July 2009 - Around The Web

From the Chicago Tribune: (ht Ann) Real estate agents say they have never seen prices drop so precipitously when dealing with opulent, often empty high-end homes along the North Shore ... "It is a phenomenon we've never seen in our lifetime,"...

On Sunday, I the Association of American Railroads “ Rail Time Indicators.” It was not showing any green shoots. That post, plus yesterday’s rant on the NAR (), led to a friend at Columbia University asking the following question: “Which of these associations...

With health care reform in the news, there's been quite a bit of talk about adverse selection and the degree to which it is actually a problem in health care and health insurance markets. Some people have even gone so far as to question whether significant...

The good news, according to a Barclays Capital report, is not as many Option ARMs will recast in 2011 as earlier by Credit Suisse. The bad news is borrowers are defaulting en masse before the recast. From Bloomberg: (ht Brian) The wave of “option” adjustable...

Economists and others weigh in on . The June gain for both new and existing homes sales puts housing on a firmer foundation, but at a highly reduced sales pace — the firm foundation now sits in a very low valley. With mortgage rates and the unemployment...

Members of Congress probing threats to the global financial system — especially the threat of concentration of risk — will have a lot to ponder in newly mandated disclosures highlighted by a Fitch Ratings report issued last week. While derivatives use among U.S. companies is widespread, an "overwhelming majority of the exposure is concentrated among financial institutions," according to the rating agency's review of first-quarter financials....

A roundup of economic news from around the Web. The New York Times opinion pages this weekend had a pro and con look at whether Ben Bernanke should be reappointed. Anna Schwartz isn’t impressed: “As Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke has committed...

After testifying at three congressional hearings in the past week, Ben Bernanke takes his show on the road tonight for a different kind of audience. Bernanke, seen here during congressional testimony, faces a different kind of audience in a town-hall...

click for larger graphic via > I saved this from Saturday’s Off the Charts column by Floyd Norris: THE American recession appears to be nearing an end, but only after it has become the deepest downturn in more than half a century. The index of leading...

New rules aimed at making home appraisals more accurate are raising costs and prompting longer waits to get to the closing table, some in the mortgage industry say.

submits: For those who have been following the saga of Standard & Poor’s abrupt change of heart on ratings of commercial mortgage-backed securities, below are the key sections of S&P’s changes in criteria. As the reported today “Confidence in...

July 23, 2009 - The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) told Congress today that inappropriate appraisal practices and the acquisition, development and construction (AD&C) lending crisis that has choked off credit for home builders threaten...

Posted By: Many moons ago, like back in the George W. Bush administration, home ownership was all the rage. The "ownership society," some say, was the political impetus for the scandalous, irrational, negligent subprime lending that served to...

Bank of America, which acquired Countrywide a few months ago, has started issuing checks to former customers who are eligible for foreclosure assistance.

The highest inflation-adjusted yields in 15 years are helping provide the Treasury with record demand at auctions as the U.S. prepares to sell $115 billion of notes this week. Treasuries are the cheapest relative to inflation since 1994 after consumer prices fell 1.4 percent in June from a year earlier. The real yield, or the difference between rates on government securities and inflation, for 10-year notes was 5.11 percent today, compared with an average of 2.74 percent over the past 20 years...

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, Treasury Secretary Geithner – and Secretary of State Clinton - meet with a . (Could someone please update the ? At 7am on Monday it still shows last week’s agenda). According to official previews (i.e., the apparent...

Many consumers, trapped in a whirlpool of debt, interest payments, and fees spiraling out of control, finally see the light of preemptive defaults and elect to walk away. Please consider the New York Times article . Those on the front lines of the debt...

To: All REALTORS® From: Charles McMillan, 2009 NAR President Re: UPDATE: FHFA and GSEs Act on HVCC Concerns Dear Fellow REALTOR®, I am writing to you with an important update on NAR’s efforts to address ongoing problems with recent changes to...

The federal bank, thrift, credit union, and Farm Credit System regulatory agencies today released and requested public comment on several new ones. The supersedes the 1997 interagency questions and answers document and supplements other guidance or interpretations...

Although Freddie Mac has seen improvements in credit quality over the last few months, we are still seeing a number of deficiencies in the underwriting process. To address this concern, we are issuing to help you enhance your underwriting processes and...