Archive08

Mortgage News- Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes edged marginally higher in February as traffic of prospective buyers through model homes improved considerably, according to the latest NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). January home sales slightly up in Collier County, Naples, Florida. There were further declines in the median price for single-family homes. It fell to $432,000 in January from $610,000 a year ago. Fidel Castro's departure not likely to open Cuba-South Florida trade. Economic change in Cuba likely to come slowly — and bypass South Florida. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun poses and answers the question of whether or not the Federal Reserve's recent actions are contributing to a return of the housing bubble. REALTORS® are excited about the economic stimulus package. Dick also thanks all REALTORS® who advocated for the new law, which will provide a much-needed boost to housing markets across the country by raising the loan limits in key areas.

==========================================================================================================

MORTGAGE NEWS: The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) will remove restrictions it had imposed several years ago to limit growth of Freddie Mac's and Fannie Mae's owned portfolios. There has been pressure from the mortgage industry and from Congress to lift the reserve restrictions in order to free up more money for mortgages.

Mortgage rates continued to rise in Feb, now approaching very close to the level of the beginning of the year.This information came from Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ended February 21 which reported that 30-year fixed rate mortgages (FRMs) averaged 6.04 percent with 0.6 point up from the previous week when it averaged 5.72 percent with 0.4 point.

Mortgage application volume was up from one year earlier but only by 5.1 percent instead of the double-digit increases we have been seeing for quite some time.

Fannie Mae 4Q Loss Per Share $3.79 Excluding Gain; Fannie Mae Sees Slower Growth in U.S. Residential Mortgages.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a massive program to address a number of aspects of the housing slump in the state which has probably been harder hit by its effects than any other. The various initiatives will use a variety of state and federal funds including a federal grant to retrain mortgage and banking industry workers laid off as a result of the mortgage crisis.

==========================================================================================================

Washington-based Fannie Mae said Friday it will require minimum down payments of 3 percent for loans made through its computerized underwriting system.
The new policy, effective June 1, replaces a December one that required a 5 percent down payment for home loans in areas with declining real estate prices. Fannie Mae predicts U.S. home prices will drop 7 percent to 9 percent on average this year. READ ARTICLE

Pending Home Sales Up Month over Month CNBC Jun 9, 2008. 10:00 AM EST A look at the latest pending home sales numbers. "BARGAIN HUNTERS HAVE ENTERED THE MARKET EN MASSE" SEE VIDEO

Florida leads the nation in mortgage fraud in 2007, a dubious distinction it's had two years running.

Alan Zibel, AP Business Writer WASHINGTON READ ARTICLE CHRIS REMINDS YOU - CHOOSE A GOOD and HONEST MORTGAGE BROKER SUCH AS CHRIS at GULFSIDE
.

We can all breathe a sigh of relief. The housing crisis is over.
Mortgage News Daily - from Wall Street Journal - The Housing Bust is Over Mon, 19 May 2008

At least that was the headline on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal earlier this month when Cyril Moulle-Berteaux, a managing partner of Traxis Partners LP, a hedge fund firm based in New York made his case that the housing market is hitting bottom right now. (which is what Chris sees here in Ft Myers & Naples) READ ARTICLE

By Helen Huntley, ST PETERSBURG Times Personal Finance Editor
In print: Thursday, May 1, 2008

Each time the Federal Reserve cuts rates, it takes six months to a year for the effects to work their way through the system as adjustable rate loans reset and borrowers take out new loans at lower rates. The Fed started cutting last September when the federal funds rate, the rate at which banks lend each other money overnight, was 5.25 percent. After Wednesday's cut, the rate is at 2 percent. READ ARTICLE

As homeowners blame real estate agents for TALKING them into paying too much for a home, and blame lenders for LOANING them too much money, they are packing up and leaving their homes to sit and rot. Web sites such as http://www.youwalkaway.com/ are offering to help decide what to do.

Chris knows persons who could have taken FREE advice not to get into this mess but did not listen. Chris and Deane do not feel sorry for persons who paid way too much for stocks in 1999 or way too much for a home in 2006. If you are in such a pickle, our websites have many sources such as HUD who can help you decide what to do.

One of Chris’ investors saw an advertisement – zero down to borrow %120 on homes. We at Gulfside Mortgage ain’t buyin it. After spending all of 2005, 2006 and 2007 applying to everyone on EARTH for a $300 million mortgage, developers of Trump Tower Tampa have abandoned plans for the luxury condominium. They may try to sell the undeveloped waterfront site along Ashley Drive in downtown Tampa.

Florida on the strength of its powerful economic system, is one of the few remaining states without any personal income tax. Sales taxes are declining right now since the four record breaking storms in 37 days in Aug-Sept 2004. Cutting services such as Medicaid and instituting income tax are always discussed when this happens.

Fannie Mae begins in May 2008 the HomeSaver Advance, for persons who are behind in the mortgage- but will be all right soon – and just need to get caught up. Fannie Mae authorizes its lenders to offer an unsecured personal loan that will let a qualified borrower make the back payments and then repay the catch up loan. READ ON.....

Everyone Chris knows is very pleased at the FEDS move on March 11, 2008 to inject some life into the MORTGAGE market. For starters the fed will cause .42 TRILLION dollars of new liquidity to go into the market. This number can be increased.

==========================================================================================================

A typical purchase was the house at 213 Leeward Island. Listed for $998,000 by an investor who'd bought it two years earlier for $530,000, Donovan bought the 50-year-old, 1,900-square-foot house for the recorded price of $1.3-million.

The owner got his $998,000. Almost all the rest of the loan money was kicked back to Donovan's business partners, allegedly to make repairs on the house.M&T Bank foreclosed and marked down the house for quick sale this year. The sale price: $451,000. READ ON......

[EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN | Times photo]

==========================================================================================================

Under the new Rescue Laws (aka bail-out, deliverance, disentanglement, extrication, salvation) banks and other mortgage note holders, who can only choose between foreclure or foreclosure, will have a new better choice they can take. The new HUD program will make a Federal quarantee of the loan-going-bad to the bank.

First, the bank must have the home appraised for it new lower market value. Second, they adjust the loan amount down to 90% of that new market value. If the loan-with-new-lower-payments defaults, HUD issues a check for the 90% to the bank and HUD owns the home, to be auctioned off.

In most cases, this is a far less expensive choice for the bank than foreclosure. It ought to do several important things. The banks will not have to go through expensive and slow foreclosure. The banks will not have to carry worthless loans on their books because the new loan is back paying on time. The effect of these first two will be to stabalize declining home values. Also banks will have money to loan once again as payments are made by home owners.

Finally, while it is too late for the millions of foreclosures already made in 2006, 2007, and 2008, perhaps tens of millions of additional families can be spared from the lasting scars of the foreclosures that would have occurred in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

has many pro-taxpayer, pro-borrower and pro-bank provisions. Everyone who is a home buyer or seller or borrower will want to know a little about the Rescue efforts. Chris and Deane have assembled a collection of real estate related recent articles, with excepts and links to them, that help you

==========================================================================================================