Shadow Inventory of Homes Rising
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
The "shadow inventory" of unlisted bank-owned homes and potential foreclosures increased to 2.1 million units in August, up 10% from one year earlier, according to new estimates from CoreLogic, a real-estate research firm.. That's around eight months of supply, compared to a five-months' supply...

Negotiating Real-Estate Agent's Commission
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Q: I am about to list my house, and have interviewed three real estate agents. One agent charges 5%; the other two say 6%. I was most impressed with one of the agents who wanted 6%, but given how far home values have fallen in the neighborhood these past few years, I need every nickel. I'd like to try to negotiate a...

"Archaic" FICO Model Called Out by NAR. Credit Scoring Due Another Update
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
The National Association of Realtors(R) recently called on Fair Isaac Corp., developer of the FICO score model, to revise some of its computations to take into account the negative impact on consumers when banks and credit card companies unilaterally reduce or cancel credit lines, even when consumers are in...

The Interest in Federal Housing Administration Mortgage loans Continues to Rise
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
As outlined by a Bloomberg document, the amount of conforming residence mortgage loan dropped final full week, but Federal Housing Administration mortgage loan functions rose slightly. Federal Housing Administration refinancing activity was fairly flat but much more interest was received with the...

Emotion Drives Many Defaults
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Emotion Drives Many DefaultsBY JAMES R. HAGERTY. People often fall in love with their homes based on some charming but impractical feature or other. Now, increasing numbers of homeowners are abandoning their nests for similarly emotional--and sometimes irrational--reasons.. It turns out that many of the...

Home purchase negotiations shouldn't end at price
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Home purchase negotiations shouldn't end at priceJeff Davis on May 17, 2010 at 1:00am. Haggling over other contract terms offers rewards for both sides. Buyers and sellers who haggle over price alone could be leaving a lot on the table.The purchase price is only one part of the transaction. Everything in a...

A Brief History of the GSEs and Where They Went Wrong
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
A Brief History of the GSEs and Where They Went WrongThe GSEs were once the cornerstones of American Homeownership. However, at last count, the CBO estimated that it would cost taxpayers $389 billion through 2019 to "bail out" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How did this happen?Was it poor management, inadequate...

FHFA to Modify HVCC Appraisal Enforcement. When Can An Originator Question An Appraiser?
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
FHFA to Modify HVCC Appraisal Enforcement. When Can An Originator Question An Appraiser?. The Federal Housing Finance Agency opened yet another chapter in the ongoing tale of home appraisals, their role in the housing bubble, and in the recovery.. In a letter addressed to Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York State...

American Credit Report and Score Statistics
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Credit Scores. The average US credit score is 693. The New England region has the highest average at 713. The West South Central (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana) region has the lowest average at 673. (Source: Experian National Score Index)According to a 2006 Consumer Action study, 27% of Americans have...

Luxury Sales Bounce Back
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Bidding wars for a $2 million house? In some markets, sales of high-end homes return to levels not seen since the boom.. For years, Jennifer Metz and her husband John yearned for a bigger home in San Francisco. Three months ago, the couple started looking, figuring that in this shaky economy, their $3 million budget...

The 20-Year Mortgage Alternative
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
MOST people who took out jumbo mortgages during the financial crisis got hit with high interest rates as lenders and investors recoiled from anything that seemed even remotely risky. Now that market conditions have improved, some of these borrowers are looking to refinance into lower-rate mortgages, but...

Is Massive Refinancing During Bubble Years a Ticking Bomb?
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
During the four key years of the housing bubble - 2003-2006 - an incredible number of mortgages were refinanced. In an earlier REAL ESTATE CHANNEL article, "Investors Played a Key Role in Creating Housing Bubble," I pointed out that homeowners "cashed out" a total of $820 billion while refinancing their...

Fannie Mae Fights Back Against Strategic Defaulters
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Fannie Mae announced today policy changes designed to encourage borrowers to work with their servicers and pursue alternatives to foreclosure.. Defaulting borrowers who walk-away and had the capacity to pay or did not complete a workout alternative in good faith will be ineligible for a new Fannie Mae-backed...

Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
LOS ALTOS, Calif. -- No need for tears, but the well-off are losing their master suites and saying goodbye to their wine cellars.The housing bust that began among the working class in remote subdivisions and quickly progressed to the suburban middle class is striking the upper class in privileged enclaves like...

Paying Off the House in 15 Years
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
A growing number of homeowners are choosing to pay down their mortgages at a faster rate--even if it means a substantial jump in their monthly payments.. Between January and June, 26% of homeowners who refinanced chose a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to data from CoreLogic, a provider of financial,...

Housing Ills Cloud Debate on Fannie
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
All year long, the Obama administration has defended its decision to postpone the debate over the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by arguing that it first needed to put the housing market back on track.. Now, as mortgage-industry executives and government officials prepare to meet for a summit on Tuesday to...

Plan Offers Hedge on 'Strategic Default'
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Today's Blog takes a look at Howard "Howie" Hubler, the former mortgage trader who was blamed for a big Wall Street loss three years ago. Now, he's launched a start-up that is making a new bet on housing.. While his company, Loan Value Group, doesn't own or buy mortgages, the company has...

Serious Delinquencies Fall For Fifth Month in a Row
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Fannie Mae said serious delinquencies on single-family mortgages slid in July from June, the fifth-straight month of declines, further signaling that home-loan problems were on the downswing.. A host of data have shown delinquencies easing this year as the U.S. economy heals. The number of serious...

Home Prices Show Weakness
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
U.S. home prices were weaker in August, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home-price indexes, as effects from the expiration of a government tax credit continued to wear off.. Separately, U.S. consumer confidence improved in October, but remained at historically low levels more than a year after the U.S....

The Jumbo-Mortgage Comeback
Updated Oct. 9, 2013
Banks are starting to make "jumbo" mortgages again.. When the credit crisis hit more than two years ago, many banks cut back or stopped making loans for more-expensive homes. Now, smaller and regional lenders are issuing more new jumbo loans and doing more refinancings--as are some big banks that never stopped...