February 16, 2011 (Jeff Alan) ForeclosureRadar is reporting that foreclosure auction sales along the West Coast has jumped back up to levels not seen since before the “robo-signing” moratoriums of last fall. ForeclosureRadar, which tracks foreclosure sales in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, reports that it recorded significant increases in all five states in [...]
February 16, 2011 (Jeff Alan) In the fourth quarter of 2010, fixed-rate loans accounted for more than 95 percent of refinanced loans, based on the recently released Freddie Mac quarterly Product Transition Report. Refinancing borrowers overwhelmingly chose fixed-rate loans, regardless of whether their original loan was an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) or a fixed-rate. That’s due [...]
February 16, 2011 (Shirley Allen) As we previously reported here on January 18th, JP Morgan Chase admitted that it had made mistakes and had improperly overcharged and foreclosed on active duty military families in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). In an attempt to right their wrong and to show support to our [...]
February 15, 2011 (Chris Moore) One of President Obama’s Deficit Reduction Commission’s recommendations appears to have hit home. Normally considered to be a “sacred cow” and expected to be furiously fought by the housing and building industry, the President has proposed a reduction in the mortgage interest deduction for high income taxpayers in his 2012 [...]
February 15, 2011 (Jeff Alan) The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced that it will be raising premiums on mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens stated that the new premium structure of FHA insured mortgage loans was part of an ongoing effort to strengthen [...]
February 15, 2011 (Shirley Allen) The California Association of Realtors (CAR) reports that first time home buyer affordability matched or set new record levels in all regions of the state in the fourth quarter. CAR claims that historic low rates and declining home prices pushed housing affordability to surpass or maintain current levels in quarter [...]
February 15, 2011 (Chris Moore) The consensus from the release of the Obama Administrations proposal on what to do with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is that there is no consensus. The internet has been abuzz with commentary from main street media to the blogging world with analysis, opinions, predictions, forecasts, etc. about the Presidents [...]
February 11, 2011 (Chris Moore) Equifax has introduced a new method of calculating a borrower’s behavior and identify the likelihood of a mortgage default. It's a new metric called "default distance" and it measures the time lapse, in months, between when a borrower defaults on revolving debt, such as credit card or auto payments, and [...]
February 11, 2011 (Shirley Allen) The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released its latest survey on home sales and home prices for the 4th quarter of 2010. NAR reported that home prices increased in 78 out 152 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. Home sales however, were down substantially from [...]
