Mortgage News

Banks Hasten to Adopt New Loan Rules
By Lingling Wei and Peter Grant
The Wall Street Journal
November 11, 2009

Banks are moving quickly to restructure commercial mortgages under new U.S. guidelines that are more forgiving of battered property values and can help banks avoid bigger losses.

Mortgage Program Gathers Steam After Slow Start
By Ruth Simon
The Wall Street Journal
November 11, 2009

The Obama administration said Tuesday that its mortgage-modification program has enrolled one in five eligible homeowners, a sign the effort is gathering momentum after a slow start. But so far few of those trial modifications are turning into permanent fixes.

Congress set to expand homebuyer tax credit
By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press
November 5, 2009

Buying a home is about to get cheaper for a whole new crop of homebuyers — $6,500 cheaper.

First-time homebuyers have been getting tax credits of up to $8,000 since January as part of the economic stimulus package enacted earlier this year. But with the program scheduled to expire at the end of November, the Senate voted Wednesday to extend and expand the tax credit to include many buyers who already own homes. The House is scheduled to vote on the bill Thursday.

Wells Fargo Takes Chance With a Loan Exchange
Option ARMs Are Shifted to Interest-Only in a Recovery Bet
By Marshall Eckblad
The Wall Street Journal
November 5, 2009

Wells Fargo & Co.'s strategy for modifying troubled Pick-A-Pay mortgages looks like a game of kick-the-can-down-the-road.

Five Reasons the U.S. Doesn't Need More Home-Buyer Perks
By Jack Hough
Smart Money
November 2, 2009

Congress is working on a new and even more generous set of perks for house buyers. A tentative deal in the U.S. Senate would extend the closing deadline for an $8,000 subsidy for first-time buyers to July 1 from Nov. 30. It would also boost the program's income limits for singles to $125,000 from $75,000 and for couples to $250,000 from $150,000, and would offer a new $6,500 reward for existing homeowners who buy again. (More on the home buyer tax credit.)

Mortgage applications slide
Mortgage Bankers Association says demand for home loans waned last week, even as 30-year rate eased closer to 5%.
By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney
October 28, 2009

Mortgage applications fell last week for the third week in a row, even as interest rates edged lower, an industry group said Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its index of mortgage application volume fell 12.3% in the week ended Oct. 23 from the prior week.

Addressing Continued Concerns About the FHA
By Brian Montgomery
The Mortgage News Daily
Octoebr 30, 2009

In January of this year, both Joe Murin and I were asked by HUD Secretary Donovan to remain as Ginnie Mae president and FHA Commissioner respectively to help the new Administration deal with the on-going housing crisis. We both were privileged to be asked and were honored to continue serving in the Obama Administration for several more months.

However, today, as a former government official, if I could leave you with one message it would be this:

"The millionaire mentality watches costs and tries to reduce them and strives to increase production and sales and thus profits"
J. Paul Getty

Banks Get New Rules on Property
By Lingling Wei
The Wall Street Journal
October 31, 2009

Federal bank regulators issued guidelines allowing banks to keep loans on their books as "performing" even if the value of the underlying properties have fallen below the loan amount.

$8,000 home credit still in play
Negotiations about whether and how to extend and expand the tax credit for homebuyers are moving quickly. Here are the latest developments.
By Jeanne Sahadi
CNN Money
October 29, 2009

Confused about whether lawmakers will extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit and what it would look like?

That's understandable, since the situation is still very fluid.

Here's where things stand.

Support for the credit: There is still bipartisan support in Congress for extending the credit past Nov. 30 and making it available to more homebuyers.