Here are two news releases obtained in the past few days that offer directly opposing views on the near-term real estate market:
From the National Association of Home Builders:
WASHINGTON, November 29 — New single-family home sales edged up 1.7 percent in October following a read more
The Federal Reserve is out with its “Beige Book,” a look at how the economy is doing nationwide and in each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts.
On the housing front, the Fed says that “Demand for residential real estate remained quite depressed, with only a few tentative and scattered signs of stabilization amidst the ongoing read more
As reported in mid-October, FHA loan limits for 2008 will be the same as 2007 — $417,000 for a single-family home in high-cost areas in the lower 48 states.
In an official announcement, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) says it’s keeping the current loan limit even though property read more
Last July we reported the HUD decision to allow the use of the LIBOR index for adjustable FHA mortgages.
The use of the LIBOR is really part of the internationalization of the mortgage marketplace, the idea that an investor in any country can buy U.S. mortgages. read more
A letter from a reader asks: “Why are the closing costs so high on an FHA loan? They want to charge me $7,000 or $8,000.”
Most likely your closing costs include several large charges, some of which do not relate directly to your FHA mortgage.
First, your state and local government believes real estate transfers should result read more
Bloomberg has reported that mortgage bond trading among banks has been suspended until Monday, Nov. 26th.
“The European Covered Bond Council, an industry group that represents securities firms and borrowers, recommended banks withdraw from trades for the first time in its three-year history until Nov. 26. Banks are still obliged to provide prices to investors, according read more
Today we have a chance to spend time with friends and family, to eat well, and to reflect on the words of the old song, a song which says “there but for fortune go you or I.”
There are many places in the world which are neither free nor fortunate. Whatever our debates and disputes, read more
We have a second posting from Jason Vondrak, this follows our first exchange at Mortgages: Who’s To Blame For The Lending Crisis?
Allow me to respond to some of the points raised in Jason’s second posting.
Jason says: ” read more
During the last two weeks of October the FHA program continued to sail along. Applications ran at an annualized rate of 1,180,300 while the number of actual applications for the period topped 55,000.
During the period, 32,518 mortgages were endorsed — 25.9 percent over early October. Eighty percent of the applicants were first-time purchasers, suggesting that a lot of read more
Jason Vondrak provided us with a view regarding the Fed and risk-based premiums for FHA loans. Fair enough. Allow me to respond to the points which were raised.
Jason says: In response to the “Gimme a break comment” The consumer must also be held accountable read more
Below is the news release from the House Financial Services Committee showing the general features of the reform measure, H.R. 3915, just passed in the House. The bill, of course, will also need approval by the Senate and then must gain the President’s signature.
This is the first time in years that anything read more
This week I want to take notice of several interesting blogs and sites:
Calculated Risk had a terrific posting regarding the Boyko decision in Cleveland. This is the court case where 14 foreclosure actions were dumped because the plaintiff could not prove it actually owned the loans. Great job, read more
The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007. The bill passed the House by a vote of 291-127.
Kieran P. Quinn, CMB, Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said his group believed that ” read more
I was interested to discover that, according to The Nation we are facing a coming foreclosure tsunami!
This, of course, is startling news. Not a single newspaper or magazine in the past year has even mentioned foreclosures, right? No congressional hearings have been held. Right? No proposed legislation has been suggested read more
Anyone look at the latest metro foreclosure figures from RealtyTrac, the foreclosure data and property listings company?
It is absolutely amazing to see some of the numbers.
If we rank metro areas by the ratio of foreclosures to households, then the top five are Stockton, CA (one foreclosure read more
Listen to FHA Loan Pros columnist Peter Miller on American Public Radio:
Peter G. Miller is a syndicated real estate and personal finance columnist who appears in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. The author of six books published originally by Harper & Row, Mr. Miller has appeared on Oprah, the Today Show, CNN, MSNBC, American Public Radio, NPR and numerous other television, radio and print outlets.
Heindrick So is a mortgage consultant at a local Bay Area Real Estate Brokerage - specializing in residential wholesale lending.
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