The Los Angeles Times
A Mortgage Bankers Association report Thursday said that after seasonal adjustments, 7.58 percent of all residential mortgages were delinquent by at least one payment as of the fourth quarter of 2011. That was down from 7.99 percent in the third quarter of 2011 and 8.25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010.
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http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-mortgage-delinquencies-20120216,0,5231531.story
CNN Money
On Thursday, federal and state officials announced a $26 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the largest home lenders. California is expected to receive approximately $12 billion in principal write-downs, including through short sales, over the next three years, according to the state attorney general’s office.
Making sense of the story
- The deal settles potential state charges about allegations of improper foreclosures based on robo-signing, seizures made without proper paperwork.
- The settlement sets up a federal monitor to oversee the process and try to prevent the challenges that tripped up many homeowners seeking help in earlier programs designed to address the housing crisis.
- Most of the relief will go to those who are underwater on their homes. That relief will come over the course of the next three years, with banks having incentives to provide most of the relief in the next 12 months.
- At least $17 billion will go to reducing the principal owed by homeowners who are underwater and behind on their mortgages.
- Up to 750,000 other underwater homeowners who are current on their mortgages will be able to refinance their current loans at lower rates. They will not receive a reduction in principal, but with mortgage rates near record lows, they could receive substantial savings on their monthly payments.
- Approximately $1.5 billion will go to homeowners who had their homes foreclosed upon between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011, and who meet other criteria. They will receive up to $2,000 each.
- The five mortgage servicers that are parties to the settlement include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC).
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http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/09/news/economy/mortgage_settlement/index.htm?hpt=hp_t1
The Wall Street Journal
Converting home equity into cash has been a challenge for homeowners since the real-estate downturn, but a growing number of lenders are quietly reviving a loan for seniors that does just that: The reverse mortgage.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204542404577158990079313270.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews
A study by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that prospective home buyers believe that given today’s affordable home prices and low interest rates, now is a good time to buy. However, potential sellers are nearly unanimous in reporting that it is not a good time to sell a home, citing difficulty in finding buyers at desired sales prices.
The study utilizes 30 years of data from the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumer Attitudes to examine consumer attitudes toward homeownership before, during, and after the most-recent recession to see if consumer sentiment changed toward home buying and selling.
Key findings from the study include:
- Despite high unemployment, slow economic growth and other problems plaguing the economy, almost 80 percent of American households believe that now is a good time to buy a home.
- Negative home-selling sentiment is strongly related to difficulty in finding buyers at desired sales prices, as well as the large overhang of mortgages past due or on foreclosure.
- Over the next five quarters, positive home-buying sentiment is forecast to remain around current and long-run average levels. In contrast, positive home-selling sentiment is forecast to remain around current, historic-low levels. This suggests that selling sentiment and, hence, market activity, will remain sluggish in the near term.
To obtain a copy of the report, visit www.housingamerica.org.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced they will suspend all evictions involving foreclosed occupied single family and 2-4 unit properties with mortgages owned by the GSEs from Dec. 19, 2011-Jan. 2, 2012.
The suspension will apply only to eviction lockouts related to Freddie Mac- and Fannie Mae-owned REO properties and will not affect other pre- or post-foreclosure processes. During this period, legal and administrative proceedings for evictions may continue, but families living in foreclosed properties will be permitted to remain in the home.
The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties fell to 7.99 percent in the third quarter, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. This is the lowest level recorded since the fourth quarter of 2008.
The third quarter seasonally adjusted rate of 7.99 percent is a decrease of 45 basis points from the second quarter of 2011, and a decrease of 114 basis points from one year ago. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased nine basis points to 8.20 percent this quarter from 8.11 percent last quarter.
The percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started during the third quarter rose 12 basis points from last quarter, but were down 26 basis points from one year ago. The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the third quarter was 4.43 percent, unchanged from the second quarter and four basis points higher than one year ago.
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In today’s shaky economy, many financial advisers are suggesting that homeowners wait to pay off their mortgage, and instead keep the cash available.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/realestate/mortgages-retiring-without-a-home-loan.html?_r=1&ref=realestate
The September Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. continues to show significant differences between states that process foreclosures following a judicial vs. non-judicial foreclosure process.
Ranked by the percentage of loans that are non-current, seven of the top 10 states are judicial foreclosure states. Foreclosure inventories in these states continue to climb, accounting for nearly 7 percent of the entire active loan count. Additionally, foreclosure timelines in these states continue to extend at a greater rate than in non-judicial foreclosure states. The time from last payment to foreclosure sale in judicial states is 761 days, 6 months longer than in non-judicial states. Consequently, foreclosure sales in judicial foreclosure states remain very low, with only 1.6 percent of those states’ foreclosure inventories moving to sale.
Judicial foreclosures are processed through the courts, beginning with the lender filing a complaint and recording a notice of Lis Pendens. Non-judicial foreclosures are processed without court intervention, with the requirements for the foreclosure established by state statutes.
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Consumers currently home shopping or planning to refinance, need to decide on a specific mortgage program and do research to decide which will be the best fit for their situation.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_19249844
