MBIA Reports Record Losses While Connecticut Investigates
Thursday, January 31st, 2008Less than 48 hours after it was specifically named as a target of a
state investigation of major bond rating agencies and insurers,
MBIA announced a record quarterly loss after writing
down $3.5 billion.
Mortgage Rates Still Falling Hitting Four Year Low
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008Mortgage interest rates for the week ended January 24
continued to fall and long term rates hit their lowest levels since the
spring of 2004 according to the results of Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage
Market Survey for the week ended January 24, 2008.
Mortgage application volume increased 7.5 percent on a seasonally
adjusted basis from a week earlier and 10.5 percent on an unadjusted
basis. The volume was…
NAHB Urges Mix of Housing Measures To Stimulate Economy
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008As predicted, special interest groups are chiming in with suggestions
as to what the economic stimulus package proposed by the Bush
Administration and being debated by Congress should contain.
On
Thursday, about the time the House was approving its version of the
legislation (the Senate has yet to act,) the National Association of Home
Builders (NAHB) ran a full-page ad in USA Today and sent
a letter to…
RealtyTrac Report Confirms Foreclosures Skyrocketing
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008RealtyTrac® an Irvine, California based firm that bills itself as
the “leading online marketplace” released its 2007 U.S. Foreclosure
Market Report on Tuesday which revealed that, during 2007, more than
2.2 million foreclosure filings were logged against 1.3
million properties nationwide.
While the whole year was bad, the month of December
was even worse…
New Homes Sales for 2007 Post Record Decline
Monday, January 28th, 2008The sales of new houses continued to decline in
December according to monthly data jointly released by the U.S. Census
Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Sales of new one-family houses during December were consummated at a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of…
Countrywide CEO Waives Massive Severance Package
Monday, January 28th, 2008One of the more colorful characters in the ongoing subprime drama has
given in to pressure and announced that he will forfeit
about $37.5 million in severance pay and perks that were to accompany his
retirement.
Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial
Corporation was scheduled to receive…
Is SmashCash The Best Online Broker?
Monday, January 28th, 2008With a superior level of helpful and friendly service you bet they are! 1. Loans - the best available rates.
Existing Home Sales Drop Again
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Despite the steadily dropping sales throughout the year, 2007 ended up
with the fifth highest sales of existing homes on record. 5,652,000
existing homes sold during the year but this was 12.8 percent fewer units
than the 6,478,000 sold in 2006.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said, “Home sales
remain weak despite improved affordability conditions in many parts of
the country, but we…
Increased Loan Limts May Be Included In House Bill
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Reuter’s news agency was announcing late Thursday morning that the
U.S. economic stimulus package being hammered out in Congress
would include a temporary up tick in the size of loans
that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae would be allowed to purchase.
Republicans on the Hill have agreed to raise the current loan
limit of $417,000 for a single family home for one year although
there is not yet agreement on how high the limit should go…
Mortgage Rates at 2.5 Year Low
Thursday, January 24th, 2008Mortgage rates continued to fall during the week
ended January 17 according to the results of the Primary Mortgage Market
Survey released by Freddie Mac and, in the case of 30 and 15-year fixed
rate mortgages (FRMs) reached the lowest level since July 2005.
“Refinance applications are up 92% since the
beginning of November and purchase applications are…