Today’s News Synopsis:
Nearly 900,000 loans that were current at the beginning of this year are now over 60 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of July. GDP growth in the U.S. slowed to an annual rate of 1.6% in the second quarter. Commercial property sales totaled $8.7 billion in July.
In The News:
Orange County Register – “Californians feeling a little rosier” (8-27-10)
“Californians are feeling a little better about the economy now, although their optimism about the future has dimmed, according to Chapman University’s August consumer confidence survey. The school’s California Composite Index of Consumer Confidence, conducted the first three weeks of August, rose to 84.2 this month from 82.7 in May — the fourth consecutive increase in the index.”
San Francisco Chronicle – “California foreclosure bill is losing steam” (8-27-10)
“SB1275 would require lenders to provide homeowners with a fully considered decision on a loan modification prior to starting foreclosure. The bill addresses what some say has become a far too common phenomenon for homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgages: While negotiating a loan modification, their lender forecloses. The proposed rules would allow the homeowner to sue if that occurs.”
Housing Wire - “Nearly 1m More Mortgages Go From Current to Delinquent: LPS” (8-26-10)
“Almost 900,000 loans that were current at the beginning of the year are at least 60 days delinquent or in foreclosure as of July, according to the July 2010 month-end report released by Lender Processing Services’(LPS). Although delinquency volume fell 2.3% month-over-month in July to 9.3%, it remains near historically elevated levels — and record high numbers of delinquent loans are still entering the system, according to LPS. The volume of delinquencies increased 1.4% year-over-year.”
Housing Wire – “Q2 GDP revised to annual rate of 1.6% growth, imports rose 32.4%” (8-27-10)
“Second-quarter economic growth in the US slowed to an annual rate of 1.6%, which is slightly better than what analysts were projecting but down from prior Commerce Department estimates.”
Housing Wire – “Bernanke outlines three options for additional economic stimulus” (8-27-10)
“Bernake said that the zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) is unlikely to change in the coming months. He also doesn’t see any short-term risk of deflation. However, federal economic stimulus can only drive recovery temporarily. For a sustained expansion to take hold, growth in consumer spending and business fixed investment needs to come more into focus, he said.”
Housing Wire – “Fitch expects to keep downgrading CMBS through 2012″ (8-27-10)
“Downgrades on commercial mortgage-backed securities are expected throughout the next one to two years, according to Fitch Ratings’ managing director Mary MacNeill. She said this based on the approximately 1,900 bonds, a total of $71bn, that Fitch lists with negative future outlooks.”
Housing Wire – “Commercial real estate gets boost in July from strong office demand: RCA analytics” (8-27-10)
“July was the second most active month in commercial property sales this year, according to a Real Capital Analytics (RCA) report released today. Sales totaled $7.8bn, almost double the volume of July 2009 commercial real estate (CRE) sales.”
Housing Wire – “Fannie Mae July mortgage portfolio up 4.1% from year earlier, prices two-year deal” (8-27-10)
“Fannie Mae’s mortgage portfolio through July is up 4.1% from the year ago yet down somewhat from June, and the GSE issued nearly half the mortgage-backed securities during the month than in did last July. Fannie ended July with gross holdings of nearly $812 billion. That figure stood at $770.4 billion last year and $817.8 billion in June.”
Bloomberg – “Banks Need New Capital on Housing Dip, Whitney Says” (8-27-10)
“U.S. banks need more capital to withstand a renewed drop in the housing market, according to analyst Meredith Whitney. Banks aren’t prepared for a ‘double-dip’ in housing, which ‘it looks like we are having,’ Whitney said today on Bloomberg Radio”
Tags: bruce norris, delinquent, economic, foreclosure, gdp, lender, loan, LPS, modification, mortgage, real estate, SB1275