Finance and Economy | RISMedia

Mortgage Meltdown: Privatizing Profits, Socializing Losses

Commentary by Ralph R. Roberts ...

Mortgage Applications Spike; Refis Up 82%

RISMEDIA, March 27, 2008-The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 21, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 965.9, an increase of 48.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 652.0 one week earlier. On an ...

Fed Rate Cuts Give Limited Credit Relief

RISMEDIA, March 26, 2008-(MCT)-The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by three-quarters of a point last week to combat the credit crunch. Wall Street rallied immediately after the rate cut, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week at 12,361.32, 3.5% higher than the previous week's close. ...

Fannie Mae Pilot Program Uses Law Firms to Avert Foreclosures

RISMEDIA, March 26, 2008-(MCT)--A Center City law firm that handles mortgage foreclosures for Fannie Mae gets hundreds of calls a day from homeowners facing the loss of their houses. ...

Tougher Home Purchase Standards May Result in Big Down Payment

RISMEDIA, March 25, 2008-(MCT)-Would-be homeowners with middling credit scores are finding mortgages difficult to come by as wary lenders clamp down on credit. Credit score guidelines for conforming loans-loans eligible for purchase by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-tightened in late February, said Brian Goode, president of Badgerland Mortgage ...

Mortgage Rates: Anticipating Financial Events

RISMEDIA, March 24, 2008-(MCT)-Potential home buyers looking for bargain mortgages in the wake of Tuesday's rate cut by the Federal Reserve may be in for a surprise. ...

One Dollar at a Time – Tackling the Debt March

RISMEDIA, March 21, 2008-(MCT)-Most of us think it's irresponsible to carry heavy loads of debt. But new research commissioned by St. Paul, Minn.-based Securian Financial Services found that no matter which generation you belong to, chances are you are in debt. ...

Mortgage Applications Decrease Slightly in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

RISMEDIA, March 20, 2008-The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 14, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 652.0, a decrease of 2.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 671.7 one week earlier. On an ...

Initiative Announced to Increase Mortgage Market Liquidity

RISMEDIA, March 20, 2008-OFHEO, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a major initiative to increase liquidity in support of the U.S. mortgage market. The initiative is expected to provide up to $200 billion of immediate liquidity to the mortgage-backed securities market. ...

Mortgage Rates Rise as Treasury Yields Fall – Bankrate

RISMEDIA, March 17, 2008-Fixed mortgage rates posted a modest increase in the past week, with the average conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate now 6.39%. According to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey of large lenders, the average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.4 discount and origination points. ...

Mortgage Bankers Announce What’s Up, What’s Down in Latest Survey

RISMEDIA, March 13, 2008-The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 7, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 671.7, a decrease of 1.9% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 684.9 one week earlier. On an ...

More Homeowners Are Just Walking Away

RISMEDIA, March 12, 2008-(MCT)-Owing more on properties than they're worth, some local homeowners are voluntarily walking away from their house notes. ...

What Are Consumers Addicted To?

RISMEDIA, March 11, 2008-(MCT)--Most consumers claim that Americans are "addicted" to debt and many say they can't do much about it because their savings are too low and they live paycheck to paycheck. ...

Real Estate Delinquencies and Foreclosures Increase in Latest Survey

RISMEDIA, March 10, 2008-The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties stood at 5.82% of all loans outstanding in the fourth quarter of 2007 on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis, up 23 basis points from the third quarter of 2007, and up 87 basis points from one year ...

Mortgage Applications Increase

RISMEDIA, March 6, 2008-The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 29, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 684.9, an increase of 3.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from 665.1 one week earlier. On an ...

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