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Falling home prices drag new buyers under water

More than 1 million Americans who have taken out mortgages in the past two years now owe more on their loans than their homes are worth, and Federal Housing Administration loans that require only a tiny down payment are partly to blame.

That figure, provided to Reuters by tracking firm CoreLogic, represents about [...]

Shorter Turn-times for Short-Sales on the way?

More than four years into the housing crisis, the powers that be finally have created new rules to make the short sale process easier and speedier.

Starting in June, mortgage servicers will no longer take months or years to respond to a short sale request, if they follow the [...]

Inside the Foreclosure Factory, they’re working overtime and then some

In a quiet office in downtown Charlotte, N.C., dozens of Wells Fargo’s foreclosure foot soldiers sit in cubicles cranking out documents the bank relies on to seize its share of the thousands of homes lost to foreclosure every week.
They stare at computer screens and prepare sworn affidavits that [...]

Bond Market News – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good – In Spain – the country was able to successfully auction off 10-year Notes, albeit at a higher price, so the global markets are breathing a sigh of relief. But remember, Spain still has many big problems and we will likely be talking about them for years – just like Greece. [...]

Mortgage Rates near record lows

Mortgage rates stayed near record lows this week as homeowners took advantage of the opportunity to refinance.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 1 basis point to 4.1 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point .
According to BankRate the current 30-year fixed rate dipped down to [...]

How PIIGS Move U.S. Mortgage Rates

When analyzed against a range of economic measures including Growth Domestic Product, there is little argument that the United States is a top country in the world. By comparison, smaller nations such as Europe’s Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain have much less financial strength.

Yet, in this global economy, nations are economically- [...]

NY AG: Scammers Posing as Bank or Government Representatives

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is warning state homeowners to beware of phone solicitations from scammers claiming to provide assistance related to the recent national mortgage servicing settlement.

The AG received reports that there are scammers impersonating bank officials or government officers offering to facilitate mortgage payments as [...]

Mortgage Rates… “Minutes after the Minutes” …and the Morning After

Virtually every market traded lower yesterday following the Federal Reserve release of the March 13th Minutes. Bonds lead the way with the 10yr US Treasury jumping to over 2.30%, and the Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) yields losing over 70bps yesterday “minutes after the Minutes” were released. The reason: Fed Meeting suggested there would be no [...]

National Housing Survey 2012

Each quarter, Fannie Mae releases their National Housing Survey. They survey the American public on a multitude of questions concerning today’s housing market. We like to pull out some of the findings we deem most interesting each time it is released. Here they are for the most recent report:

84% of [...]

Mortgage and Interest Rate Reaction to Fed Minutes

“Better” economic data has mixed influence on committee members and leads to a divided Fed!

Differing outlook by members of the Fed cause sell off in Stock and Bond Market.

Mortgage Rates set to increase based on news…

No mention of QE3 or additional mortgage bond [...]