees. Throw in $1.25 trillion for the Fed and billions at BofA, Citi, Wells, JPMChase and other banks. Our financial system is exposed to 5% mortgages that are 30 years in maturity (and little chance of prepayment). What will happen when inflation heats up and Treasury rates and mortgage rates go up? If the 30 yr yield doubles from 5% to 10%, mortgages would decline in value from $1,200,000 to $716,200. That is a decline of 40% in value. If we increase the 30yr Treasury rate to 14%, a 5%...
Published on Thursday 11th of March 2010 09:50:27 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Mortgage Rate
The mortgage firms are looking at every loan more than 90 days past due and “asking us basically to give them all the documentation to show that it was properly underwritten,” JPMorgan’s Scharf said. “We then go through a process with them that takes a period of time, and literally it’s every loan, loan-by-loan, and have the discussion on whether or not we actually should buy the loan back.” That's exactly what I said would happen more than two years ago. EVERY LOAN. If there was appraisal fraud OR If there was income fraud OR If there was DTI fraud...
Published on Thursday 11th of March 2010 09:50:27 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Mortgage Rate
Fannie/ Freddie bondholders got jittery when Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank (D-Mass) said they shouldn’t expect Uncle Sam to make them whole....A few hours later, Frank said that although F/F's $5 trillion of mortgage-linked securities at the center of the junk mortgage crisis, do not have “the same legal standing as Treasury debt,” that doesn’t prevent Treasury from treating it as if it did.
Published on Thursday 11th of March 2010 09:50:27 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Mortgage Rate
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fannie Mae, the largest provider of residential mortgage funds, on Friday reported a loss of $16.3 billion for the fourth quarter of last year and said it requested $15.3 billion from the Treasury to keep its net worth in positive territory. The government-controlled company said it would need additional taxpayer funds in the future to continue operations. Fannie Mae said the quarterly loss came as rising defaults kept credit-related expenses elevated at $11.9 billion, though expenses were almost half the third quarter level of $22.0 billion. Fannie Mae's quarterly loss was $15.2 billion before a $1.2 billion...
Published on Thursday 11th of March 2010 09:50:27 AM
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Posted by admin! / Under Mortgage Rate
One Quarter of Mortgage Holders Sink Underwater By Steve Cook Real Estate Economy Watch ArticlePhotosListen.Share More than 11.3 million, or 24 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages, were in negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, up from 10.7 million and 23 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2009. An additional 2.3 million mortgages were approaching negative equity at the end of last year, meaning they had less than five percent equity. Together, negative equity and near-negative equity mortgages accounted for nearly 29 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide,...
Published on Thursday 11th of March 2010 09:50:27 AM
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