Foreclosure Nation

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its market outlook to the media on Wednesday. The trade group’s economists are expecting mortgage lending to shrink by 36 percent this year. They project originations – including loans for home purchases and refinancing – to total $966 billion in 201...

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A Weichert, REALTORS® survey of 1,261 home buyers who made purchases between July 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2010, reveals that 28 percent were motivated by "favorable financing," down from 31 percent in 2009 but up from 14 percent in 2008. While 26 percent of those polled in 2005 said the desire to ...

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Wells Fargo announced that effective January 15, 2011, they will accept Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages for borrowers with credit scores as low as 500. For borrowers with credit scores 500-579 a 10 percent downpayment is required and the downpayment may not be a gift or be part of a d...

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Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud. The cost was a closely guarded secret until last week, when the companies and thei...

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In physics, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that the process of observing subatomic particles affects their behavior. We have a similar principle in journalism: the process of reporting a story can sometimes affect the behavior of those being reported on. Last Wednesday, the Heisenberg J...

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FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair warned mortgage bankers Wednesday that failure to take immediate and decisive action to deal with the foreclosure crisis and breakdowns in servicing procedures will trigger a double-dip in U.S. housing markets and keep the industry deeply mired in a cycle of credit distress...

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Since the onset of the mortgage crisis, homebuyers have shied away from adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) because they are wary of the risks, but these loan products are slowly gaining back lost market share, according to Frank Nothaft, VP and chief economist for Freddie Mac. “The potential for muc...

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Florida was hard hit by the subprime mess and subsequent economic slide and no city in the state was spared. A sharp price correction and improvements in employment have helped turn the corner for the housing market in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, though. To find out how your market has done, see any of t...

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The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released Mortgagee Letter 2011-03, which extends the temporary guidance for condominium rules through June 30, 2011. NAR has been calling for an extension of the temporary measures for several months and recommended additional enhancements to ...

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If anyone wants to see a real live mortgage meltdown in progress, they should visit Florida where, according to the American Securitization Forum, more than 50% of securitized non-agency Florida residential mortgages are greater than 60 days past due. That means that at least 50% of all borrowers ...

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A recent study examining the role of private mortgage insurance reveals the instrument serves a vital role in helping to establish stability within the housing market. The study, conducted by Promontory Financial Group, provides a review of how private mortgage insurance policies protect mortgage l...

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Two separate industry reports released Thursday show that mortgage rates retreated this week, marking the second week in a row they’ve headed lower. Interest rates began a sharp ascension from record lows in early November, and experts have warned that the trend is likely to continue. Rates across ...

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If you’re considering taking out a jumbo mortgage, now may be a good time to get the loan. According to data released last week from LendingTree, the difference in price between a conforming 30-year fixed mortgage and a jumbo mortgage for a higher amount was recently at around 60 basis points. (A b...

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WE ARE ABOUT to find out what the Obama administration proposes to do about the nation's mortgage finance system. By the end of January, it must produce a long-term plan for replacing the failed government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which back about half of the $10.6 trillion...

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The “Extend and Pretend” era is rapidly giving way to “Get Real to Heal,” and this article explores the complexities surrounding workouts of securitized hotel mortgages. Workouts of Securitized Hotel Mortgages Since 2003, roughly $110 billion of lodging mortgage debt has been originated and securi...

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As the backlog of foreclosures continues to drive down housing prices, losses on private-label residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) will increase in 2011, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The New York-based rating agency’s forecast for more red ink seeping from home loans packaged ...

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The delinquency rate for loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) rose again in December with the percentage of loans 30 or more days delinquent, in foreclosure, or REO climbing 27 basis points to 9.20 percent, according to data released this week by Trepp LLC. The New York-based...

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As we all move forward with our New Year’s resolutions, it’s a good time to remember the promises our politicians have been making about the American mortgage market. The Obama administration, at a conference last August on the future of housing finance, pledged to have, come January, a plan for F...

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Two weeks ago, Standard & Poor’s put out a news release warning that it was poised to lower its ratings on almost 1,200 complex mortgage securities. So what? Isn’t that dog-bites-man at this point? Well, two-thirds of these mortgage bonds were rated only last year, long after the financial crisis....

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