CURRENT REAL ESTATE NEWSForeclosure Deal to Spur U.S. Home SeizuresBy Prashant Gopal and John Gittelsohn - Feb 9, 2012 - Bloomberg News The $25 billion settlement with banks over foreclosure abuses may trigger a wave of home seizures, inflicting short-term pain on delinquent U.S. borrowers while making a long-term housing recovery more likely. Lenders slowed the pace of foreclosures as they negotiated with attorneys general in all 50 states for more than a year over allegations of faulty and fraudulent paperwork used to repossess homes. With today’s agreement, banks are likely to resume property seizures. Obama Expands Aid For Delinquent HomeownersBy Lorraine Woellert - Jan 28, 2012 - Bloomberg News The Obama administration, seeking to help more homeowners lower their interest rates and shed mortgage debt, will relax the rules on a federal loan- modification program and triple its incentives to banks. The revised Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, also would pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FMCC) to forgive debt on homes that have lost value. The government-owned companies, citing cost, don’t reduce principal, a policy that has limited HAMP’s reach because they own or guarantee nearly half of U.S. home loans. Tax Cut Extension Now Officially Raising Mortgage RatesBy Matthew Graham - Jan 4, 2012 - Mortgage News Daily As part of the temporary resolution to the recent battle over the Tax Cut Extension that took place in the last weeks of December, Congress decided that mortgage borrowers should foot part of the bill. Technically, Congress increased the "Guaranty Fees" that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge to lenders that securitize MBS (Mortgage-Backed-Securities) with the Agencies, but ultimately, this cost must either be absorbed by lenders, passed on to consumers, or some combination of the two. Fixed Mortgage Rates End Year Above Record LowsBy Derek Kravitz - Jan 1, 2012 - Associated Press Fixed mortgage rates rose slightly this week off their record lows. The year ends much like it began, with few people able to take advantage of the best rates in history. Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average on the 30-year home loan increased to 3.95 percent from 3.91 percent. Last week’s rate was the lowest average on records dating to the 1950s. The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 3.24 percent. That’s up from 3.21 percent, also a record. Builder Confidence Rises for the Third Consecutive MonthDec 19, 2011 - National Association of Home Builders Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes edged up two points from a downwardly revised number to 21 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for December, released today. This marks a third consecutive month in which builder confidence has improved, and brings the index to its highest point since May of 2010. “While builder confidence remains low, the consistent gains registered over the past several months are an indication that pockets of recovery are slowly starting to emerge in scattered housing markets,” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. “However, the difficulties that both builders and buyers continue to experience in accessing credit for new homes are holding back potential sales even in areas where economic conditions are improving.” Home Short Sales Rise in ‘Dramatic Shift’By Kathleen M. Howley - Oct 18, 2011 - Bloomberg News U.S. home prices may get a boost from an unlikely source: a pickup in sales of properties in default before they reach the stage where they are repossessed by the bank and sold. There has been a “dramatic shift” in banks’ willingness to sell a property for less than the mortgage balance to avoid foreclosing, said Ron Peltier, chairman and chief executive officer of HomeServices of America Inc., the second-biggest U.S. residential brokerage. 5 Housing Trends in Fall 2011By Polyana da Costa • Bankrate.com - September 30, 2011 If you want to buy a home and you qualify for a mortgage, this is your time. With mortgage rates at historically low levels, falling home prices and plenty of distressed properties for sale, buyers will be able to find once-in-a-lifetime opportunities this fall. Here are some of the housing and mortgage trends you can expect to see for fall 2011. Mortgage Applications Rise Amid Lower RatesBy Bob Willis/Bloomberg News - September 29, 2011 WASHINGTON — Mortgage applications rose last week as near record-low borrowing costs boosted refinancing. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index increased 9.3 percent in the period ended Sept. 23 from the prior week, the Washington-based group reported Wednesday. The group’s refinancing gauge rose 11 percent, while its purchase index increased 2.6 percent. Americans are taking advantage of the lower rates to reduce monthly payments as consumer confidence, employment and incomes stagnate. Federal Reserve policy makers last week announced further measures to boost housing and the economy. Pre-Foreclosure Short Sales Jump 19% in Second QuarterBy Carrie Bay - DSNews.com - August 24, 2011 
Short sales shot up 19 percent between the first and second quarters, with 102,407 transactions completed during the April-to-June period, according to RealtyTrac. Over the same timeframe, a total of 162,680 bank-owned REO homes sold to third parties, virtually unchanged from the first quarter. RealtyTrac’s study also found that the average time to complete a short sale is down, while the time it takes to sell an REO has increased. U.S. Mortgage Rates Hit 50-Year LowBy Proshant Gopal - Bloomberg News - August 18, 2011 U.S. mortgage rates fell to the lowest in more than half a century as concern that the global economic recovery is faltering spurred demand for bonds that guide home loans, according to Freddie Mac. The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan dropped to 4.15 percent in the week ended today from 4.32 percent, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage financier said in a statement today. That was the lowest in more than 50 years, Freddie Mac said. The average 15-year rate fell to 3.36 percent from 3.5 percent. |
