March 14, 2011 (Jeff Alan) Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli, a Republican, said his state is among “at least a dozen” that don’t back the Obama administrations proposal to resolve a nationwide probe of foreclosure and mortgage-servicing practices. Declining to name the other states, other than his own, that oppose parts of the proposal, the [...]
March 14, 2011 (Shirley Allen) Wells Fargo & Co. CEO John Stumpf said that principal reductions could have a “huge impact” on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and that such a strategy could entice homeowners to default on their current loans in order to get a better deal, echoing the worries made last week by [...]
March 14, 2011 (Shirley Allen) The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it will extend the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) until June 30, 2012. Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco also announced in the press release that HARP loans would be exempt from the recently announced price adjustments and that Fannie Mae has changed [...]
March 11, 2011 (Chris Moore) U.S. Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Bob Corker (R-TN), both members of the Senate Banking Committee, and Tom Coburn (R-OK), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, have introduced legislation in the Senate to end the Housing Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Meanwhile, over in the House of Representatives, HR 839, [...]
March 11, 2011 (Chris Moore) Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee, calls the proposed $20 billion mortgage settlement by the Obama administration, the state attorneys general, and other federal agencies a “shakedown.” Read more...
March 11, 2011 (Shirley Allen) Year-over-year home prices declined for the sixth month in a row according to CoreLogic’s Home Price Index (HPI). Including distressed sales, home prices declined by 5.7 percent in January 2011 compared to January 2010. This follows a 4.7* percent decline in December 2010 compared to December 2009. Read more...
March 11, 2011 (Jeff Alan) The amount of permanent loan modifications through the HOPE NOW alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, and insurers decreased to just under 101,000 in January from 111,000 in December 2010. Of the January total, 73,000 were proprietary modifications, while 28,000 permanent modifications were done through the governments Home Affordable Modification Program [...]
March 10, 2011 (Chris Moore) The total negative equity of homeowners who have mortgages on their homes now stands at a whopping $751 billion according to CoreLogic’s latest release of its Negative Equity Report. The report predicts that housing prices are expected to fall another 5 to 10 percent adding as much $75 billion to [...]
March 10, 2011 (Chris Moore) Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which shows mortgage rates holding steady and below 5.0 percent. Rates across the board remained below year-over-year levels. Read more...
