Mortgage Rates at Record Lows and Still Buyers Are Balking [View article]
Low Rates are great but the HVCC has been a significant hindrance to refinancing in that applicants must pay the $450 for an appraisal to determine if they qualify from a loan amount to property value perspective. Aside from being $100 higher than it used to be the appraisal order also requires that applications be processed and submitted to underwriting before the appraisal can be ordered.
In addition, if the appraisal comes in low, an applicant might face having to pay mortgage insurance and from a credit qualifying standpoint - be further evaluated by the stricter MI underwriting guidelines. In essence even though we bailed out AIG they have minimum FICO's about 60 points higher than Fannie or Freddie, meaning a person with a 620 FICO can only qualify for a mortgage if he has 20% equity and a debt to income ratio lower than 45%. The rates are great if they help the economy but when H.A.R.P. programs have minimum FICO's and Servicers are not required to reissue MI for refinances so the benefits are limited.
Housing has made the world go round and to think that it cannot turn the wheels again is short sighted. If we are going to have the great rates lets have the ability to research property values in advance to save applicants their $450 if they do not qualify and so we can reduce the bottlenecks in underwriting and processing by only proceeding with applicants that do qualify.
Also lets come up with one set of guidelines for everyone all GSE’s Mortgage Banks, MI providers and Brokers. Supposedly FHA minimum FICO is 580 but no-one funds those loans most servicers require 640 FICO plus you have to get an appraisal on what is called a streamline. H.A.R.P. lets you refinance if you are upside down but your current servicer is not required to reissue your MI and lenders can impose a minimum FICO. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines are further constricted by Mortgage insurance companies guidelines. Firms like AIG, Radian, RMIC and GE say you have to have a higher score than the Fannie or Freddie require as much as 100 points higher to qualify for MI.
All I seem to hear is that we are regulating subprime when subprime died 3 years ago. Remember the high yielding interest rates of subprime borrowers was what Wall St wanted. Subprime Mortgage was not a dirty word until the highly leveraged pump and dump energy speculating strategies of Hedge Funds and non-energy producing Banks drove energy prices to $5 a gallon gas and $3K electric bills causing the defaults in fixed income inner cities and outer-lying commuter suburbs. It was the exposing of AAA Rated SubPrime Bonds and the Credit Default Swaps that made SubPrime a dirty word.
Is Extending Unemployment Insurance Good for the Economy? [View article]
From an expenditures standpoint it is wiser to let tax payers have some of their tax money back and is more palatable than bailing out firms that caused the destruction of wealth/savings that have us where we are.
So if returning funds to tax payers is the question I am in favor of that.
I do not know if this is a conservative or liberal position, but as a tax payer, if I was unemployed I would want some of my tax money back.
Monday Market Mayhem: Is Goldman's Goose Cooked? [View article]
Laugh about it they did it to themselves!!!
You have to thank the energy speculators, Goldman was one of them, for exposing this mess by "PUMPING and DUMPING" oil and electricity prices through excessive leverage they forced subprime defaults by increasing the debt burden on inner city fixed income and outlying suburban commuters to the extent that they defaulted beyond the realm even Paulson could have guessed.
I hope at some point we look at energy speculation regulations to avoid this in the future. An 80% cash out cap would also help to permanently stabilize residential values.
Yes it was the brown outs and $3K electric bills and the $5 a gallon gas that set this shabang offf... GOLDMAN did it to themselves..
Goldman Sachs: How Far Will the Abacus Case Spread? [View article]
It seems to be the "bigger picture and mob opinions that will lead to his prosecution the technicalities won't convince the 12 peers.
It is funny that the Hunter is now the Hunted - AIG wants some money back from GS
If energy prices had not sky rocketed due to excessive pump and dump speculation by Goldman and others, we would never have known because many of the subprime defaults would never have happened....
It is funny subprime was not a bad word until it exposed all of this.... Even funnier is that it exposed it because of what Goldman was a part of - driving up gasoline to $5 gal and electric bills to $2K.. Its comical
You have to thank the energy speculators, Goldman was one of them, for exposing this mess by "PUMPING and DUMPING" oil and electricity prices through excessive leverage they forced subprime defaults by increasing the debt burden on inner city fixed income and outlying suburban commuters to the extent that they defaulted beyond the realm even Paulson could have guessed.
I hope at some point we look at energy speculation regulations to avoid this in the future. An 80% cash out cap would also help to permanently stabilize residential values.
Yes it was the brown outs and $3K electric bills and the $5 a gallon gas that set this shabang offf... GOLDMAN did it to themselves...
********** BLAME IT ON ENERGY PRICES ************* If you pattern the foreclosures that started in California you will see the hardest hit were the fixed income residents of the inner city and the suburb commuters who faced $3,000.00 electric bills and $100.00 tanks of gas.
Energy prices forced the foreclosures that exposed the dirty little secrets of AAA rated subprime loans and ultimately cause the spike in credit default swaps that could not be covered by AIG. That is why "SUBPRIME" mortgages became such a dirty word on WALL ST not because they defaulted but because of what they exposed.
Subprime mortgage holders paid a premium on interest sometimes double digit rates so the INVESTORS were rewarded for their risk. It is when the rule makers took risks that they should not have taken that things changed from risk & reward to risk & tax payer bailout.
As a matter of fact, I suspect had we not had $100+ barrel of oil rally driven by exponentially leveraged banks speculating on a commodity they do not even produce we would still have a healthy mortgage market that would have allowed those individuals in subprime mortgages to refinance to an FHA or Conventional mortgage.
The looters were oil speculators and industry giants like Haliburton & Schlumberger and of course oil tycoons.
********** BLAME IT ON ENERGY PRICES *************
If you pattern the foreclosures that started in California you will see the hardest hit were the fixed income residents of the inner city and the suburb commuters who faced $3,000.00 electric bills and $100.00 tanks of gas.
Energy prices forced the foreclosures that exposed the dirty little secrets of AAA rated subprime loans and ultimately cause the spike in credit default swaps that could not be covered by AIG.
That is why "SUBPRIME" mortgages became such a dirty word on WALL ST not because they defaulted but because of what they exposed.
Subprime mortgage holders paid a premium on interest sometimes double digit rates so the INVESTORS were rewarded for their risk. It is when the rule makers took risks that they should not have taken that things changed from risk & reward to risk & tax payer bailout.
As a matter of fact, I suspect had we not had $100+ barrel of oil rally driven by exponentially leveraged banks speculating on a commodity they do not even produce we would still have a healthy mortgage market that would have allowed those individuals in subprime mortgages to refinance to an FHA or Conventional mortgage.
The looters were oil speculators and industry giants like Haliburton & Schlumberger and of course oil tycoons.
Did Housing Bubble Hit All of America? [View article]
California always leads us into this mess. They were taking 125% equity loans. A person owning a home worth $100,000 could take an 80% first lien and a 45% equity 2nd lien. It was excessive consumer housing leverage that over revved the economy and took the wind out of todays the sails.
Texas has a constitutional amendment that limits equity loans to 80% leverage of the fair market value. For our children's sake we need to make that the rule of the country. This will never happen again.
With a surplus in housing per se, I expect the new home builder sector to continue consolidation and decline.
Builders were suspected of pegging prices for development by selling the first few homes for inflated prices and offering cash back after close and Cadillacs in the garage to ensure every other home sold had an inflated comparable sale in the new subdivision to appraise it off of. I suspect they drove up the artificial value of the homes built in the last decade more than anyone.
I do not see any sustainable new demand in any area of the spectrum. The majority of foreclosures seem to be hitting the $125K price point or working mans homes. Demand for the Jumbo financing of homes priced above $417K is also soft. When most people can rent a house for a few hundred dollars less than they can buy tax credit and all, is it an appealing proposition?
I feel like they its just come to roost now. Bottom line is there is excess supply in the, market place and short of strategically buying and disposing of $10B worth of foreclosure and vacant homes it is not going away anytime soon. Heck even the Texas real estate market is soft. This just will not soak in for the next 5 years I suspect.
As the Fed Pulls Away From the Mortgage Market, Investors Reach for Yield [View article]
Wholesale Rates are actually going up not down. Yieldspread or SRP lost 60 basis points yesterday and more today. Which rates are you talking about? Good Read www.mortgagenewsdaily....
Why a Double Dip Recession Isn't Likely [View article]
Good comments by everyone. I think the availability of information, massive entitlements and debt are new to the economic arena so a one over one comparison to the depression or past is not so simple. In addition, if you took all of the bad notes banks are holding and made the banks declare them we would see every bank is insolvent. Lastly jobs and income will not be back in time to avert the additional loss of wealth by home owners and the folks that walk away from homes that are underwater.
Mortgage Rates at Record Lows and Still Buyers Are Balking [View article]
In addition, if the appraisal comes in low, an applicant might face having to pay mortgage insurance and from a credit qualifying standpoint - be further evaluated by the stricter MI underwriting guidelines. In essence even though we bailed out AIG they have minimum FICO's about 60 points higher than Fannie or Freddie, meaning a person with a 620 FICO can only qualify for a mortgage if he has 20% equity and a debt to income ratio lower than 45%. The rates are great if they help the economy but when H.A.R.P. programs have minimum FICO's and Servicers are not required to reissue MI for refinances so the benefits are limited.
Housing has made the world go round and to think that it cannot turn the wheels again is short sighted. If we are going to have the great rates lets have the ability to research property values in advance to save applicants their $450 if they do not qualify and so we can reduce the bottlenecks in underwriting and processing by only proceeding with applicants that do qualify.
Also lets come up with one set of guidelines for everyone all GSE’s Mortgage Banks, MI providers and Brokers. Supposedly FHA minimum FICO is 580 but no-one funds those loans most servicers require 640 FICO plus you have to get an appraisal on what is called a streamline. H.A.R.P. lets you refinance if you are upside down but your current servicer is not required to reissue your MI and lenders can impose a minimum FICO. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines are further constricted by Mortgage insurance companies guidelines. Firms like AIG, Radian, RMIC and GE say you have to have a higher score than the Fannie or Freddie require as much as 100 points higher to qualify for MI.
All I seem to hear is that we are regulating subprime when subprime died 3 years ago. Remember the high yielding interest rates of subprime borrowers was what Wall St wanted. Subprime Mortgage was not a dirty word until the highly leveraged pump and dump energy speculating strategies of Hedge Funds and non-energy producing Banks drove energy prices to $5 a gallon gas and $3K electric bills causing the defaults in fixed income inner cities and outer-lying commuter suburbs. It was the exposing of AAA Rated SubPrime Bonds and the Credit Default Swaps that made SubPrime a dirty word.
Is Extending Unemployment Insurance Good for the Economy? [View article]
So if returning funds to tax payers is the question I am in favor of that.
I do not know if this is a conservative or liberal position, but as a tax payer, if I was unemployed I would want some of my tax money back.
Monday Market Mayhem: Is Goldman's Goose Cooked? [View article]
You have to thank the energy speculators, Goldman was one of them, for exposing this mess by "PUMPING and DUMPING" oil and electricity prices through excessive leverage they forced subprime defaults by increasing the debt burden on inner city fixed income and outlying suburban commuters to the extent that they defaulted beyond the realm even Paulson could have guessed.
I hope at some point we look at energy speculation regulations to avoid this in the future. An 80% cash out cap would also help to permanently stabilize residential values.
Yes it was the brown outs and $3K electric bills and the $5 a gallon gas that set this shabang offf... GOLDMAN did it to themselves..
Goldman Sachs: How Far Will the Abacus Case Spread? [View article]
It is funny that the Hunter is now the Hunted - AIG wants some money back from GS
If energy prices had not sky rocketed due to excessive pump and dump speculation by Goldman and others, we would never have known because many of the subprime defaults would never have happened....
It is funny subprime was not a bad word until it exposed all of this.... Even funnier is that it exposed it because of what Goldman was a part of - driving up gasoline to $5 gal and electric bills to $2K.. Its comical
SEC vs. Goldman: Questions Remain [View article]
SEC vs. Goldman: Questions Remain [View article]
You have to thank the energy speculators, Goldman was one of them, for exposing this mess by "PUMPING and DUMPING" oil and electricity prices through excessive leverage they forced subprime defaults by increasing the debt burden on inner city fixed income and outlying suburban commuters to the extent that they defaulted beyond the realm even Paulson could have guessed.
I hope at some point we look at energy speculation regulations to avoid this in the future. An 80% cash out cap would also help to permanently stabilize residential values.
Yes it was the brown outs and $3K electric bills and the $5 a gallon gas that set this shabang offf... GOLDMAN did it to themselves...
Goldman Sachs: The Tip of the Iceberg [View article]
Greenspeak Returns [View article]
If you pattern the foreclosures that started in California you will see the hardest hit were the fixed income residents of the inner city and the suburb commuters who faced $3,000.00 electric bills and $100.00 tanks of gas.
Energy prices forced the foreclosures that exposed the dirty little secrets of AAA rated subprime loans and ultimately cause the spike in credit default swaps that could not be covered by AIG.
That is why "SUBPRIME" mortgages became such a dirty word on WALL ST not because they defaulted but because of what they exposed.
Subprime mortgage holders paid a premium on interest sometimes double digit rates so the INVESTORS were rewarded for their risk. It is when the rule makers took risks that they should not have taken that things changed from risk & reward to risk & tax payer bailout.
As a matter of fact, I suspect had we not had $100+ barrel of oil rally driven by exponentially leveraged banks speculating on a commodity they do not even produce we would still have a healthy mortgage market that would have allowed those individuals in subprime mortgages to refinance to an FHA or Conventional mortgage.
The looters were oil speculators and industry giants like Haliburton & Schlumberger and of course oil tycoons.
The Looting of Main Street [View article]
If you pattern the foreclosures that started in California you will see the hardest hit were the fixed income residents of the inner city and the suburb commuters who faced $3,000.00 electric bills and $100.00 tanks of gas.
Energy prices forced the foreclosures that exposed the dirty little secrets of AAA rated subprime loans and ultimately cause the spike in credit default swaps that could not be covered by AIG.
That is why "SUBPRIME" mortgages became such a dirty word on WALL ST not because they defaulted but because of what they exposed.
Subprime mortgage holders paid a premium on interest sometimes double digit rates so the INVESTORS were rewarded for their risk. It is when the rule makers took risks that they should not have taken that things changed from risk & reward to risk & tax payer bailout.
As a matter of fact, I suspect had we not had $100+ barrel of oil rally driven by exponentially leveraged banks speculating on a commodity they do not even produce we would still have a healthy mortgage market that would have allowed those individuals in subprime mortgages to refinance to an FHA or Conventional mortgage.
The looters were oil speculators and industry giants like Haliburton & Schlumberger and of course oil tycoons.
********* GET IT RIGHT *********
Did Housing Bubble Hit All of America? [View article]
Texas has a constitutional amendment that limits equity loans to 80% leverage of the fair market value. For our children's sake we need to make that the rule of the country. This will never happen again.
It’s Crunch Time for Housing [View article]
Builders were suspected of pegging prices for development by selling the first few homes for inflated prices and offering cash back after close and Cadillacs in the garage to ensure every other home sold had an inflated comparable sale in the new subdivision to appraise it off of. I suspect they drove up the artificial value of the homes built in the last decade more than anyone.
I do not see any sustainable new demand in any area of the spectrum. The majority of foreclosures seem to be hitting the $125K price point or working mans homes. Demand for the Jumbo financing of homes priced above $417K is also soft. When most people can rent a house for a few hundred dollars less than they can buy tax credit and all, is it an appealing proposition?
I feel like they its just come to roost now. Bottom line is there is excess supply in the, market place and short of strategically buying and disposing of $10B worth of foreclosure and vacant homes it is not going away anytime soon. Heck even the Texas real estate market is soft. This just will not soak in for the next 5 years I suspect.
As the Fed Pulls Away From the Mortgage Market, Investors Reach for Yield [View article]
Why Are Bond Rates Surging? [View article]
www.mortgagenewsdaily....
Why Are Bond Rates Surging? [View article]
Why a Double Dip Recession Isn't Likely [View article]