Mortgage Rates Fall Below 4%

Mortgage Rates Fall Below 4%
By Nick Timiraos, Wall Street Journal, Oct. 6, 2011

What if the 30-year mortgage rate fell below 4% and few people cared? We may not have to wonder much longer. The average 30-year mortgage dropped to 3.94% for the week ending Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly rate survey released on Thursday.

Mortgage-Relief Falters
By Nick Timiraos, Wall Street Journal, Oct. 6, 2011

It’s pretty obvious that the Obama administration’s main mortgage-assistance effort has been inadequate to deal with the massive repercussions of the housing market’s collapse. Treasury Department statistics released Wednesday show the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program helped nearly 691,000 homeowners avoid losing their homes through permanent loan modifications as of August, up from around 675,000 in July.

To Fix Housing, Fix Housing Finance
By Martin Neil Baily, Wall Street Journal, Oct. 6, 2011

Although there were many factors and actors to blame for the 2008 financial crisis, the subsequent Great Recession, and the current economic lethargy, there is little disagreement that housing was (and still is) at the center of the bubble.

Freddie and Fannie Reject Debt Relief
By Shaila Dewan, New York Times, Oct. 5, 2011

Home values have fallen so much in Arizona that almost half the people with mortgages there owe more than their homes are worth. So when federal money became available to help stem the tide of foreclosures, the state flagged that group for help. But a major obstacle has been that the two largest mortgage guarantors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will not participate — in Arizona or elsewhere.

Massachusetts A.G. to Sue Big Banks
By Margaret Cronin Fisk and David McLaughli, Bloomberg, Oct. 5, 2011

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said she may sue major banks after she “lost confidence” that they will reach an adequate agreement to resolve disputes over foreclosure practices.

Foreclosure Backlog Deepens
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com, Oct.5, 2011

As the foreclosure backlog continues to build up, delinquent borrowers are spending even more time in their homes without making mortgage payments. Once borrowers start missing payments, they spend an average of a year and nine months, or 611 days, in foreclosure before banks repossess their homes, according to LPS Mortgage Monitor.