The Federal Reserve today reported on their weekly purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS). In the five trading days between August 13 and August 19, the Federal Reserve purchased a gross total of $26.640 billion agency MBS. After subtracting sales (providing liquidity/the roll) the Fed's...
Fed Governor Randall Kroszner said rising mortgage foreclosures are an " urgent problem " and called on Congress to pass a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regulatory bill. Speaking at the NeighborWorks America Symposium in Cincinnati on Wednesday, Kroszner said foreclosures lead to a loss of one-fifth to...
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said accelerating rates of foreclosures and delinquencies can have a significant impact on the economy and called for more to be done in order to prevent them. Speaking Monday night at the Columbia Business School's 32nd annual dinner, Bernanke said the rate of foreclosures...
In order to prevent more foreclosures, Fed Governor Randall Kroszner said lenders should lower mortgage rates and reduce principal for borrowers whose home prices have dropped below their loan values. Testifying before the House Financial Services Panel on Wednesday, Kroszner urged Congress to move quickly...
In spite of declining house prices and tightening credit, Americans are continuing to pull cash out of their homes according to Freddie Mac's Cash-Out Refinance Report for the fourth quarter of 2007, but in fewer numbers and much lower amounts than recorded even one quarter earlier. 81 percent of Freddie...
Freddie Mac has just released the results of its 24th Annual adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) Survey . The survey, a snapshot of the market taken during the week of December 17 to December 21 based on data from 112 ARM lenders, found that starting rates for ARMs had changed little since the 2006 survey...
Investors in the two government sponsored enterprises ( GSEs ) Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae got their hopes up early in the week based on speculations that federal regulators - specifically the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) - might allow the two mortgage giants to buy more home...
Freddie Mac 23rd Annual Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) Survey released last week contained few surprises. The three major findings were: A decline in the market share of ARMs as savings from these loans as compared to fixed rate loans shrank; Greater lender discounts to entice borrowers into taking out...
One of the most vocal proponents of the Chicken Little philosophy of real estate is John R. Talbott, who in 2003 wrote the best selling book The Coming Crash in the Housing Market . His new book Sell Now! The End of the Housing Bubble was published this year and has occasioned a lot of press and a certain...
So, why has appraisal fraud gained the foothold that it apparently has in the mortgage granting process ? Is anyone watching the store? According to the Demos Report, there are a lot of people who might be or maybe even are watching, but few who have both the power and the motivation to crack down on...