Mortgage Modifications Lag

Bureaucratic stumbling blocks and red tape have hampered the government’s mortgage modification plan, helping only a small number of Americans stay in their homes, Treasury Department officials acknowledged. The Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has permanently modified only 66,000 homeowner mortgages from more than 4-million that may be eligible for the plan. Another… Continue reading Mortgage Modifications Lag

Slow Ride to New Paradigm in 2010

Slow Ride to New Paradigm in 2010 By Kevin Chiu Mortgage rates are creeping upward. The sale of foreclosed properties is slowing as bankers catch up with the record volume of homes in default. Money markets remain tight, and the volume of home sales has slowed as a result of government incentives that were expected… Continue reading Slow Ride to New Paradigm in 2010

Answer: Saving the Real Estate Market

There are no perfect choices as President Barack Obama sits down with his financial advisors to talk over just what they’ll do next in the housing mess. Some choices are just better than others. Wall Street greed and bankers blunders got us to this point with the economy, and straightening out the mess is like… Continue reading Answer: Saving the Real Estate Market

Huge Rise in Walkaways

A growing number of homeowners are doing what was once unthinkable – strategically walking away from mortgages, and the trend is showing huge signs of increasing with the approval of academia. A consulting company working for financial institutions, Oliver Wyman estimates that 16% of current foreclosures are of mortgage borrowers intentionally walking away, choosing to… Continue reading Huge Rise in Walkaways

Will the U.S.A. Go Broke Over the Housing Bust

By Mike Colpitts As 2010 gets underway the sort of money that it will take the U.S. economy to get back on track is beginning to dawn on people. The $1.8-trillion commitment the Treasury Department is making to buy up securities and bonds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a bail-out of record proportions.… Continue reading Will the U.S.A. Go Broke Over the Housing Bust

Treasury Keeps Housing on Life Support

In a massive action to keep the housing market on government life support, the Treasury Department pledged to provide unlimited financial assistance to the largest insurers of home mortgages, troubled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The move, announced on Christmas Eve with members of Congress already on their way home out of Washington, D.C. for… Continue reading Treasury Keeps Housing on Life Support

Markets on the Mend in Time for Christmas

By Kevin Chiu It’s the season of comfort and joy, Christmas trees and Santa Claus flying down the chimney. All of us wish for World Peace. We hope for a New Year that will be better than 2009 when the World’s financial system nearly blew up on Wall Street. In the face of all the… Continue reading Markets on the Mend in Time for Christmas

Million Dollar Housing Question

Will Markets Ever Really Recover? By John Hines Economist It’s the million dollar question, and it’s a heated topic of conversation after years of turmoil in the nation’s housing markets — Will housing markets ever recover? The question is talked about and debated around water coolers, business offices and even corporate board rooms and seems… Continue reading Million Dollar Housing Question