Home Prices in U.S. Probably Rose, Consumer Confidence Declined
June 29, 2010 — Bloomberg

Home prices rose as sales got a boost from a tax credit, while consumer confidence cooled from a two-year high, signaling a pickup in employment is needed to sustain the recovery, economists said before reports today.

Experian Says Phenomenon of "Strategic Defaults" May Have Peaked
June 28, 2010 — DSNews

A new study released Monday by data service provider Experian finds that nearly 1 in 5 mortgage delinquencies during the second quarter of 2009, or 19 percent, was the result of a borrower intentionally, strategically defaulting.

After reform, banks may still not lend more
June 29, 2010 — CNN Money

NEW YORK -- While Washington moves ahead on reforming the nation's financial system, bank lending appears to be going nowhere fast.

Government Agencies Hold 46% of REO Inventory...and More Is Coming
June 28, 2010 — DSNews

As the GSEs and other federal agencies involved in housing finance sell their collective inventory of repossessed homes, they will generate significant pressure on prices, according to a new report from the real estate analytics firm Radar Logic. And with an even larger share of government-backed loans in the delinquency pipeline, their influence over home prices could last for years, the New York-based company says

Mortgage Servicers Blast Administration's Homeowner Aid Program
June 24, 2010, Wall Street Journal

Mortgage servicers on Thursday told U.S. House lawmakers that consecutive changes to the U.S. Treasury Department's foreclosure prevention program have made it increasingly difficult to keep distressed borrowers in their homes. Real-estate financial services consultant Edward Pinto described the Home Affordable Modification Program in two words: "numbing complexity. HAMP was created to help financially strained borrowers avoid foreclosure, but the program's lackluster performance has been mired in controversy, as some lawmakers are questioning whether the program should remain ongoing.


Mortgage Rates Sink to Lowest Level on Record
June 25, 2010, Associated Press

Mortgage rates fell this week to the lowest level on record, giving consumers added incentive to lock in low payments for home purchases and refinanced loans. The average rate for 30-year fixed loans sank to 4.69 percent, from 4.75 percent last week, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday. That's the lowest point since Freddie Mac began tracking rates in 1971. The previous record of 4.71 percent was set in December. Rates for 15-year and five-year mortgages also hit lows.


Provisions of the Negotiated Financial Reform Bill
June 25, 2010, Associated Press

Highlights of the House-Senate compromise bill on overhauling regulations on banks and other financial institutions:


Paradise Foreclosed
June 24, 2010, The Economist

Florida, with a long history of property booms, played its full part in the subprime excesses. It has ranked first for mortgage fraud among American states in three of the past four years. In the fourth quarter of last year more than a quarter of all mortgages there were behind on at least one payment; more than a fifth were at least 90 days behind or already in foreclosure. Estate agents reckon that prices have fallen 40-50% from their peak.


Gulf Property Sales Slide Further on Oil Fears
June 24, 2010, Associated Press

This was the year, Alicia Hollis and her fellow real estate agents thought. After a nasty batch of hurricanes and the bursting of the housing bubble, this was the year that condo sales along the Florida Panhandle's brilliant white beaches were going to rebound. Then came the oil — or more accurately, the mere threat of oil. In the Fort Walton Beach area, including Destin, the median sales price for condominiums was $471,500 in 2005. Last year, that figure dropped to $254,700. Single-family home prices also dropped, but not as dramatically, from a median sales price of $244,500 in 2005 to $192,100 last year.

New Home Sales Tanked 32.7% in May
June 23, 2010, CNNMoney.com

New home sales plummeted to a record low in May, the first month following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit. This snapped a two-month streak of gains. New home sales declined 32.7% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 300,000 last month, down from an downwardly revised 446,000 in April, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Sales year-over-year fell 18.3%. This is the slowest sales pace since the Commerce Department began tracking data in 1963. The prior record was set in September 1981, when new homes sold at an annual rate of 338,000.


The Vast Foreclosure Backlog Shrinks a Bit
June 22, 2010, Wall Street Journal

The home-foreclosure crisis will be with us for years, but here’s a small sign of progress: The number of home loans in the foreclosure process may have peaked, according to Barclays Capital in New York. In the firm’s latest Securitized Products Weekly, analyst Robert Tayon estimates that the number of homes in foreclosure was down 2.6% in April from March’s level, to 1.95 million. The number of newly delinquent loans is finally declining, and loan servicers are managing to complete more foreclosures.


Does the Housing Market Need a Pep Rally?
June 21, 2010, Wall Street Journal

When he was mayor of New York, Ed Koch was famous for asking anyone he met, “How am I doing?” Perhaps not wishing to hear the answer to that question, the Obama administration’s top housing and mortgage officials on Monday gave their own reply: We’re doing great! The Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development released a new monthly “housing scorecard” in an attempt to show that the administration is making progress in its efforts to heal the market.


Calif., Fla., Other States to Get More Housing Aid
June 23, 2010, Associated Press

The Obama administration has approved five state-designed plans to help homeowners as part of a $1.5 billion effort to assist areas slammed by the housing bust. Treasury Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decisions had not yet been made public, said plans for Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Nevada had received approval. The state plans are projected to help at least 93,000 homeowners. That's a small part of the administration's main existing $75 billion mortgage assistance program, which is widely viewed as a disappointment.

Lawmakers Battle Over Foreclosure Remedies
June 20, 2010, Press Enterprise

The number of mortgage defaults and home foreclosures is falling in the Inland area and around the state, but the tug of war between the lending industry and people pushing for new borrower protections is still going strong at the state Capitol.

Cost of Seizing Fannie and Freddie Surges for Taxpayers
June 19, 2010, New York Times

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac took over a foreclosed home roughly every 90 seconds during the first three months of the year. They owned 163,828 houses at the end of March, a virtual city with more houses than Seattle. The mortgage finance companies, created by Congress to help Americans buy homes, have become two of the nation’s largest landlords. For all the focus on the historic federal rescue of the banking industry, it is the government’s decision to seize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September 2008 that is likely to cost taxpayers the most money. So far the tab stands at $145.9 billion, and it grows with every foreclosure of a three-bedroom home with a two-car garage one hour from Phoenix. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the final bill could reach $389 billion.

US Senate Candidate Rubio Faces Fla. Foreclosure
June 21, 2010, Associated Press

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio and another Miami politician are facing foreclosure on a Tallahassee home they co-own for failing to make mortgage payments since January, Leon County court records show. The Deutsche Bank National Trust Company initiated foreclosure proceedings on the home owned by Rubio and state Rep. David Rivera, who is running for Congress. Rubio, a former state House speaker, and Rivera lived in the home when they were in Tallahassee for legislative sessions and other business. Rubio's campaign said Friday that the matter is being resolved. Rubio spokesman Alex Burgos said Rubio and Rivera stopped making payments during a dispute with the bank over terms of the mortgage.

Housing Double-Dip to Slow Economic Recovery: Whitney
June 21, 2010, CNBC

The US economy faces a perilous second half as a new set of problems hits real estate and thwarts any chance for a strong recovery, banking analyst Meredith Whitney told CNBC. The primary reason she cited for another leg down in housing is that banks are getting more aggressive foreclosing on delinquent borrowers. That in turn will push more inventory into the market, pressuring prices and ensuring that economic growth will be tepid at best."Banks are actually accelerating their foreclosure programs, accelerating their short-sale programs. People who have been paying their mortgage now have to start paying rent," Whitney said. "You'll see a real leg down in supply displacement when you foreclose and you have to sell."

Senate approves creating Treasury office to hear appeals in foreclosure relief
June 16, 2010 — Washington Post

The Senate approved an amendment Wednesday to create an advocacy office within the Treasury Department that would investigate complaints from homeowners that lenders have unfairly excluded them from the government's foreclosure prevention program.

Fannie and Citi Offer Mortgage Relief to BP Oil Spill Victims
June 16, 2010 — DSNews

Mortgage companies are beginning to step up and offer some relief to homeowners whose livelihood has been impacted by the BP oil spill off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

Thousands of home sales depend on tax credit extension
June 17, 2010 — USA Today

Thousands of pending home sales may be in jeopardy unless Congress extends the June 30 deadline for buyers to close on their deals and claim a tax credit.

Senate Approves Extension of Tax Credit Closing Deadline
June 16, 2010 — DSNews

The U.S. Senate has passed an amendment that would extend the closing deadline of the homebuyer tax credit by three months.