January 2009 - MND NewsWire

It has taken longer than I thought it would, but someone has finally moved to take advantage of the potential profit waiting out there in the midst of the current mortgage mess. With all of the bad news about subprime loans, the back and forth of the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and the overall economic malaise, all mortgages have taken on the attributes of skunks at a garden party. A commentator this morning estimated that banks may have to accept as little as $0.22 on

Mortgage rates this week were steady, moving only slightly up or down if at all. Results from the Primary Mortgage Market Survey released by Freddie Mac Thursday morning showed that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.10 percent with 0.7 point during the week ended January 29. A week earlier the average was 5.12 percent, also with 0.7 point. The 15-year FRM remained unchanged from the average of 4.80 percent during the week ended on January 22. Fees and points were also unchanged at

The U.S. House of Representatives passed Barack Obama's $819 billion stimulus plan Wednesday night. Parts of the plan include spending on welfare, food stamps, unemployment benefits and community action agencies. Also, $40 billion will go towards

President Barack Obama has been urging congressional officials to pass a massive fiscal stimulus package by mid-February. The House is set to vote on the proposal on Wednesday; once accepted, it will take several more weeks to weigh out the details. Obama

Weekly mortgage applications in the United States fell in the week ending Jan. 23, according to data released from the Mortgage Bankers' Association (MBA) on Wednesday, which reported a 38.8% week-over-week decrease in applications. In the previous

The Treasury Department announced it would infuse $386 million into 23 banks across the nation as part of its Capital Purchase Program (CPP) on Tuesday. The plan will put capital directly "into healthy, viable banks with the goal of increasing the

The S&P Case-Shiller home price index fell in line with expectations in November as the 20-city composite index posted a decline of 18.18% to a reading of 154.59. Economists had forecast a 18.40% drop. The three-month annualized rate of decline was

The housing market performed miserably in 2008, but the final month of the year showed an upside surprise in sales of previously-owned homes against expectations of a third consecutive monthly decline. The pace of existing home sales jumped 6.5% in December