Efforts Made To Help Borrowers Avoid Foreclosure
Friday, June 29th, 2007A few things have happened in the last few days that may ultimately
ease what many are calling an onrushing foreclosure train
wreck.
While some attempts are more meaningful and far-reaching than others,
at least a couple of institutions which can do something to avert any
coming catastrophe appear to be moving in that direction and it is
heartening to see that the system may be capable of responding to
trouble…
Mortgage Rates Roll Back From 2007 Highs
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007According to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the
previous week, the market has rolled back a small portion of the large
increases in mortgage rates that were recorded over the
prior five weeks.
“Mortgage rates eased this week due to market concerns that the
housing market will be a longer drag on the economy,”
said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.
“Thus far this year, the housing sector…”
Housing Starts Slip and Builders Still Glum
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007Two measures of the housing market were released this
week and each shows that, at best, builders are remaining cautious; at
worst they are showing a bit of despair.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing
Market Index (HMI) for June reported that builders’ confidence in the
market reached the lowest point in over 25 years.
NAHB President Brian Catalde said “Builders continue to report serious
impacts of tighter lending standards on current home
sales as well as cancellations, and they continue to…”
MBA Delinquency Data Not As Dire As RealtyTrac Reports
Friday, June 15th, 2007On Tuesday RealtyTrac released some pretty scary
numbers relating to foreclosures.
Results of the quarterly National Delinquency Survey conducted by the
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) were released on Thursday and
were much less alarmist than the RealtyTrac figures.
According to
Doug Duncan, MBA’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice
President of Research and Business Development, the data is being driven
by circumstances in seven states. “Without these
states…,” Read More Now
Credit Piggybacking - What Will They Think Of Next?
Thursday, June 14th, 2007We recently ran across this add on Craigslist:
“BORROW SOMEONE’S CREDIT SCORE WHILE WE FIX
YOURS
You heard me… I’ll get your score up to buy your house or car
now, and
we’ll fix your credit for the future. This is the best
value in town!!!!“
Borrow someone’s credit score? Yup, that’s the deal and apparently it
is legal.
Mortgage Rates Continue Upward Spiral
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007Mortgage rates continued to climb during the week
ended June 7 according to the results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage
Market Survey.
Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief
economist commented about the report, “
rates climbed this week owing to market concerns of a tight labor
force and wage growth. May’s unemployment rate remained at the second
lowest level since May 2001 while average hourly earnings rose.
Additionally…”
Major Real Estate Corp Sees Marketing Possibilities In Virtual World
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007We said several weeks ago that a big believer in the value of Second
Life real estate is the very grounded-to-earth firm of Coldwell
Banker.
We interviewed Charlie Young,
Senior Vice President, Marketing and David Siroty, Director of Public
Relations, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation about the
corporation’s decision to take a stake in Second Life.
Mortgage
News Daily: What drove the decision of Coldwell Banker to make what is
really a pretty radical move?
Will Subprime Problems Spill Over Into Conventional Markets?
Monday, June 11th, 2007Two days, two economic forecasts; the first which we reported on
earlier from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed a rapid
deterioration in the confidence that association’s economic advisors have
in the near future of the housing industry. Now we have the June Economic
Outlook from Freddie Mac.
Freddie Mac’s monthly offering always has a theme and it is more than
a little disquieting that the motif for June appears to be “not every
house needs to be foreclosed.”
This is really not an overstatement. The Outlook states that, in the
subprime market, 1 in 13 homes are candidates for
foreclosure. It further quotes the….
NAR Forecast Reveals A Wee Bit Of Gloom
Friday, June 8th, 2007The National Association of Realtors has backpedaled
on previous housing forecasts with it U.S. Economic Outlook report for
June released on Wednesday.
NAR has consistently asserted that the housing bubble would
not burst but rather would deflate and, when it happened, there would be
a soft landing. The Economic Outlook report released on January
10, 2007 stated…
Alt-A Lender GreenPoint Mortgage Closes Multiple Offices
Thursday, June 7th, 2007As the problems with subprime mortgages continue to work through the
system, GreenPoint Mortgage, a subsidiary of
Capital One Financial has announced it is closing 12 of
its operational centers and some branch offices with the loss of
approximately 440 positions, primarily account executives, underwriters,
and loan processors.
…GreenPoint is not a subprime lender, Ms. Rakes said, but its focus
is the near prime market, largely the sector called
Alt A mortgages.