March 2009 - Around The Web

The Dallas-Fort Worth area leads Texas' major metros in exposure to subprime mortgages.

Are America’s banks prepared to sell their toxic assets? AMERICA’S government is a willing buyer of bad assets, but are its banks willing sellers? If a lender flogs a loan or security for less than the value at which it is booked on its balance-sheet...

If in doubt, tweet. That’s what one woman did after waiting for her delayed mortgage application to be approved, according to a story in The Telegraph. Tweeting, if you’re not aware, is the act of getting a message out on Twitter, a social networking...

The battle to offer the lowest mortgage rate is in full swing, with homebuilders decidedly leading the way. Struggling homebuilder Lennar, which is looking to dump its excess inventory, is offering a 3.625 percent (4.22% APR) “fixed “for life” mortgage...

March 31, 2009 — Philadelphia Fed President Charles I. Plosser outlines key principles for sound and effective central banking. He discusses how these principles provide guidance for some of the regulatory and supervisory challenges facing the Fed.

We have now come to the point where the “systemically unimportant” banks of Main Street must, along with the nation’s taxpayers, bail out the “systemically important” Wall Street firms. Not only are a handful of Wall Street CEOs holding a gun to the taxpayers’ heads, they have the banks of Main Street America looking down the barrel as well.

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Effective May 1, 2009, Fannie Mae will accept for delivery loans originated in 2009 using the higher of the current permanent high-cost loan limits, or the temporary loan limits that were in place for loans originated in 2008 that were applicable to jumbo-conforming mortgage loans.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prices of U.S. single-family homes in January plunged a record 19.0 percent from a year earlier, indicative of a U.S. housing market that is still in the throes of a deep recession, according to a Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller...

Posted By: The Federal Reserve’s latest moves to push down mortgage rates quickly raised expectations about helping the housing recovery, but it may be months before the impact is entirely apparent and the effects may not all be positive, say people in...

Posted By: House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says the drastic steps the Obama administration is taking in dealing with the nation's struggling automakers further underscores the need for the government to have so-called resolution...

Speech at the 13th Annual University of North Carolina Banking Institute, Charlotte, North Carolina

In August 2008 I joined the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, leaving behind a 30-year career as a commercial banker to become a central banker. My time as a commercial banker spanned numerous business cycles. It also encompassed at least one severe financial system crisis, in the late 1980s through the early 1990s, albeit one that was not as severe as the current one. From my time as a commercial banker, I already understood the factors considered by bankers in the initial lending...

WASHINGTON, March 30 -- The American Bankers Association will host Washington's largest gathering of bankers on March 31 - April 1 at the Marriott Renaissance hotel to hear from key government officials on banking issues.

Posted By: As I reported about a week ago, warehouse lending is drying up at a fast clip. This is the money desperately needed by small mortgage banks in order to offer you a mortgage. Topics: | | Sectors: | Companies: | MEDIA:

Posted By: Reuters Fannie Mae, the largest provider of U.S. home funding, on Monday said it shrank its gross mortgage portfolio in February while increasing its mortgage bond issuance mainly due to home loan refinancings. Topics: | | | Companies: MEDIA...

BOSTON -- Real estate company General Growth Properties Inc. , which is fighting to avoid bankruptcy and is behind on its debt and payment deadlines, on Monday said it is continuing discussions with holders of the Rouse "TRCLP" unsecured notes...

See how the world's leading investment banks are fearing during the credit crunch

Posted By: CNBC.com Defaults on mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) rose in February from a year ago, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting a FHA spokesman. Topics: | | | | Sectors: