What it's Like to Run a Company that Everyone Wants to Shut Down: Freddie Mac CEO Charles Haldeman Jr. Interview
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Attack on NAR's "Most Affordable Real Estate in a Generation" Claim
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5 Highlights From the Fed's New Mortgage Rules
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Fed Aims at Mortgage Fraud
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Housing in a Vicious Spiral
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Prices are Low, Mortgages Cheap!
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Subprime Mortgage Bonds Become Attractive
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Housing Finance Policy Reform Set to Begin
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Industry Headlines
Headlines and Blogs from Around the Web |
Fannie and Freddie Didn't Cause the Financial Meltdown... We found that the $5 trillion mortgage exposure and market position of the GSEs contributed to the financial meltdown. But, contrary to conventional wisdom in certain inside-the-Beltway circles, Fannie and Freddie were not a primary cause of the crisis.Read more |
Regulators Craft Mortgage-Lending Rules... One option would exempt loans with at least a 10 percent down payment. The other option - supported by the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Curency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - would exempt loans with a 20 percent down payment. ... ... Since the debate on risk retention began, some in the lending industry have said that many lenders might respond by making fewer loans, raising interest rates or both. That could have a chilling effect on lending and derail the housing market's chances of recovering, critics said.Read more |
Without Loan Giants, 30-Year Mortgage May Fade Away... Lenders could charge fees for popular features now taken for granted, like the ability to “lock in” an interest rate weeks or months before taking out a loan. Life without Fannie and Freddie is the rare goal shared by the Obama administration and House Republicans, although it will not happen soon. Congress must agree on a plan, which could take years, and then the market must be weaned slowly from dependence on the companies and the financial backing they provide.Read more |
Obama Administration's Foreclosure Program Shambles Along... The latest monthly release shows, however, that more than 800,000 homeowners have been bounced out of HAMP as of January. So-called permanent modifications, which last for five years, typically reduce struggling borrowers' monthly payments by roughly $500 through reductions in the interest rate, extensions of the mortgage terms and temporary forbearance (though not forgiveness) of principal owed.Read more |
Mortgage Deduction Under Renewed Scrutiny... Despite the buzz, it will be difficult to revamp a tax deduction that's been in place for nearly a century. The housing industry's powerful lobby is sure to fight any proposal that it believes would discourage home-buying, particularly given the weakness of the housing market. Both Congress and the White House would have to approve any change to the tax code, but they could be reluctant to take on such a controversial issue before the 2012 presidential election.Read more |
S&P Maintains Negative Outlook for Mortgage Insurers... "Our expectation that mortgage insurers could report operating profits in 2012 — some in late 2011 at the earliest — hinges on the idea that the fragile U.S. economy and housing markets won't suffer significant setbacks," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Ron Joas. "If unemployment were to increase, new notices of delinquencies could rise once again, and mortgage insurers would likely continue to lose money through 2012." ... |
How to Fix Mortgage Lending: Rein in The Regulators
How to Fix Mortgage Lending: Rein in The Regulators
Over at Barry Ritholtz’s “The Big Picture,” Bill Black has been publishing a series of posts on how mortgage lending should be regulated. Black, who is the author of “The Best Way to Rob A Bank Is to Own One,” does an admirable job at pointing out how pervasive fraud arises and undermines market discipline.
Unfortunately, his proposals for changing the mortgage lending system to counter fraud just won’t work.Read more
Senator Paul Introduces Bill To Wipe Out HUD Funding
Your Daily Headlines from NationalMortgageProfessional.com |
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Sen. Paul Introduces Bill That Would Wipe Out HUD FundingNewly installed Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has introduced a bill that seeks a $500 billion reduction in budget cuts, including a 100 percent decrease in funding to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). The verbiage of the bill calls for all accounts and programs of HUD to be "defunded" if the bill were to take effect. The bill, however, does have a provision transferring the veteran programs administered by HUD to the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs. Read more |
LO Compensation Guidance Gets 11th Hour Treatment by Federal ReserveThe Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has announced the release of its "Compliance Guide to Small Entities" regarding Regulation Z: Loan Originator Compensation and Steering. The Compliance Guide summarizes and explains rules adopted by the Board, but is not a substitute for the final rule itself, which will be enforced come April 1, 2011. Regulation Z; Docket No. R-1366, Truth-in-Lending was originally published in the Federal Register on Sept. Read more |
Mortgage Apps Decrease 12.9 Percent in Latest MBA SurveyThe Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Jan. 21, 2011. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 12.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 12 percent compared with the previous week. The results do not include an adjustment for the Martin Luther King holiday. Read more |
Fed Had Warnings But Chose to Disregard Them
Alan Greenspan's housing bubble coffee break
New evidence that the Federal Reserve had ample warning trouble was brewing in 2005, but chose to ignore it
On Friday, the Federal Reserve released the transcripts of its 2005 Open Market Committee meetings -- the gatherings in which the Fed's Board of Governors takes the pulse of the economy and then decides upon the appropriate interest rate policy. Calculated Risk looks at the transcript of the June meeting, and engages in a wry cut-and-paste.
(Atlanta Fed president Jack Guynn is discussing his negative views on the housing boom:)
My supervision and regulation staff thinks this is an accident waiting to happen in our area. And while the local market excesses probably do not represent systemic national risk, the shakeouts could have serious regional consequences. My bank supervision staff points out that housing-related credit risks to our bank lenders are not so much from defaults on permanent mortgage financing that we talked about yesterday, but rather from lending for land acquisition, development, and construction. The ugly picture we have seen before -- and that they think we may very likely see again before long -- goes something like this: the drying up of sales of new units; the painful decision of developers to go ahead and complete the construction of additional units to make them saleable, further depressing the market; and speculators who had hoped to see big capital gains walking away or defaulting on their contracts, giving their properties back to the lender. Perhaps it's because of where I sit, but I am less comforted than some of my colleagues about the housing situation ...
CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. Let's take a break for coffee.
Most economically damaging coffee break of all time? Perhaps, but skimming through the report, I was also taken by a long summary of the subprime mortgage market, delivered by Fed Gov. Mark Olson.
Kiss 4% Rates Goodbye
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Mortgage News Ticker
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Wells Fargo Surpasses JPMorgan in Size
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