Home Mortgage News and Information
Leisa Fenton had spent months working on a loan modification with Bank of America to save her family’s Clarkston home from foreclosure. Then, last October, she saw a woman tacking a notice to her door.
To her surprise, the house had been sold at sheriff’s auction three days earlier.
The Fentons are among an untold number of borrowers across the country whose homes were targeted for sale by Fannie Mae even though they were seeking a modification under a program designed to keep people in their homes.
Fannie’s policy — outlined in confidential …
New York’s attorney-general has moved to block an $8.5bn settlement between Bank of America and investors in mortgage securities that plunged in value during the financial crisis.
Eric Schneiderman, New York AG, filed court papers on Thursday that accuse Bank of New York Mellon, one of the parties to the disputed settlement, of having “engaged in repeated fraud and illegality” in its role as trustee to investors in hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage securities.
The filing with the New York Supreme Court is the latest twist in a complex legal …
Bailed-out insurer American International Group (AIG.N) plans to hold on to its mortgage insurance business even as the rest of that industry struggles with rising claims, AIG’s chief executive said on Friday.
Mortgage insurers have been struggling, with losses mounting and capital ratios breaching crucial levels that could keep them from writing new business.
For example, PMI Group (PMI.N) shares fell 59 percent on Thursday after the company warned its debt-to-capital ratio was more than twice what most states have as an upper limit. [ID:nL3E7J45BW]
But AIG said on Friday it was happy …
The slowdown in the U.S. GDP has been further exacerbated by ongoing issues in the ailing mortgage industry and the regulatory overhang, Wells Fargo analyst Matthew Burnell wrote in a note to clients.
In June, a slew of brokerages, including Citigroup, KBW, Sanford Bernstein, BofA Merrill Lynch and JMP Securities, cut their outlook and ratings on large U.S. banks citing the low interest rate and challenging trading environment.
Wells Fargo also cut the largest U.S. bank by assets — Bank of America (BAC.N) on expectations of lower economic growth.
Mortgage-related costs have been …
A mortgage price war could break out among the country’s major banks if interest rates rise as predicted over the next couple of years, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says.
PwC partner Sam Shuttleworth said he expected a move by customers back to fixed-term rates and away from the floating, or variable, home loan rates that have soared in popularity over the past couple of years.
This expectation comes with most economists now expecting the Reserve Bank to hike the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 50 basis points from its current level of 2.5 per …
The semi-public mortgage financing giant Fannie Mae said Friday it would seek an additional $5.1 billion from the US government, following a steep quarterly loss.
Fannie Mae said it lost $2.9 billion in the second quarter of 2011 as high unemployment and a prolonged slump in the US housing market continued to chew away at its mortgage portfolio.
“The loss in the second quarter of 2011 reflects the continued weakness in the housing and mortgage markets,” Fannie Mae said in a statement.
In addition, Fannie Mae needed to make $2.3 billion in dividend …
According to the latest research from the Bank of England, secured lending has fallen significantly during the month of June. A consecutive run of successful months saw an average increase of 800 million pounds per month, turn into a 100 million pound decrease in June. This is alarming after lending increased in April by 900 million pounds and by 1 billion pounds in May.
Home mortgage approvals increased in June as well. The 4% surge brought approvals up to 48,421 for the month.
Home remortgages increased during the month of June. The …
Buyers of certain high-end homes will face higher mortgage rates and heftier down payment requirements starting Oct. 1, when the federal government takes a small step back from the mortgage market.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration currently buy and guarantee mortgages of up to $729,750. That government support allows borrowers to put down as little as 3.5 percent and enjoy lower interest rates.
But as of October, the government is going to stop backing loans of more than $625,500. Loans that exceed that limit will be considered “jumbo” …
Taking out a mortgage can, in many ways, be a daunting process.
Consumers might wonder, for example, how much they can realistically afford to borrow. How might their payments be influenced by property taxes and mortgage insurance?
How much do current interest rates influence mortgage payments? If a potential home buyer brings home, say, $5,000 a month after taxes and spends some of that money on a car payment and utilities, how much of a mortgage can that individual realistically take out in today’s market where both lenders and consumers are more …
Barring last-minute action by Congress, many Bay Area home shoppers will soon find it harder to buy more expensive homes because of changes in eligibility requirements for a popular type of mortgage.
Starting Oct. 1, interest rates on loans between $625,500 and $729,750 will increase, potentially raising monthly mortgage payments by hundreds of dollars.
Before the change, loans up to $729,750 qualified for a reduced interest rate.
Private lenders say they’re ready to pick up the slack. But real estate professionals are afraid that higher interest rates and down payments will make buying …