All Posts Tagged With: "Mortgages"
Obama Regulatory Reform: Right Idea — Not Far Enough
The President’s new effort at regulatory reform ought to be applauded, at least for the reason that we once-again have a president who believes that regulation is a legitimate government activity. That said, the President’s 89-page regulatory reform proposal falls short because it does address two issues: Getting regulators to regulate and creating a fiduciary [...]
18Jun2009 | Peter G. Miller | 1 comment | Continued
Inflation, Deflation, Mortgages & Wealth
Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage rate survey shows that the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) was priced at 5.59% with .7 points. This is a huge jump from last week when the rate stood at 5.29 percent and a vast leap when compared with the rate for the week of May 21st: 4.82%. Higher rates are [...]
12Jun2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Report Says 22% Of All Homeowners Underwater
Zillow.com is reporting that more than one-fifth of all homeowners are now underwater on their mortgages. The company says that home values in the United States fell again in the first quarter, posting a year-over-year decline of 14.2 percent. The Zillow study covers 161 metropolitan areas and cover the value changes in all homes, not [...]
6May2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Mortgages & The Unnecessary Crisis
July 14, 2008 should be remembered as a notable date in the long history of mortgage lending. The federal government gingerly stuck its regulatory foot into the warm waters of consumer advocacy and for the first time enacted rules which would protect borrowers. Not all borrowers, of course, and nothing that would materially disturb the [...]
31Dec2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
How Paper Mortgage Losses Turned Real
The question that keeps coming up is this: If only a small portion of all mortgages are failing how come the general financial impact has been so enormous? To resolve this mystery, let’s go back to the 1970s when the mortgage-backed security — the MBS — was developed. The MBS was a financial device designed [...]
15Dec2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
It’s Time To Raise Loan Disclosure Standards
It’s usually argued that full and fair disclosure is one of the best forms of consumer protection, but when it comes to mortgage loans there’s often much that borrowers don’t know — especially with today’s newer loan formats. Now a study by the Government Accountability Office says new standards of consumer education should be required [...]
22Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Can You Profit From The Real Estate Meltdown?
Hardly a week goes by without the announcement that some major bank has just succeeded in raising billions of dollars in new capital from hedge funds or overseas investors. Given the huge sums being invested in U.S. banks you have to wonder what they’re doing with such new dollars. One good use might be to [...]
20Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
The Illusion of Mortgage Assets
With newsstands dominated by scary headlines, Hollywood break-ups and still more diet plans, Harper’s magazine is typically somber and understated. However, for those with an interest in real estate the May 2006 issue offered a jarring cover story that’s tough to ignore: “The New Road to Serfdom: An illustrated guide to the coming real estate [...]
19Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
What To Do About Predatory Loans
Predatory loans are the new horror of mortgage lending, a subject getting much attention in the media and with good reason. In general terms predatory loans can be seen as financing which the borrower does not understand, cannot repay, or includes terms so onerous even loan sharks would be embarrassed. Such loans harm consumers, generate [...]
6Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Should We Hedge Foreclosures?
Imagine you were facing foreclosure and that your lender was willing to work out a deal — a loan modification — so you could keep your home while the lender could avoid the costs of a foreclosure. This sounds like a great outcome for everyone, except that it isn’t. Believe it or not, some folks [...]
1Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 1 comment | Continued
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