Homeownership at lowest level in a decade – By ALAN ZIBEL, AP – … The percentage of households that owned their homes was unchanged at 66.9 percent in the July-September quarter, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. That’s the same as the April-June quarter. The last time the rate was lower was in 1999, when the rate was 66.7 percent. … – Yahoo News
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Gary Shilling: 5 Here’s Why House Prices Will Now Drop Another 20% – slide show – Business Insider
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Prepayment Speeds of HECM vs. Private Reverse Mortgages – … New View tells RMD the increase in prepayment speeds was driven by the addition of several new proprietary products that offered higher LTVs, creating a mini-refinance boom. When home values started to drop, borrowers became less mobile and prepayment speeds have declined dramatically. … – Reverse Mortgage Daily
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A Foreclosure Gone Wrong: One Man’s Struggle - by TAMARA KEITH – … The only way he could possibly keep his house was to get a loan modification from the bank. Just a month before the foreclosure sale went through, Bank of America offered to cut his interest rate and extend the term of the loan. His payment would drop significantly. It was exactly what he needed. "So, then I signed everything and sent it off and thought it was done," Forster says. "I just figured the next month I’ll be back on track making the new monthly payment. It hasn’t been that way." … – NPR All Things Considered
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Foreclosure Defects to Prolong U.S. Housing Correction – The in-flux state of U.S. mortgage foreclosures will increase an already high ’shadow’ inventory and lengthen foreclosure delays, both of which figure to prolong the U.S. housing correction, according to Fitch Ratings. Liquidation timelines of non-performing loans are already at historical highs. It would take over three years to clear the existing distressed mortgage inventory in the non-agency RMBS sector based on recent resolution trends, a timeline that Senior Director Grant Bailey says will be further pushed back by the delay in foreclosures. – Research Recap
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Three scary things I noticed at the mortgage bankers convention – by RICK GRANT – HousingWire
sur1 Most securitization investors plan to boost activity within next 12 months - by JACOB GAFFNEY – Three out of five asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities investors plan to increase their activity in the securitization space within the next 12 months, according to a survey from structured finance technology firm Principia Partners. – has details – HousingWire
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Is Countrywide Heading Towards A BK - Posted by Tom Lindmark – Here’s an interesting scenario that Credit Agricole’s analyst, Mike Mayo, paints. He suggests that Bank of America might find a Countrywide bankruptcy the best alternative if things in the mortgage world continue to deteriorate. … Countrywide is a separate legal entity from BofA, … Countrywide, which he said originated 86% of BofA’s mortgage loans that are 60 days or more behind on payments. … Bankruptcy may be the cheapest option .. – But Then What Blog
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Obama administration sings new tune on foreclosures - By Tami Luhby – … A year ago, officials focused on stemming the foreclosure tide. Now they are touting the need for foreclosures to rebuild the housing market. … Last week Phyllis Caldwell, head of the Treasury Department’s Homeownership Preservation Office, told a congressional panel that "an important part of ensuring longer-term stability in the market is to enable properties to be resold to families who can afford to purchase them." … – CNN Money
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Home Equity as a Percentage of Household Net Worth – By Barry Ritholtz – great comments – The Big Picture
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Firms That Fought Dodd-Frank May Profit Under Republican House – By Clea Benson and Phil Mattingly - Republicans will try to rein in regulators implementing a sweeping overhaul of financial rules and press for a smaller federal role in the mortgage market as they return to a majority in the House of Representatives and a stronger minority in the Senate. – Bloomberg
