According to the Census Bureau, home sales rose 7.3% in April. NAR expects the national economy to add 1.5 million and 2 million jobs annually both this year and in 2012. Borrowers who default on mortgages are less likely to develop long-term poor credit in comparison to those who default on credit cards and auto loans. Ginnie Mae guaranteed over $26.4 billion in mbs during April.
“Overall, California in 2009 — by Census math — lost 546,589 residents in 2009 to other states. On the flip side, Census found 460,161 new Californians from other states. Thus, by our calculations, California suffered a net loss of 86,428 folks to other states in 2009.”
“The number of banks at risk of failing made up nearly 12 percent of all federally insured banks in the first three months of 2011, the highest level in 18 years.”
“The Census Bureau reported an annual sales rate of 323,000 new homes last month. That was up 7.3% from a revised rate of 301,000 in March. Economists had forecast a sales rate of 300,000, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com.”
“Job growth creates demand for commercial space, and the economy should be adding between 1.5 million and 2 million jobs annually both this year and in 2012, with the unemployment rate falling to 8.0 percent by the end of next year”
“Troubled borrowers who default on their mortgages are less likely to develop long-term poor credit behavior, when compared to those who default on other kinds of loans, according to a new study from TransUnion. Consumers who default on other bills and lines of credit, such as credit cards and auto loans, are more likely to miss payments in the future.”
“The FDIC said banks it insures earned $29 billion in the first three months of 2011, up 66.5% from $17.4 billion a year earlier and at the highest level since the second quarter of 2007.”
“Ginnie Mae guaranteed more than $26.4 billion in mortgage-backed securities in April. That’s up from $24.1 billion in guarantees for March and similar to the February numbers of $26.2 billion.”
Looking Back:
One year ago, existing home sales increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units in April. The CIRB reports permits were pulled for 3,314 total housing units in April. Statistics from CAR show California home sales decreased 8.1 percent in April. The Federal Reserve doesn’t intend to sell any of its assets until after it begins raising interest rates.
According to CoreLogic, in November the price of homes fell once again for the fourth month in a row. Moody’s Investor Services reported a 79% increase in delinquncies for commercial mortgage-backed securities. The Mortgage Banker’s Association also reported that applications for mortgage refinancing increased this week 2.2%. Mortgage News Daily gave an update that the conventional 30-year fixed mortgage increased again to 4.875%.
“LRES Corporation, a provider of valuations and asset management for the mortgage, banking, and real estate industries, now uses TrackPoint REO technology to
facilitate real estate-owned transactions on behalf of its clients.”
“The number of delinquencies within the conduit/fusion space of commercial mortgage-backed securities rose 79% in 2010, ending December at 8.79% up from 4.9% a year earlier,
according to Moody’s Investors Service.”
“A former Chase Bank loss mitigation specialist faces up to 95 years in prison after being convicted of alerting a borrower — who’d fallen behind on payments on seven properties –
of a possible criminal mortgage fraud investigation.”
“The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 7, 2011. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 2.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.”
“TheAssociation of Mortgage Investors released a white paper Wednesday on how to improve the servicing industry and recommended capping the amount of seriously delinquent loans each
employee handles at between 100 and 150.”
“U.S. home prices declined for a fourth consecutive month in November, falling 5.07 percent from a year ago, according to a home-price index compiled by mortgage data aggregator CoreLogic.”
“As leisure travel continues to rebound, owners of vacation rentals are expressing optimism about their bookings in 2011. In fact, HomeAway, Inc.—one of the world’s leading online vacation rental marketplaces—finds in its latest “HomeAway Vacation Rental Marketplace Report” that eight of 10 vacation rental owners anticipate their rental business this year will be stronger or about the same as it was in 2010.”
“Yesterday we informed you that the best execution conventional 30 year fixed mortgage rate had fallen to 4.75%. Well it moved back up to 4.875% today.”
“Fannie Mae’s regulator should provide information on whether $3.3 billion in settlements with Bank of America Corp. and Ally Financial Inc. over faulty mortgages were fair deals for taxpayers, U.S. lawmakers said.”
Looking Back:
The Federal Reserve made $46.1 billion in 2009. The MBA predicted that mortgage originations would decline by 39 percent in 2010. According to Integrated Asset Services, national home prices fell by 0.3 percent in November of 2009. FHA reported that foreclosure starts on mortgages from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac decreased by 15 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2009.
HAMP’s permanent loan modifications increased 5.9% by the Bank of America, while the number of applications for mortgages increased 13%. On the same note, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association the number fo refinancings for mortgages increased 17.1% in the previous week, while the amount of people filing for bankruptcy increased 20%. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began searching for any bad loans or dishonest loan applications, while in other news Barney Frank believes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should no longer be allowed to operate. However, there are no current plans for this to happen as the White House is trying to fix the problems. Also, as the demand on homes decreases, the merging and aquisition of homebuilders may rise. On a similar note, Veri-tax is now owned by Blue Horizon Capital. Finally, the Fed’s have come up with a plan to prepare for an increasing decline in the economy by using money made from securities to buy Treasuries.
“Bank of America (BAC: 13.4305 +1.67%) pushed its total number of permanent mortgage workouts under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to 76,300 in July, a 5.9% increase from June.”
“The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. increased last week, propelled by a surge in refinancing as borrowing costs hovered near record lows. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index rose 13 percent in the week ended Aug. 13, the Washington-based group said today. Refinancing jumped 17 percent to reach the highest level since May 2009, while purchases fell 3.4 percent.”
“Transaction prices of commercial properties sold by major institutional investors surged over 17 percent in the second quarter of 2010, according to an index developed and published by the Center for Real Estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).”
“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be abolished but this has to be done over a period of time, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee, told CNBC on Tuesday. Frank agreed that phasing out the housing behemoths would help bolster private mortgage financing, but stressed that the process would take time.”
“Homebuilder takeovers may increase as tumbling demand for new houses and a faltering U.S. economic recovery spur companies to consolidate to gain market share, according to Citigroup Inc.”
“For on-the-go home buyers, The Real Estate Book / RealEstateBook.com, the leading publisher of real estate information online and in print in North America, launches a new application that provides iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users with access to all its listings – millions of homes for sale across the U.S. and around the world.”
“Blue Horizon Capital, a private investment firm based in Los Angeles, California, acquired Tustin, California-headquartered Veri-tax LLC late last month. A provider of tax verification and fraud management solutions for the mortgage lending and consumer credit industry, Veri-tax clients include two of the nation’s top four banks, as well as a slew of other lenders, originators, and financial institutions.”
“While mortgage delinquencies are easing, banks are facing a new round of losses from loans made just before the financial crisis, and the fight to keep them off their balance sheets is intensifying. Leading the charge to make originators repurchase their loans are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-owned finance agencies that guaranteed the mortgages. The firms are sorting through delinquent loans for signs of any violations of the representations and warranties, known as “reps and warranties.” In essence, they are looking for lies made by borrowers or lenders in loan applications.”
“Will Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still be here in three years? Or will they be replaced by a new federal mortgage agency? Will the government begin a grand exodus from the housing market and leave the American Dream to the private sector?”
“Lenders seized fewer homes in July for a third straight month, repossessing nearly 10% fewer homes than in June. Meanwhile, default notices filed against homeowners who have missed three or more house payments increased 9% last month from June’s levels.”
“Real estate data provider Altos Research says its newest housing market report confirms what the company has been saying for some time: the mini “boom” of this spring was created by seasonal demand, with some extra help from the federal homebuyer tax credits.”
“The Deloitte Consumer Spending Index, which tracks consumer cash flow to predict future spending, declined for the third straight month in July due to weaknesses in the post-tax credit housing market.”
“The national mortgage loan delinquency rate – measuring the ratio of borrowers 60 or more days behind on their home loan payments – fell again in the second quarter of 2010, suggesting the credit conditions in the housing sector have begun to stabilize, according to TransUnion.”
“Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services, announced that its chief executive officer Richard A. Smith traveled to Washington, D.C., today to participate in the Conference on the Future of Housing Finance. The invitation-only event is being hosted by Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan.”
“The Fed’s move to begin buying long-term Treasuries with proceeds from maturing mortgage-backed securities opens up the possibility of quantitative easing if the economy declines further, according to Deutsche Bank.”
“The US does not intend to wind down completely Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the large government-sponsored mortgage companies that are eating up billions of taxpayer dollars, given the fragile state of the housing market.”