Today’s News Synopsis:
The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index increased by 6.1 percent from August. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that mortgage bankers and subsidiaries made an average profit of $1,358 per loan. The Housing Financial Services Committee has approved of an amendment that may terminate the HVCC. According to the FDIC, the total number of bank failures in 2009 has now reached 115.
In The News:
NAR - “Pending Home Sales Rise for Record Eight Straight Months” (11-2-09)
“The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in September, rose 6.1 percent to 110.1 from a reading of 103.8 in August, and is 21.2 percent higher than September 2008 when it stood at 90.9. The gain from a year ago is the largest annual increase on record, and the index is at the highest level since December 2006 when it was 112.8.”
Mortgage Bankers Association – “MBA Study Shows Continued Production Profits For Independent Mortgage Bankers and Subsidiaries” (11-2-09)
“Independent mortgage bankers and subsidiaries made an average profit of $1,358 on each loan they originated in the second quarter of 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). This profit marks an increase from the first quarter of 2009 when profits averaged $1,088 per loan, according to the MBA’s most recent Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report. This report measures the performance of independent mortgage bankers and subsidiaries of banks, thrifts and hedge funds.”
Inman - “Vote on tax credit expected this week” (11-2-09)
“Congress has approved a one-year extension of higher loan limits for mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, and an amendment that would extend the first-time homebuyer tax credit has been incorporated into a Senate bill to prolong unemployment benefits. A procedural vote on the unemployment benefit legislation, HR 3548, is expected today, Congressional Quarterly reported, with final passage by the end of the week.”
Los Angeles Times – “Home valuation code could soon undergo major revamp” (11-2-09)
“Could the controversial appraisal system imposed nationwide by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in May — and now tied to lowball property valuations, busted home sale transactions and higher fees to consumers — be on its way out? It just might be. Under a bipartisan amendment approved Oct. 22 by the House Financial Services Committee, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct would be terminated early in the existence of a proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.”
Housing Wire – “CIT Seeks Bankruptcy After $4.5bn Bailout” (11-2-09)
“Commercial lender CIT Group Inc. (CIT: 0.2676 -62.83%) on Sunday confirmed weekend reports that it would proceed with a bankruptcy filing shortly after receiving its second multi-billion-dollar private capital bailout in just over three months.”
Market Watch – “9 more U.S. banks fail; $2.5 billion hit for FDIC fund” (10-30-09)
“The closings brought the 2009 total to 115 in 2009 — the first year since 1992 that more than 100 banks have gone under. The banks as of Sept. 30 had combined assets of $19.4 billion and deposits of $15.4 billion, the FDIC said.”
McClatchy – “How Goldman secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash” (11-1-09)
“In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting.”
Bloomberg - “Washington Beats U.S. Housing Slump on Obama Budget” (11-2-09)
“Demand for new homes is growing faster in the Washington area than in any other major U.S. city as existing inventory shrinks and a record $3.52 trillion federal budget fuels the local economy. Builders took out construction permits on 4,442 single- family homes in the Washington metropolitan area in the third quarter, up 11 percent from a year earlier, according to the Census Bureau. Nationwide, permits fell 17 percent.”
Bloomberg - “Commercial Real Estate Debt Spreads Rise as Fed Rejects Bonds” (11-2-09)
“Yields on bonds backed by hotel, shopping-center and skyscraper loans rose relative to benchmarks amid concern that a U.S. program to spur lending may see a slowdown in demand after Federal Reserve rejected five securities, according to Barclays Capital. The gap, or spread, on top-ranked commercial-mortgage backed securities increased 0.15 percentage point to 6.10 percentage points more than benchmark swap rates for the week ended Oct. 29, Barclays data show.”
Orange County Register – “Forecast predicts 9.5% O.C. house-price gain” (11-2-09)
“Home-data firm First American CoreLogic (Santa Ana HQ pictured left) predicts that Orange County house prices will be up 9.5% next August from this past summer. If accurate, the median price of an Orange County house would increase by nearly $48,000 from the $500,000 median reported by DataQuick in August and September.”
Tags: bruce norris, fannie, FDIC, FREDDIE, HVCC, MBA, mortgage, mortgage bankers association, NAR, national association of realtors