Today’s News Synopsis:
Chase Home Finance reports that 29 percent of its HAMP trial plans failed to become permanent. Research from Altos Research shows that home prices decreased in 24 of the 25 markets that the company observes. A credit analysis of 27 million consumers lead TransUnion to estimate that delinquencies of 60 days or more will drop 3 percent by the end of 2010.
In The News:
Housing Wire – “HAMP Must Address Second Liens, Congress Hears” (12-8-09)
“Mortgage servicing firms make money off servicing fees, which are based on the principal amount — a disincentive for reducing principal, Goodman said. Servicers are often owned by large financial institutions that hold second liens. If principal reduction is left up to the banks’ discretion, she said, the conflicting financial interests will likely restrict principal reduction, she said.”
Housing Wire – “Chase Converts 2% of Offered HAMP Trials into Permanency” (12-8-09)
“For every 100 HAMP trial plans initiated by Chase Home Finance from April to through September, 29 borrowers did not make the required payments and failed to reach a permanent status, according to testimony from Molly Sheehan, senior vice president at Chase Home Finance.”
Housing Wire - “List Prices Declined in 25 of 26 Markets: Altos Research Index” (12-8-09)
“The Altos Research 10-city index of home listing prices decreased 0.4% from October to November, and prices fell in 25 of the 26 major markets the Mountain View, Calif.-based real estate market research firm tracks.”
Housing Wire – “Prices Up For Second Straight Quarter in Freddie Index” (12-8-09)
“Home prices increased for the second straight quarter in Freddie Mac’s (FRE: 1.11 +2.78%) Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (CMHPI). The purchase-only index increased 0.9% from Q209 to Q309, following a 2% increase from Q109 to Q209. The two quarters of increases are equal to about 40% of the declines experienced in Q408 and Q109. For the 12-month period ending in Q309, home sales prices were down 3.9%.”
Housing Wire – “Mortgage Delinquencies to Decrease in 2010: TransUnion” (12-8-09)
“Based on credit performance of 27m consumers, national credit bureau TransUnion projects mortgage delinquencies of 60 or more days to drop nearly 3% by year-end 2010 to 6.39%, from an expected 6.56% at year-end 2009.”
Housing Wire – “House Prices Lose 0.5% in October, IAS Says” (12-8-09)
“House prices continued to decline in October, falling 0.5% across the US, according to the latest data compiled by default management and residential collateral valuation service provider Integrated Asset Services (IAS). The Northeast and Midwest census regions both slipped (1.6% and 0.3% respectively) and the South and West regions gained a respective 1.1% and 0.5%.”
Bloomberg – “Calpers Real-Estate Holdings Decline 30% During First Quarter“ (12-8-09)
“The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest state-run U.S. public pension, saw the value of first-quarter real estate holdings decline 30 percent and is terminating contracts with some investment firms behind the loss, a consultant for the fund said.”
Bloomberg – “Citigroup Said to Push for Bailout-Payback Agreement This Week” (12-8-09)
“Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit is pressing the U.S. Treasury Department and regulators to agree as soon as this week on a plan to pay back $20 billion remaining from a government bailout, people familiar with the matter said.”
Inman - “SEC charges former New Century execs” (12-8-09)
“Three former executives of New Century Financial Corp. — one of the most prominent subprime lenders during the housing boom — have been charged with securities fraud for allegedly misleading investors.”
Orange County Register – “Will new appraisal rules hurt FHA borrowers?” (12-8-09)
“On January 1, 2010 FHA will require the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) process for all appraisals, falling in line with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. For a multitude of reasons this will be tremendously negative for the market, for buyers and for sellers. It will further depress property values, it will hinder sellers ability to get open offers and most importantly it will prohibit many FHA buyers from even having their offers looked at by sellers in multiple offer situations-even if they have higher offers.”
Looking Back:
One year ago, data from the 14 largest banks revealed that 53 percent of borrowers with modified mortgages were more than 30 days late on their payments after six months. Statistics from DataQuick showed that Orange County home prices declined by 18 percent from 2007 to 2008. Delinquency rates for mortgage loans rose to 3.96 percent.