Note: Thomas Lawler is a former Fannie Mae and Wall Street economist who now writes a newsletter. He did an excellent job calling the housing bubble and bust, and I’ve quoted him a few times over the years. From James Hagerty at the WSJ: As Housing Loses its Stickiness, Prices…
Please see graph at bottom of post … From DataQuick: California Second Quarter Mortgage Defaults Edge Down The number of foreclosure proceedings started against California homeowners fell slightly in the April-through-June period compared with the prior three months, but remained higher than last year. The dip from earlier this year…
From Bloomberg: Bernanke Says Commercial Property May Pose Risk for Economy Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said a potential wave of defaults in commercial real estate may present a “difficult” challenge for the economy, without committing to additional steps to aid the market. … It “may be appropriate” for…
Click Chart for Larger View and More Statistics Looking back four years ago, the market share data report shown above describes conventional purchase mortgages in Miami metropolitan area from April 2005 through June 2005. This was a peak time in the housing boom and a peak time for sub…
The House Appropriations Committee approved an extension of the $729,750 loan limits through September 2010 for mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for mortgage insurer the Federal Housing Administration, reports National Mortgage News. The larger limit, up from $417,000 for Fannie and Freddie, will expire at the…
According to the recent guidelines of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development , Premier Reverse Closings have now made changes in its condominium project guidelines. They have declared that they would take transactions for constructed properties such as manufactured homes in their projects. In the past years, many…
I’m working on a housing start post, but first … Barry Ritholtz presents the following graph and asks: “I cannot figure out why people continue to call for a bottom in Real Estate — as if there is going to be this snap back any day now.” Well I’m one…
This might be the start of a number of condo / homeowner associations filing bankruptcy because of the housing bust … From the Daily Business Review: Bankruptcy: $1 million debt sends condo association into Chapter 11 (ht Soylent Green is People) Facing almost $1 million in claims by unsecured creditors,…
From Dow Jones: US Lawmakers Sound Alarm About Commercial Real Estate Market “The commercial real estate time bomb is ticking,” Joint Economic Committee Chairman Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said in opening remarks to a hearing before her panel Thursday. U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, said he was distressed about the…
Mortgagee letter 2009-19 was recently issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD on June 12. The mortgage letter implements a new approval process for all condominium mortgages and home equity conversion mortgages insured by FHA . The new amendments are in accord with the 2008 Housing…