Affordability Products?

You have to give the lending industry credit. When it comes to double talk, these folks would elate George Orwell.

“As home prices rose,” says FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair, “one way to keep the monthly payment in check, for a while anyway, was to read more

One of the largest home value studies is conducted regularly by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), the entity that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Below are the results for the fourth quarter of 2007. For those who believe that the current housing mess is a by-product of “negative reporting,” the release below read more

Congress has still not approved legislation regarding FHA reform submitted by President Bush to Congress over two years ago. Given the length of time, and the dire need for reform in a turbulent real estate market, in a letter to Congress HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson outlined certain provisions that he believes will better serve the read more

Interest rates last week took a sudden jump, news which is not helpful for borrowers, those refinancing or owners selling a home.

Why is this happening? Two thoughts: First, investors are not thrilled by the expanded 2008 loan limits for FHA mortgages and conventional loans. Second, the whiff of inflation worries contained in read more

The speech below was given by FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair before the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network in San Jose last Friday. There is a lot of interesting analysis in this speech, something worth reading. (I have highlighted interesting points in read more

An excellent site, Financial-Planning.com is reporting that HUD has begun to rethink the FHASecure mortgage program.

The program has certainly had vast claims of success. Speaking in Florida earlier this month, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson read more

A loan officer named JJ has posted with us and made a complex point that includes FHA mortgages and all forms of real estate lending.

“Simply put if you can’t afford a house on a regular 30 fully amortized term don’t buy it,” says JJ. “And if you’re read more

Testifying before the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, attorney Rachel Dollar, a representative speaking for the Mortgage Bankers Association, made an interesting point:

“Fraud in the mortgage context can be divided into two broad categories: “fraud for property or housing” and “fraud for profit.” read more

One of the great debates of our time concerns the matter of who is “responsible” for the mortgage meltdown. Some blame lenders and “Wall Street,” some blame borrowers and some blame regulators. (I’m in the camp which says there’s a lot of blame to go around….)

Happily with FHA mortgages borrowers have a generally-good idea read more

Speaking in Washington last week, Edward Lazear, Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers offered some interesting comments.

“This year’s most significant economic events revolved around housing and credit markets. An apparent under-pricing of risk was revealed first in mortgage markets, read more

Speaking before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Treasury Secretary told the assembled salons that “the HOPE NOW effort is making progress.

“According to updated statistics, in the second half of 2007 the industry assisted 869,000 homeowners, including 545,000 subprime borrowers who received loan modifications and repayment plans. The progress rate is accelerating; the number read more

The Toledo Blade quotes Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) as saying that “one of the reasons why so many people went to subprime is because FHA wasn’t doing their job.”

“FHA’s requirements were so stringent,” Voinovich told the paper. People “said they were leaving read more

Speaking at the introduction of Project Lifeline, the new foreclosure prevention effort, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson has this to say about FHA mortgages:

“Several recent efforts have been extremely helpful, including the President’s actions with FHASecure. Since September, when President Bush announced FHASecure, the department has received applications to refinance more than 228,000 conventional loans into read more

HUD has sent a letter to Capitol Hill once again seeking FHA mortgage “reform.”

Under the stimulus program just passed by Congress, the FHA loan limit has been raised from $362,790 to as much as $729,750 — but only for this year. HUD is now seeking to increase the limit on a permanent basis to increase FHA read more

HUD sent out 280,000 copies of the letter below “urging homeowners to consider safer, more affordable FHA-backed mortgages.”

Is this a good idea? Sure. You can pretty bet that a lot of toxic-mortgage borrowers received lousy advice from lenders and did not see the FHA program as a plausible choice or were steered to loans that read more