I spent the bulk of the morning sweltering outside the Washington DC Convention Center, as a few thousand sign-wielding housing advocates waited for President Obama's motorcade.
Criticism of the Obama Administration's mortgage bailout, the Home Affordable Modification Program, is reaching a fever pitch, and I know this because, among other things, the Administration itself appears to be mounting a defense.
You would think that a 24 percent positive jump in any index, housing or otherwise, would have the analysts for that industry toasting recovery with bubbly champagne; not so much today.
Bruce Marks, who presides over these events claims they will see 60,000 borrowers over the next 8 days, and he also claims 80 percent of those borrowers will get modifications. Roughly 10 percent will get principal reductions, while most will get new interest rates as low as 2 and 3 percent fixed for the life of the loan.
While officials and economists generally regard the program as successful in supporting the housing market, it has left the Fed holding a vast pile of mortgage securities—basically i.o.u.’s from homeowners—that it does not want and cannot sell.
Don't be fooled by the little uptick in home prices in today's Existing Home Sales report from the National Association of Realtors. That was the message from the Realtors themselves!
"I'm hearing from them constantly." That's what Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of a $20 billion oil spill compensation fund, told members of Congress. Them? Real estate agents and brokers. "They make a credible argument," he adds.
Independent mortgage bankers are making a lot less money on each loan they originate these days, and they're originating a lot fewer loans on top of that.
With little to no fanfare, it appears jumbo loans are not only getting cheaper, they're getting easier to obtain. After several years of stagnation in high-end housing, thanks to the disappearance of the jumbo market, things are moving yet again.
The financial regulatory reform bill is all but getting in a cab to the White House, and that has housing watchers convinced that the next big item on the Administration/Congressional agenda will be the Government Sponsored Enterprises reform.
