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Mortgage Interest Rates Drop Back Below 5 Percent; Home Loan Applications Decrease

After Two Weeks of Increases, Home Loan Applications Decrease 1.9 Percent Last Week

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending March 12, 2010. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home purchase) decreased 1.9 percent [...]

Mortgage Interest Rates Inch Back up Slightly

Home Loan Applications Increase 5.7 Percent Last Week – second consecutive week of increased home buyer activity

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending March 5, 2010. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home [...]

Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Performance Remains Better Than Other Loans

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its report on the performance of commercial and multifamily mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2009.  Their last report from a year ago showed that commercial and multifamily mortgages were among the best performing loans held by banks and thrifts.  Now, a year later, the data still [...]

Mortgage Interest Rates Drop Back Below 5 Percent

Home Loan Applications Jump 11.7 Percent Last Week after decreasing two prior weeks

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending February 26, 2010. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home purchase) increased 11.7 percent [...]

Mortgage Rates Inch Up - Homebuyer Applications Decreased Again Last Week

Home Loan Applications Drop 7.3 Percent Last Week after decreasing 4.0 percent the week before.

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending February 19, 2010. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home purchase) decreased [...]

Almost one-in-four borrowers underwater on home mortgage

Seventy Percent of all mortgaged properties in Nevada are underwater

Dennis Norman

According to a report released today by First American CoreLogic more than 11.3 million U.S. mortgages, or 24 percent of all mortgaged properties, are in a negative equity position meaning the borrowers owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth as of [...]

Mortgage Loan Rates Remain Low - Fewer Home Buyers Taking Advantage

Home Loan Applications Drop 4.0 Percent Last Week.

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending February 12, 2010. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home purchase) decreased 4.0 percent from the week before and [...]

Mortgage Delinquencies Jump Over 10 Percent

Dennis Norman

Deceleration in Rise of Mortgage Delinquencies Short Lived

Back in July, 2009 when speaking in North Carolina President Barack Obama announced “we may be seeing the beginning of the end of the recession“. My thoughts then were that was very optimistic and I didn’t agree (for whatever that is worth). Since then [...]

FDIC's Sale of IndyMac to One West Bank - Sweetheart deal or not?

Dennis Norman

Last week a friend emailed me a link to a video titled “The Indymac Slap in Our Face” that was created by Think Big Work Small. I watched the video which gave a recap of the failure of Indymac bank back resulting in it’s seizure by the FDIC in July, 2008, and the [...]

$1.4 Trillion in Commercial Loans Coming Due - Nearly Half Are Underwater

Dennis Norman

Commercial Real Estate to be the next “shoe to drop”? Can the banks suffer another blow?

This sobering statistic was included in the Congressional Oversight Panel report, “Commercial Real Estate Losses and the Risk to Financial Stability” that was released this morning.

The report states the panel “is deeply concerned that a wave of [...]

30 Year Mortgage Interest Rates Drop Below 5 Percent

Home Loan Applications Drop 7.0 Percent Last Week.

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending February 5, 2010. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home purchase) decreased 7.0 percent from the week before and [...]

Fannie Mae offering buyers incentives on HomePath Properties

Dennis Norman

Fannie Mae is offering 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance or an equivalaent amount in appliances for people purchasing a Fannie Mae-owned HomePath® property.

Fannie Mae is trying to entice buyers to buy one of their HomePath® homes by offering to pay up to 3.5 percent in closing cost assistance or an equal amount [...]

Bank of America to do HAMP Second-Lien Modification Program

Dennis Norman

Bank of America announced that it is the first mortgage servicer to sign an agreement formally committing to participation in the pending second-lien component of the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

Bank of America has systems in place to begin implementing the Second Lien Modification Program (2MP) with the release of final [...]

Mortgage Interest Rates Hold Steady-Loan Applications Jump Over 20 Percent

Home Loan Applications Jump 21.0 Percent Last Week.

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending January 29, 2010. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home purchase) increased 21.0 percent from the week before and [...]

Borrowers receiving permanent Loan Modifications under HAMP triples in December

Dennis Norman

Last week the Treasury Department issed a report which included stats on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) which is part of the Obama administrations’ Making Home Affordable Program and “is a loan modification program designed to reduce delinquent and at-risk borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments”. The HAMP program got underway around March of this [...]

Mortgage Loan Interest rates remain fairly steady

Fewer Home-buyers applying for loans in past week

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending January 22, 2010. The report showed the

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FHA Tightens Standards

Dennis Norman

FHA Announces Policy Changes to Address Risk and Strengthen Finances

This week FHA announced policy changes that are going to help them shore up their finances but will make it more difficult and/or costly for your clients to purchase a home.

The FHA policy changes include:

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Pending Legislation would end HVCC

Dennis Norman

Last month the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4173, the “Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009″, which contained a provision that would “sunset”, or put an end to, the Home Valuation Code of Conduct, which, since it went into effect back in May of last year has been controversial to [...]

FHA Waives Anti-Flipping Rule

Dennis Norman

In an effort to “stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high” FHA just announced a temporary waiver of requirements of 24 CFR 203.37a(b)(2). For those of you that don’t have your copy of the Code of Federal Regulations handy, this is referring to what is generally [...]

Mortgage interest rates drop slightly-Mortgage applications increase

Home-buyers mortgage activity increases from week before…down from a month ago though

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending January 8, 2010. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home purchase) increased 14.3 percent from [...]

Update on Fed's Foreclosure Prevention and Loan Modification Programs

Dennis Norman

Today the Federal Housing Finance Agency released it’s “Foreclosure Prevention & Refinance Report for the Third Quarter 2009“. This report gives data on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two-quasi-government agencies that either own or insure most of the home loans in the U.S., including how foreclosure prevention and loan modification programs under the [...]

Record number of mortgage companies failed in 2009

Dennis Norman

There were many housing-related records broken in 2009..unfortunately all of them I am aware of are negative; foreclosure rates, mortgage delinquencies and bank failutes to name a few. Well, according to MortgageDaily.Com there was also a record set by the number of mortgage related firms that ended operations or failed last year. [...]

What does 2010 hold in store for the Housing Market?

Dennis Norman

In a just a few days we will say goodbye to 2009; a year that has been brutal to the housing market. So as the new year comes in, what will 2010 hold in store for the housing market?

To answer this question I turned to the housing forecast just released by Fannie [...]

Most recent homebuyers are first-time buyers

According to NAR 51 percent of recent homebuyers are first-time buyers and 39 percent of recent home sales have relied on an FHA loan

Dennis Norman

The National Association of REALTORS just released a report showing that 51 percent of the homes sold recently have been to first-time home buyers and that 39 percent [...]

Evictions and foreclosure activities suspended over holidays for some borrowers

Dennis Norman

Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and CitiMortgage give borrowers a break over the holidays…

Within the past day Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have both announced that they are suspending evictions from December 19, 2009 through January 3, 2010 on foreclosed homes, two families and four families, that they hold.

CitiMortgage and CitiFinancial announced [...]

Profits drop for independent Mortgage Bankers

MBA Study Shows Narrowing in Profit Margins For Independent Mortgage Bankers and Subsidiaries

Independent mortgage bankers and subsidiaries made an average profit of $902 on each loan they originated in the third quarter of 2009, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).  This profit marks a decrease from the second quarter of 2009 when profits averaged [...]

Mortgage interest rates creep up slightly

Home-buyers mortgage activity dropping…refinances make up 3/4 of all new mortgages.

Dennis Norman

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending December 11, 2009. The report showed the MBA Purchase Index (a measure of the volume of loan applications related to a home purchase) decreased 3.6 percent from the week [...]

What Should Be Done To Help Underwater Borrowers?

Dennis Norman

Last week I did a post about the Obama Administrations’ Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and showed how it really has not been effective in helping keep families in their homes and avoid foreclosure as was the intention by the administration. When my kids tell me they don’t like the way I want them [...]

Is the Obama Administrations' Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) working?

Dennis Norman

This week the Treasury Department issed a report which included stats on the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) which is part of the Obama administrations’ Making Home Affordable Program and “is a loan modification program designed to reduce delinquent and at-risk borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments”. The HAMP program got underway around [...]

Obama administrations loan modification program 'destined to fail'

Dennis Norman

Laurie Goodman, the Senior Managing Director at Amherst Securities, testified today before the House Financial Services Committee hearing on “The Private Sector and Government Response to the Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis“. Amherst Securities specializes in the trading of residential mortgage backed securities and charges Goodman with keeping them and their customers abreast of trends [...]