Tag Archives: Fha

Buy, Sell or Rent: Americans Rewrite the Dream

American homes have never been more affordable than they are today. Prices are down dramatically, mortgage rates are at record lows and desperate sellers are willing to make concessions. Still about one third of Americans choose to rent, despite the … Continue reading

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Have Refis Run Out?

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage is up about a half a percentage point since the middle of February, when they hit a record low. Mortgage refinances, however, dropped 24 percent in the same period of time. That’s … Continue reading

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Negative Equity Traps One Third of American Borrowers

As home sales begin a slow recovery and potential buyers dip their toes back in real estate’s still-troubled waters, many of them face a huge barrier to entry: Negative equity, that is, borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than … Continue reading

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Running Robo-Settlement Numbers

A potential $25 billion settlement between the nation’s four largest banks and the 50 state attorneys general over faulty foreclosure processing is imminent. Or at least it’s closer than it’s been, given that we are now well over a year … Continue reading

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Housing Demand Defies Fundamentals

Anyone with any cash in hand should be buying a house right now. That’s what any real estate agent will tell you, obviously, but that’s also what many investors now believe. Unfortunately, the potential home-buying public…isn’t buying it. January’s consumer … Continue reading

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Bulk Foreclosure Sales Could Cause Bigger Bank Write-Downs

As government, federal regulators and big-money private investors try to figure out a plan for bulk sales of foreclosed properties, big banks are already making deals, but they are few and far between. The trouble is, they are looking at … Continue reading

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What Are Buyers Really Putting Down for a Mortgage?

Ask the Realtors, the Builders, even the Housing Reporters, and they’ll all tell you that the biggest impediments to housing’s recovery are higher credit underwriting standards. Down payments are a big part of that, as most mortgage market experts will … Continue reading

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Mortgage Modifications Wind Down As Foreclosures Heat Up

Mortgage modifications under the government’s bailout program, permanent and trials, and as well as proprietary modifications made by the big banks continue to fall and are falling at an increasing clip. You might think it’s because there are fewer troubled … Continue reading

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Mortgage Bankers Reverse Course on Loan Limits

It was barely a few months ago, albeit a few thousand degrees ago, that I moderated a panel of mortgage types from the major banks, including the Mortgage Bankers Association’s new president David Stevens, formerly FHA commissioner. Stevens and I … Continue reading

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Lower Loan Limits: Let the Games Begin

The summer has barely started, but the fight is on against changes to loan limits that don’t take place until the first of October. Today the National Association of Home Builders released its own study claiming that lowering the loan … Continue reading

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