Archive for the ‘Mortgage Rates’ Category

The country is in the grip of foreclosure crisis – the worst in 16 years. The Federal Reserve and other allied banking regulators have taken the unprecedented step of appealing to the mortgage lenders not to rush on with proceedings. The man in the street has been surprised by the move – the likes of which they have never heard of hitherto. The authorities can only make appeals as the securitization transactions are contractual and anything contradictory to it cannot be enforced. It is not a good sign as it exposes the hard fact that except for appealing nothing can be done to rein in financial bodies playing havoc with loans. The government is giving priority to helping citizens keep their home fires burning in their own houses. Those who have provide services of securitized mortgages are asked to reach out compassionately to distressed house owners.

The strident appeal has come straight from President Bush and also from Federal Reserve chairperson, Ben Bernanke. They assured of standing beside those who had been trapped into teaser loans. Bush spoke of a plan to permit government housing administration to try to help besieged borrowers keep home fires burning. It is not just a mere coincidence that the joint statement is made a day ahead of a hearing of sub-prime collapse before US House Financial Services Committee.

Foreclosure figures are alarming. These point to worse days ahead. Nearly 1.3 million sub-prime mortgages is about to reset to higher rates this year. In the following year another 1.2 million will follow suit. It is the combination of high interest rate and low property value that has caught house owners unawares. Late payments and or debts rose to more than 14% during the first quarter of 2007 – making it the highest in four years. In July this year the number of foreclosures across the country doubled from what it was last July.

Sub-prime mortgage agents themselves are in trouble and many have been forced to down shutters as credit supply from investors has begun to dry up. Many jumbo lenders are desperately trying to contact borrowers for their own interests. For the lender foreclosure procedures are time and money consuming. Idle property is dead weight. They want money to trickle in. Generous options about refinancing and modifying rates are being made with Wall Street averse to real estate business.

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So far the going has been good for those with poor credit to try and own a house. In the sub-prime market not many questions had been asked and loans had been easy. But with the foreclosure raging through the country mortgage lenders have been tightening their belts making it difficult for house loans to be availed of. It is inevitable that such a situation would arise because after a grace period of two years or so monthly payments more than doubled. Borrowers just could not pay as flexible interest rates arbitrarily increased. The property slipped into foreclosure. Borrowers and lenders are now blaming each other.

It was a profitable venture for lenders. Since the credit history of the borrowers was poor they were charged high interest rates for being granted the favour of a loan. But the operation turned sour when with the spiraling of default numbers the very base of the exercise became shaky. Flow of money coming into the kitty came to a standstill. The fact that there was very little equity left in the units the borrowers could easily walk off without a backward glance. The property was not worth much to cry over and in any case their credit was bad. There was nothing new to lose!
Overnight shutters began to be pulled down on sub-prime divisions. Only a few limped along. Some filed for bankruptcy while others pruned the number of staff. Among the prominent ones who filed for the protection of bankruptcy laws in April are New Century Mortgage Corporation and its auxiliary Home 123 Mortgage Corporation The waves touched each corner and pocket of the country. The nation’s largest lender, Countrywide Financial Corporation, had borrowed $11.5 billion from 40 banks. The crisis had pushed its smaller cousins into insolvency.

Those lenders who had diversified income avenues and who have mixed and matched sub-prime with conventional prime loans will be able to surface from this catastrophe. There is little or no hope for those who had put all their eggs in the one sub-prime basket. They do not have a spare one to clutch on to.

It is estimated that 325,000 units are already in the foreclosure net. The quarterly rate during the previous two years was 230,000. It is this point from which the entire credit market is being infected says prominent economist Covarrubias from the University of Texas.

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One by one the chapters of the foreclosure story are unfolding. That which began in Wall Street has spread on to Main Street. The author of the script is the ARM or Adjustable Rate Mortgage. It initially gives the borrower a teaser interest rate, which is low. Later it resets at a much higher rate. The borrowers fall for the smart talk of the lenders who tell them that to avoid the increase they can easily go for refinancing.

Inevitably ARM’s gained in popularity during the first half of this decade. Brokers with the bait of commission dangling before them went all out to sell the mortgage scheme. The legal side with was purposefully not fully explained to the borrowers. But when the time came for the actual work of refinancing it was difficult to get in touch with the person whom the lenders had never seen. When the foreclosure went public prospective buyers began to crowd in. Such a situation spells trauma for a family with children.

Some are fortunate to refinance into a longer period fixed rate mortgage but others have to move out bag and baggage unable to repay mounting debts.

Chicago recorded 10,294 foreclosures in 2006 according to reliable sources keeping track of the situation. The number is 36% higher than the figures of 2005. This year and in 2008 the fear is that the numbers might rise to anything between 16,000 and 17,000.
During the early part of the defaulting crisis the families who were mostly affected came from the low or moderate income groups. However the scenario in Chicago is not quite so bad as that in other parts of the country because the economic picture here is diverse. A factory closing down in one place does not affect the whole of Chicago, unlike the tendency in places like Michigan and Ohio.

In Chicago foreclosures on prime loans jumped to 46% in 2006 as compared to 21% in 2002. Until the new players butted in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the two largest loan wholesalers dealing with conventional loans. But the new comers saw to it that borrowers could not go back to the shelter of the traditional market by imposing fines for premature loan closure. The mortgage market became liquid trying to accommodate all and sundry. Solutions are being tried out but till then the borrowers remain in limbo.

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Birmingham based Shore Mortgage watched with caution the stirring up of the mud in the sub-prime real estate market. But the young lender at the helm is ever ready to jump in and take a chance again. Brian May an office bearer of the company spoke about having helped a Romanian engineer. The latter had no credit roots in USA, which would enable him to take a loan. May justified their action by underlying the human aspect to the problem.

The company comprises of human beings and not just robotic computers. This is the guiding force motivating the action of the company. May went on to add that his company is mainly concerned with government loans to people who can keep up the mortgage commitment but whose credit ratings may not meet the usual loan standards. Shore Mortgage has always been particular about not entering either the sub-prime or Alt-A loan areas if they are not satisfied with the proof of the income of the lenders. They take into consideration people who can show employment records of about two years and are able to make a down payment of 5% in ready cash. Then they overlook the aspect of the credit history being good or bad. If the clients lack traditional credit cards and previous history of repaying loans Shore takes into account their records relating to payment of bills and rent. That is why till date they have not had any problems about foreclosures.

Shore Mortgage advances about 4,000 loans annually and has been in this business since 1984. However the real estate fiasco has meant a slow down in the business of Shore Mortgage. It has under its umbrella 200 employees in six offices across Michigan. Ohio and Alabama too feature under its zone of operation.

Michigan had the distinction of ranking third in the mortgage delinquency rates, new and old foreclosures during the first quarter of this year according to figures released by Mortgage Bankers Association. The President of Michigan Mortgage Brokers Association Paya Leyrer opines that although sub-prime has been mainly blamed for the foreclosure there are other economic factors like unemployment. In Michigan a good number of people have lost their jobs. A lot of effort is being made to make the borrower aware about what taking a loan involves and how to avoid failure and register success.

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The economic slump is telling on slim purses. Less and less can avail of mortgage loans to buy properties. There are no units for sale than buyers. It is apprehended by National Association of Realtors that real estate market rates will fall to a five-year record low dip.

For the eighth time this year their predictions were revised. Each time the rate kept falling down and down. Home sales were to fall by 6.8% to$ 6.06 million in 2007. Since 2002 this was the lowest mark. Sale of new houses comprise of 15% of the real estate market. The prices of these will drop by 19% to $852,000 – this being an all time low dip in a decade.

Economist Lawrence Yun is hopeful however that trouble in the mortgage industry will affect the market only for a short period. But economist Michael Darda is of the view that an air of uncertainty looming large is causing further turbulence. It will take time for the stress and tension to abate.

The blame is being laid at the door of Wall Street firms for tying up mortgages with specific security clauses. This has led to many failing to keep to their commitments in the sub-prime market. The virus has spread from here to borrowers in the traditional loan zone. The flow of money has dried up to such an extent that American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation has had to seek protection from bankruptcy laws during this week.

Real estate agents are optimistic that during the last three months of 2007 the sale of houses will begin to pick up to $6.08 million per year. This will be a rise from the low count of $5.85 million during the third quarter of this year. Most of the forecasts are sunny about the near future with the lowest point being reached during the second quarter.

But expert Robert Shiller from Yale University is not that hopeful saying that realtors are basing their assumptions on conventional calculations. In all probabilities in this specific instance the uncertainties will continue for a much longer period – may be couple of years, leading to general economic regression.

According to figures released by the Mortgage Banker’s Association the applications to buy or re-finance a loan has jumped by 8.1% in a week. This meant a further anticipatory increase in credit and re-financing demand.

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Cambridge based Real estate consultant Paul Martinez recounts the experience of his client – a novice investor. He built castles in the air around a two-family house in Somerville. The 30-year-old debutante in this field was greatly influenced by shows and advertisements about buying, renovating and converting units into condominiums that could be sold at a higher equity within a month. But 18 months later he had run out of breath after having bought when the tide was high. But now with funds running out the retreating tide in the housing market left him high and dry. The unit remained unsold and overpriced by $60,000. It did not take long for foreclosure clouds to loom large and darken his horizon.

Martinez is skeptical about these house-flip shows on HGTV (Flipping Out, Flip the House, Property Ladder) that highly influence viewers. Novices lack the experience and knowledgeable friends to realize that the numbers are wrong. It is all show talk. Reality and actual income from real estate is quite another thing. Here there is no surety. It is the first timers who are the worst hit. They lose money and peace of mind to foreclosures.

According to figures released by ForeclosuresMass.com, during the first quarter of 2007 foreclosure listings rose in Massachusetts by 75% compared to that of 2006 during the same time. Suffolk County alone stood out with 83%. Simultaneously the number of non-traditional mortgage numbers also rose.

Many green horns had forayed in the real estate field for the first time about a year and a half ago to come out with their fingers burnt. Their units remained unsold either because they could not cope with the spiraling mortgage rates or because they had invested in the wrong locality opines broker Paul Turcotte, owner of Re/Max Destiny, Newbury Street, Cambridge.

Realtors tell the newcomers to follow a ‘golden rule’ – never to buy unless the pocket permits it and do not invest without a ready exit route. The buyer must be there even before the investor buys. Jeremy Shapiro of ForeclosuresMass.com echoes this view and adds that cautious steps should be taken backed by licensed contractors. One should know the law before anything else and also keep in mind that laws are continually changing. There is no doubt that increasing foreclosures have complicated matters making it impossible for individuals without ready resources to own a house.

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Of all the property listings foreclosures comprise of 10%-15%. More and more bank-owned properties are crowding into the housing market. Lenders are crying themselves hoarse in praise of foreclosure deals but it is better to test the waters before wading in. The risk factor is present.

With a record number of units going up for sale, lenders are vying and competing with each other to dispose of the properties, very often through the services of multiple listing. The falling prices have affected borrowers badly with the loss in equity. At a time when lending standards had been relaxed, mortgage rates were low and house prices were high, many had opted for mortgaged homes. But all that is in the past. The future is grim.

Numbers are confusing and contradictory. It seems that in Baltimore 10% to 15% are on the active foreclosure lists. According to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems INC in June 20,000 houses in Baltimore and five surrounding counties were on the market shelves up for sale. The number of units owned by lenders is expected to grow and swell as more people collapse under the weight of increase in mortgage rates.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that in Maryland the numbers in comparison to 2006 rose by 30% in the first quarter. The numbers of those lagging behind the 60 days limit rose by 20%. Apparently Maryland seems to be better off than the other regions but nevertheless about 5,700 homeowners are facing dispossession. The rising foreclosure curve might aggravate matters and prolong the depression.

The lenders cannot sit for long on the properties they have taken back, is the opinion of Celia Chen of Moody’s Economy.com. They will have to sell it. This will obviously tell on the market. The property appreciation will remain weak. Some experts opine that the worst is not yet over. Foreclosures in suburban areas are soaring too. Now it is a buyer’s paradise. More and more banks are buying back foreclosed properties as other bids fall far shorter than the target. The number of owners with little or practically no equity has increased.

More expensive housing units are going into foreclosure. It seems third parties are not buying them. It is the lenders who are stuck with it. Generally the more recent loans have far less equity. This will mean that banks will buy-in more and more properties.

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