Posts Tagged ‘bac’Keepin’ It Real Estate: Capitulation Now!This post first appeared on Minyanville. Finally, housing is starting to act like a market searching for a bottom. Well, sort of. In former boom states like California, Arizona and Florida, distressed sales are driving the local real-estate markets. After a near-complete evaporation of buying activity last year, buyers have been brought off the sidelines [...] Fed Jumps on Loan Modification BandwagonBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” – and you certainly can’t fault lawmakers for a lack of persistence in trying to stem the epidemic foreclosures plaguing America’s housing market. Sadly, they insist on trying the same failed strategies over and over again. For [...] Freddie Blows Through Another $35 BillionBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. $100 billion just isn’t what it used to be. Over the weekend, Freddie Mac (FRE) requested a second draw on its Treasury Department credit facility, saying $30-35 billion would suffice to keep its net worth above zero, thank you very much. After taking $14 billion in [...] Falling Rents Signal DeflationBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. In recent months, headlines have been popping up noting that rents – finally – are beginning to follow home prices into the abyss. Since the housing market began to crumble, would-be homeowners were forced to become renters, keeping demand for rental units relatively strong even as home prices [...] Congress Forces Mortgage ModificationsBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. The road to over-regulation has begun. In an effort protect struggling homeowners, Senate Democrats are advocating new bankruptcy laws that allow judges to alter mortgage terms, known as a “cramdown,” during a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing. Lawmakers hope the new rules will prevent foreclosures, help borrowers [...] Keepin’ It Real Estate: The Other Side of the Rock-Bottom MortgageBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. It’s wishful thinking that artificially low interest rates alone are enough to rehabilitate the housing market. The mortgage industry has undergone a swift and ruthless downsizing over the past 18 months. While a necessary part of the corrective process, the market is ill-equipped to handle the onslaught of [...] Keepin’ It Real Estate: Chinese Investors Smell Blood in CaliforniaBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. Speculators have been flocking to California for centuries. Gold, computers, absurd dot.com start-ups, real estate - if it’s an asset, it’s probably boomed and busted in the Golden State. The bursting of the latest bubble — real estate — is still in progress, as foreclosures push up [...] Fannie, Freddie Knew About Risks, Ignored ThemBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. Unprecedented. Unpredictable. Unparalleled. Extraordinary. These are the adjectives offered by mortgage industry executives defending their relative innocence in the collapse of the housing industry. Conditions, they argue, deteriorated so rapidly and in such unpredictable ways they couldn’t possibly batten down the hatches fast enough. As it [...] Keepin’ It Real Estate: Treasury Tries to Re-Inflate Housing BubbleBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is hoping he’s found the magic bullet to solve the US housing market’s seemingly never-endless woes. He hasn’t. By throwing around the weight of recently nationalized mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), the Treasury Department is considering a plan [...] Down Goes DowneyBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. Looks like all those option adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) weren’t such a good idea after all: 1% teaser rates and loans that grow, rather than shrink, over time just aren’t meant for questionable borrowers buying overpriced homes. Newport Beach-based Downey Savings (DSL), the fifth largest originator of [...] Keepin’ It Real Estate: Do Loan Modifications Work?By ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. With millions of homeowners falling behind on their monthly payments, one in 6 underwater, and countless more struggling to keep up, politicians and banks alike are jumping on the loan modification bandwagon. A modification – or “mod,” as it’s known in the industry — is simply the [...] Crisis in Prime Mortgages on HorizonBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. The private sector is actively engaging the mortgage crisis with the first broad-based, systemic attempt to prevent foreclosure. Both Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan (JPM) are attempting to help hundreds of thousands of troubled homeowners with massive loan modification efforts. Regulators and bank executives are operating [...] JPMorgan Tackles Troubled MortgagesThis post first appeared on Minyanville. The mortgage bailout parade marches on. Just days after rival Bank of America (BAC) announced plans to modify hundreds of thousands of mortgages, JPMorgan (JPM) released details of a homeowner rescue plan of its own on Friday afternoon. Following its takeover of both Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, JPMorgan’s inventory of [...] Keepin’ It Real Estate: What’s My Mortgage Worth?This post first appeared on Minyanville. As the debate rages about whether or not we’re finally approaching a floor in home prices, let’s examine the value of another asset: The mortgage. When considering a home-buying transaction, buyers (and sellers) typically worry most about the value of the house. Lenders, on the other hand, are much [...] Banks Beware: Here Come the LawsuitsThis post first appeared on Minyanville. Despite the Armageddon-esque financial turmoil of recent weeks, one thing about America hasn’t changed: If you really want someone to do something, sue them. They lined up in droves: Cities, counties and states sued the pants off Countrywide for its shady lending practices. California, Illinois and Florida all alleged [...] Keeping It Real Estate: Don’t Ban Foreclosures!This post first appeared on Minyanville. Banning foreclosures is starting to gain momentum in Washington: This isn’t good. Barak Obama, the current frontrunner in the race for the White House, recently floated a plan for a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures by certain banks, along with other initiatives to revive the economy. While Obama’s heart may be [...] So, You Want to Fix the Housing Market?This post first appeared on Minyanville. Yesterday, I criticized Washington’s $700 billion financial bailout plan for missing the point. It fails to address the root of the problems facing the housing market and, by extension, the rest of the economy: Negative equity or a homeowner owing more on his house than it’s worth. On The [...] New Countrywide Suit Tries To Foreclose ForeclosuresThis post first appeared on Minyanville. When Bank of America (BAC) agreed to buy Countrywide, it didn’t just take on a mountain of questionably valued mortgage-related assets. It also took on huge legal liability. San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre, who has a penchant for punitive lawsuits that rarely result in much more than a [...] |