The Federal Reserve is poised to turn off a major money spigot that has helped sustain the ailing real estate sector, as an extraordinary program under which the Fed has pumped $1.25 trillion into the mortgage market is slated to end March 31. “Housing has been on government life support, and without it the...
Posts Tagged ‘ Mortgage ’
Fannie Mae launches $1 bln small lender plan
Fannie Mae, (FNM.P) the largest provider of funding for U.S. home mortgages, on Monday said it is launching a $1 billion program to boost money available to small- and mid-sized lenders. The program would provide credit lines for 10 to 12 lenders in 2010, a spokeswoman said. Since the onset of the credit crunch,...
How lenders decide whether to modify your mortgage
Question: As one of the 160,000-plus people waiting in the pipeline to apply for a mortgage reduction at the same lender mentioned in your recent column, I was greatly puzzled by one point in your article: “If you show negative cash flow, your application will be denied, period.” Isn’t having a negative cash...
Walking Away from Underwater Mortgages
In the wake of the housing bubble and the lingering economic downturn, 23% of homeowners now owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. Many are so far underwater that they have no reasonable hope of creating equity until the housing market fully recovers. For the hardest hit areas, this could take...
Short sales not always a short process
Comments (7) With so many homes worth less than the balance of the loan, many more people are turning to short sales. A short sale is when your lender agrees to let you sell your house at a loss rather than let the home go into foreclosure. But it’s no slam-dunk. Sara Williams and her...
Number of modified mortgages jumps sharply
Under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program, monthly payments were permanently lowered for 116,297 loans by the end of January, up from 66,465 a month earlier. Reporting from Washington – The number of mortgages with permanently lowered monthly payments under the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program increased dramatically in January. In all, the number...
Mortgage Modifications Rise as U.S. Program Grows
By Theo Francis Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Mortgage modifications made permanent last month under President Barack Obama’s foreclosure prevention initiative exceeded for the first time the pace of trial plans started as aid to homeowners began to take hold. Modifications made permanent jumped 75 percent in January from December, while new trials rose about...
Federal Reserve moves to benefit mortgage-seekers
Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, suggested in testimony to be delivered to Congress, that the Fed is not likely to “sell any of its securities holdings in the near term, at least until after policy tightening has gotten under way and the economy is clearly in a sustainable recovery.” The recent purchase,...
