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Finance and Economy Archive
(MCT)—Many consumers applying for a mortgage are going to start sharing more personal information with lenders next year, like it or not.
FICO scores, the industry standard for determining credit risk in mortgages backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration, largely have been based on a person’s credit history. But in an attempt to develop a more well-rounded picture of a person’s finances beyond credit, tools are being developed to help the lending industry dig deeper.
If you’re on the verge of losing your home, or you know someone who is, then you also know about the long, bureaucratic process involved in applying for a loan modification from a lender. The most common approach is to apply under the new Home Affordability Mortgage Program (HAMP),
Eliminating or curtailing the mortgage interest deduction would have a disproportionate impact on younger, middle-class families, who would see their ability to become home owners significantly diminished, with sober implications for their longer term financial prospects, the National Association of Home Builders
(MCT)—The following editorial appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on Wednesday, Oct. 12:
The easiest and most effective economic stimulus the Obama administration could accomplish doesn’t require an act of Congress. Executive action could change the rules to allow responsible homeowners with underwater loans to refinance at today’s rock-bottom interest rates, stemming the tide of foreclosures that is crippling recovery across the country and hitting California harder than any other state except Nevada.
The Recovery Board is teaming with the nonpartisan National Academy of Public Administration to solicit ideas from the public on how to prevent fraud, waste, or abuse of Recovery funds. The Board and the Academy are hosting the National Dialogue on Innovative Tools to Prevent and Detect Fraud,
Mortgage applications increased 1.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 7, 2011.
Even though the market has delayed many from moving ahead with plans to sell the family home, baby boomers are a red hot market for investment properties.
A national survey of Coldwell Banker agents found that 87 percent of 1300 agents and brokers polled have baby boomer clients who already own or are looking to own an investment property. Some 22 percent of agents report that at least half of their Boomer clients either own or are looking to own such properties.
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT—The following analysis of the Baltimore, Maryland, metro area housing market has been prepared by RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), and is based on the September 2011 RBI Pending Home Sales Index™.
While the nation may have added 103,000 new jobs in September, the employment report showed relative weakness, particularly as it relates to the residential construction sector, which remains far below its job-creation potential in the absence of policies to restore the health of the housing marketplace, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
Consumers don’t plan to buy homes anytime soon because they think prices will fall farther next year, mortgage rates will stay low for a long time and they’re very worried about their personal financial situation.
REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT—An analysis of the Washington, D.C. Metro Area housing market, prepared by RealEstate Business Intelligence (RBI), based on the September 2011 RBI Pending Home Sales Index™ was released recently.
The second edition of the National Association of Home Builders/ First American Improving Markets Index (IMI), released recently, shows 23 individual housing markets now qualifying as "improving" under the new gauge's parameters. This is nearly double the 12 housing markets that made the list last month.
The index reveals metropolitan areas that have shown improvement for at least six months in housing permits, employment and housing prices. The following metros were listed in October:
Rand on Real Estate comes to national television. The Fox Business Network is running a new segment called "Where to Invest Now," featuring Greg Rand (
@gsrand), CEO of
OwnAmerica, as housing market analyst making his picks of the best real estate markets in America for investors. In this episode Greg picked Jacksonville, FL & Colorado Springs, CO.
Driven by a wave of FHA loans, applications for mortgages to purchase a home reached their highest level since May recently—but they still trail the 2010 application rate by more than 34 percent.
Of the approximately 4 million mortgages that are either 90 or more days delinquent or in foreclosure, the numbers that are delinquent 90 days or more has shrunk to levels not seen since 2008.
