Is Freddie Mac Betting Against You?

The Government-Owned Mortgage Company, Freddie Mac who specializes in helping homeowners get affordable mortgages, has reportedly been "betting" against homeowners. The "bet" comes in the form of investing in securities called "inverse floaters" that will receive all the interest payments from specified mortgage-backed securities. Basically, the bet will pay off if people cannot refinance. The shocking thing is that these investments are actually legal.

If people were to pre-pay their old loans and refinance them to receive cheaper new loans, Freddie Mac would lose money. However, the more people that cannot refinance, the more money Freddie makes because it will receive money from these older loans with higher interest payments.

The thing that is causing such an outrage among Americans is that Freddie Mac, and it's counter-part Fannie Mae, are not privately owned entities anymore. They are part of the government since Congress adopted them in 2008. Therefore, these highly offensive investments that Freddie is making to generate profit are using taxpayer dollars. You are paying for them to bet against you. Many Americans are already blaming these companies for the housing boom and the subsequent bust, so adding this bet to the picture does not make for happy citizens.

Popular opinion in the finance world is that the number of foreclosures would drop if Americans could refinance their high-interest rate loans. Freddie Mac is supposed to help with that. They actively campaign to get borrowers to realize the benefits of refinancing. However, this is not profitable for them which is where these bets have come into play. Despite Freddie's activity, though, President Obama himself has recently mentioned his commitment to helping homeowners with their mortgage worries.

In his State of the Union Address, he noted that he will be sending a plan to Congress that would give "ever responsible homeowner the chance to save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at historically low rates." Obama even promised that there would be "no more red tape. No more runaround from the banks."

So what do you think? Relief for homeowners is promised, but will it happen? Do you think it should be illegal for this government-owned company to be "betting" against you as a struggling homeowner?

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Economic Struggle: Underwater Mortgages Hindering Job Search

Many American homeowners are finding it increasingly difficult to apply for jobs because of their housing situation. Homeowners who are strapped to the mortgage of an underwater home seem to be having difficulty leaving it. This means that job relocation rates are suffering.  The number of people who are willing to relocation during this recession is at 13.2%, but the average relocation rate since 2009 has been around 7.9%.

Despite needing jobs in this rough economy, many are forced to stay where they are and pass up far-away employment opportunities because of their mortgages and financial burdens. This in turn effects employer's long-range growth. Once they run out of local options, they will need to rely on those willing to relocate  in order to prevent their company's expansion plans from stalling, which would ultimately effect the economic growth of the country. Unfortunately at this point, most employers will not cover an employee's relocation costs and even fewer will help lessen the impact of selling an undervalue home. All of these factors add up to very little incentive for a job seeker to take a chance on moving to a new location.

It seems as though moving really is a last resort for the majority of job seekers. There are not many who are willing to take such a big loss on the sale of their home for a job position that may not last long or pay off well. Overall, people are a bit stuck. This could be one of the biggest obstacles for Americans in this economic recovery.

Hopefully the American people will take advantage of all the mortgage help that is being offered lately such as the impending bank deal that will help those facing foreclosure to restructure their loans. There's also HARP's new guidelines that are allowing homeowners to refinance at today's lower mortgage rates. And if absolutely necessary, Freddie Mac will be allowing unemployed borrowers an additional 6 months of forbearance on their mortgages.

So if you are one of the homeowners who feel stuck because of a lack of job opportunities and the impossibility of leaving your home, hold tight. The help is coming. Recovery is on the horizon. Here's to hoping that it truly will help Americans to climb back out of the holes caused by unemployment rates and underwater mortgages.

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Outlook for the Housing Market in 2012

As of December 2011, unemployment rates fell to their lowest level in three years with the addition of 200,000 jobs. This means good news overall for the real estate market since the country's economy is beginning to improve. This recovery is essential for the housing market and it is expected to continue throughout 2012. As we reported earlier, the Fed has announced that interest rates will not be raised until 2014 in the hopes of continuing in this economy recovery. The interest rates are currently at historic lows and are expected to stay that way to ensure a slow but steady rise by the end of the year. Therefore, taking out a mortgage is a very affordable thing at this time.

Predictions for the 2012 housing market include these continued low interest rates as well as the stabilization of home prices. This should lead to an increase in home sales: roughly 12% of existing homes and 74% of new homes; and there will also be a rise in inventory mostly due to increased foreclosures throughout the country. Distressed properties will make up about half of all home sales. There will also be an improved short-sale process so we can further avoid foreclosures. Homeownership rates are expected to continue to fall. Foreign and domestic investors will be likely to buy 25% of homes. And there will be an increased reliance on real estate agents in 2012. We will continue to report on these matters to see if these predictions pan out over the next year.

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Federal Reserve: No Rate Hikes until 2014

According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, interest rates will not be raised until at least late 2014. This is even later than investors were expecting. They are doing this in an effort to support the economy's recovery.

The Central Bank says that the unemployment rate is still elevated throughout the country, however inflation is expected to remain somewhat consistent with stable prices. If economic conditions change, the Fed could actually adjust this time frame, but it is expected that the Fed will not change its record-low rate for nearly three years. So this is good news! We should have low rates for quite a while to come.

While the unemployment rate stands at 8.5%, meaning that some 13 million Americans are still unable to find work, the Fed is optimistic about the unemployment rate for 2012. They expect the U.S economy to grow at a 2 percent annual rate this year.

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Current U.S. Unemployment Rates

Because Housing and Jobs are so closely related, it is important to watch for changing trends in the Unemployment level. The chart below displays current levels of Unemployment by state.

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Reported $25 Billion Deal Reached between Banks and AGs

As we mentioned yesterday, this $25 billion deal between the five largest banks in American and U.S. State Attorneys General nationwide will make it easier for those facing foreclosure to restructure their loans. The final draft of this agreement has been submitted for review.

This settlement would apply to privately-held mortgages that were issued between 2008-2011. It does not, however, apply to loans held by GSEs Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. This means that nearly 750,000 homeowners could get the principal amount of their mortgages written down by $20,000.

Under the terms of this deal, $17 billion would be used toward reducing the principal that homeowners owe on their mortgages. Also, $5 billion would be placed in a reserve account for various state and federal programs. Part of that money would cover checks that will be sent to nearly 750,000 homeowners that were affected by deceptive foreclosure practices, amounting to $1,800 each. The final $3 billion would be dedicated toward the refinancing of homes nationwide at 5.25 percent. This proposal is expected to be adopted within a few weeks.

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Congressional Push for Fannie/Freddie Principal Reduction

Congressional Democrats are currently pushing for a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Principal Reduction. If a settlement with banks isn't helpful enough for homeowners, they want a federal housing regulator to write down mortgage principal for these government-backed loans.

The federal government is actually very close to coming to an agreement with mortgage servicers that could help nearly a million homeowners. The deal would require the nation's five largest banks -JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of American, Citigroup and Ally Financial- to spend more than $25 billion to help borrowers who had signed off on foreclosure paperwork without reviewing the documents properly.

It is not yet clear who would be eligible for this settlement that would offer 1 million borrowers an average of $20,000 in principal reduction.

If this settlement doesn't help those who are with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, more than likely the Democratic lawmakers will continue to push the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to provide homeowners with these principal reductions. They especially want to help those who owe more than their houses are worth.

This settlement is expected to be the largest principal reduction of the housing crisis and will hopefully boost the economy and housing market. However, this deal could take several more weeks to complete. The White House was hoping for a resolution by Christmas, but they are now hoping it will be resolved by Tuesday's State of the Union address. They want to have all 50 states sign on to a final deal but they may not meet that goal.

For more information about this, view our source.

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Existing Home Sales Up 5%

Existing-home sales for December 2011 increased 5% from November. This is the third consecutive month of increases and the second highest reading of 2011. The December level was also 3.6% above December 2010, and as a whole, existing-home sales were up 1.7% from 2010. Total housing inventory dropped 9.2% for December, representing a 6.2-month supply, down from a 7.2-month supply in November.

Existing Home Sales is a measure of the selling rate of pre-owned single-family homes, collected by the National Association of Realtors from 650 realtor associations. It includes a geographical breakdown, as well as a measure of prices and house inventory, the number of months it would take to deplete the existing supply of pre-owned houses at the current sales pace.

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Bank of America Suspends Cash-out Refinancing

For the second time in four months, Bank of America Home Loans have decided to suspend cash-out refinancing. The first time was in October when they suspended cash-out transactions insured by the Federal Housing Administration and the Veteran Administration.

According to the U.S. Mortgage Market Index report for the week ended January 13th, inquiries for refinance loans have climbed 107 percent since the end of 2011. BofA's recent decision has come about because of this elevated volume of refinance activity. They say that cash-outs will continue to be on hold until this elevated activity recedes and until it is clear that overall processing for non cash-out transactions will not be negatively impacted from the resumption of cash-out lending. Cash-out transactions that are already in process will not be impacted by this recent decision.

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NAHB Housing Index Reaches 4 1/2 Year High

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI) rises in January to a reading of 25. This is up 4 points from the previous December reading of 21 and marks the 4th consecutive month of increases. The last time the HMI had a reading of 25 or more was in June of 2007. Though moving in an encouraging direction, readings over 50 are considered positive, a level last reached in April of 2006. 

The NAHB Housing Market Index is based on a monthly survey of NAHB members designed to take the pulse of the single-family housing market. The survey asks respondents to rate market conditions for the sale of new homes at the present time and in the next 6 months as well as the traffic of prospective buyers of new homes.

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The American People Place High Value on Homeownership

According to a recent nationwide survey of American voters, We The People really value homeownership. After all, it is the American dream to own your own house, complete with a yard and a white picket fence! So it's not surprising, then, that Americans are overall opposed to any government efforts to weaken or eliminate the mortgage interest deduction. People expect the feds to have a role in helping qualified home buyers obtain 30 year mortgages at affordable rates.

If we want to maintain a somewhat thriving middle class economy, the government needs to realize how important homeownership really is to the American public. A good, healthy and stable market would do wonders for the country.

3 out of 4 voters find it appropriate for the government to promote homeownership by way of new tax incentives to keep stimulating the economy. And two-thirds of people feel as though the feds should actually help home buyers to afford long-term fixed-rate mortgages. So much so that 73 percent of voters are against the elimination of the mortgage interest deduction, (and 68% of people would be less likely to vote for a candidate who proposed to abolish it).

People are also against proposals to reduce the mortgage interest deduction, or to eliminate the deduction for interest paid for a second home. They don't want to see any limits either.

Homeownership is definitely a cornerstone of America. So much so that 96% of homeowners are happy with their decision to own a house. Even those who are "underwater", a whopping 84% of voters say that they too are happy to own, despite the mortgage costing more than their home is worth. In fact, owning a home is considered to be the best long-term investment that could possibly be made, despite the ups and downs of the market.

We hope that the government, and those running for office, will take all of these feelings of the American people into serious consideration.

Source

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HARPs New Guidelines for Homeowners to Refinance

Good news for homeowners from the federal government! The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) has recently changed its guidelines to allow homeowners to refinance at today's lower mortgage rates even if their homes have declined in value. Depending on the loan they choose, homeowners can now refinance without LTV limits. This will help them to improve cash flow to pay off their mortgages easier and, hopefully, not be hesitant to become a homebuyer again in the future. HARP works with primary residences, second homes and investment properties.

HARP was established in 2009 to help homeowners with good payment history to refinance into more affordable mortgages despite declining home values. Originially, HARP capped LTVs at 125 percent for fixed rate loans, and 105 percent for adjustable rate loans. It maintains its ARM cap, but now there is not a limit for the LTV for a fixed rate mortgage of 30 years or less. However, if the loan is for more than 30 and up to 40 years, it is still capped at 105 percent.

This is very good news for those who are in states that were hit hardest by declining home values such as Arizona, California, Nevada and Florida. Mortgage rates are at the lowest levels in decades. Now is an opportune time for homeowners to take advantage of HARPs new policy and reduce their interest rate and monthly payments. They could then pay off their loans faster due to shortening the loan terms. This could lead to them making more real estate investments in the future as well.

To qualify for HARP, the property cannot have been refinanced by HARP before. The loan needs to have been originated before May 31st 2009 and be associated with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. No private mortgage insurance is required if it wasn't needed for the original loan and income documentation is not necessary. The amount of the loan just can't exceed the conforming loan limits for the property's location. The loan must be current and the borrower cannot have made late payments in the last six months, and no more than one late payment in the last 12 months.

If you feel as though you are drowning in the stress of being behind on your mortgage, HARP urges you to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity while you can! HARP wants to help bring you back into the home buying market with these low rates. Look into it today!

Source

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2011 Foreclosure Rate Down 34 Percent

We all know that housing foreclosures have been a big problem for Americans in the past few years. With the shaky economy and high unemployment rates, many people have had issues paying off their mortgages. In 2011, however, it looks as though Americans were given a bit of collective relief. Both the total U.S. foreclosure activity and the U.S. foreclosure rate were at their lowest annual level since 2007. That is good news.

According to RealtyTrac's Year-End 2011 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, there were nearly 2.7 milliion foreclosure filings in 2011. This includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. These were reported on nearly 1.9 million properties, which is actually a decrease of 34 percent in total properties compared to 2010.

This means that approximately 1 in 69 houses had at least one foreclosure filing during 2011.

The reason for this decrease in the total number of foreclosures may have more to do with the dysfunctional foreclosure process than anything. Right now, many houses are hanging in limbo. It seems as though all the paperwork has been a problem, leaving delinquent mortgages at a standstill. However, lenders are finally starting to get some of these delayed foreclosures moving. This may boost foreclosure activity in 2012.

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CEO of Fannie Mae Resigning

The Chief Executive Officer of Fannie Mae, Michael J. Williams has just announced his departure from the Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE). He first took on this role of CEO in 2009 when Fannie Mae was placed under the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).  Williams will remain in this position until the board of directors chooses a new CEO and director to take his place.

“As CEO, I have focused the company on providing the necessary funding to support sustainable homeownership and quality affordable housing; creating the solutions needed to stabilize the market and help homeowners in distress; and building a strong new leadership team that can move the company and the industry forward,” said Williams. “For the past three years, we have executed on this important mission, while making fundamental changes to prepare housing finance for a better future. I decided the time is right to turn over the reins to a new leader. As I told our employees today, I am extremely proud of what we have achieved together, and I am confident that they will continue to make a positive difference.”

Williams has accomplished much during his years at Fannie Mae. He started in 1991 leading the eCommerce and eBusiness divisions, including the development of the Desktop Underwriter product. He has also helped  to enable approximately six million households to refinance into a lower cost mortgage, 1.7 million homeowners to purchase a home, and provided financing for nearly one million units of quality, affordable rental housing.

The question is: how will his departure effect Fannie Mae and its operations? And in turn, homeowners and lenders?


Source: http://nationalmortgageprofessional.com/news27890/michael-williams-resign-ceo-fannie-mae

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News for the Week of Jan 8th: Reports and Auctions

There are four reports that are expected to be released this week that may concern mortgage rates depending on its economic data. Also, two  important treasury auctions will take place.  The Stock Market will be a major contributor early in the week for any movements in bond prices and mortgage rates.

At 2:00 PM ET on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book Report will be released. It will give details of the economic condition throughout the US by region. Since the Fed relies heavily on it during their FOMC meetings, its results can have a fairly big impact on the financial markets and mortgage rates if it reveals any surprises, particularly regarding inflation, unemployment or future hiring.

Wednesday and Thursday bring the treasury auctions featuring the sale of 10-year-notes and 30-year-bonds. The 10-year sale is the more important of the two as it will give us a better indication for demand of mortgage-related securities. If there is a strong demand from investors, we should see the bond market move higher during afternoon trading the days of the auctions. But a lackluster interest from buyers, particularly international investors, would indicate a waning appetite for longer-term U.S. securities and lead to broader bond selling. The selling in bonds would result in upward revisions to mortgage rates.

On Thursday, the most important report of the week is released: December's Retail Sales data. This comes from the Commerce Department. The report measures consumer spending and tracks tracks sales at retail establishments.  Customer spending makes up two-thirds of the U.S. economy so this data is watched carefully. A sales increase of 0.4% is expected.  A smaller than expected increase in sales would indicate consumers did not spend as much as thought over the holiday season, helping to prevent rapid economic growth. That would be considered good news for the bond market and mortgage rates.

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New Freddie Mac Loan Forbearance Policy

As of February 1st, 2012, Freddie Mac will begin allowing unemployed borrowers an additional 6 months of forbearance on their mortgages. That's 6 months without prior approval from Freddie Mac, and an additional 6 months on top of that with prior approval.  So unemployed borrowers will now have up to 12 months to find jobs before they need to pay their loans. This direction comes straight from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

"These expanded forbearance periods will provide families facing prolonged periods of unemployment with a greater measure of security by giving them more time to find new employment and resolve their delinquencies," said Tracy Mooney, SVP of single-family servicing and REO for Freddie Mac. "We believe this will put more families back on track to successful long-term homeownership."

  The above quote was taken from this article where you can find additional information about this new policy.

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Helping your Clients Understand the Loan Process

If you are looking for a way to simply break-down the mortgage application process to your clients, follow our other blog, 411 Rates. We provide a detailed but easy to follow explanation of all things mortgage related.  We hope that this resource will prove helpful to you!

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Current State of the Mortgage Banking Industry

As a Mortgage Professional yourself, you are likely aware of all the economic issues going on in our country. We at Quest Loans found this article to be informational. It discusses the state of the industry regarding the loan process, the new LO compensation reform, and more.  The following is an excerpt of the article written by Leif Boyd.

"As we look at the current industry and where it will likely head over the next few years, many brokers have more questions than answers. Companies, brokers and loan officers are still figuring out how loan originator (LO) compensation reform will impact their balance sheets and wallets. As the government and banks have continued to add more requirements to get loans approved, it has become harder for once-qualified individuals to get loans. A few large companies seem to control a large share of the market."

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Monthly Employment Report from the U.S. Labor Dept.

The U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday that the economy's payroll increased in December 2011. This monthly employment report showed that 200,000 jobs were created, well above the 150,000 that was expected. However, a portion of that number is most likely being attributed to seasonal hiring for the holiday shopping season. 

The Unemployment Rate fell from 8.7% in November to 8.5% in December. The rate has been falling for 4 straight months and is currently at its lowest level since February 2009. Even though the rate has been dropping, this economy still leaves 24.4 million Americans either unemployed or underemployed.  

For more information, take a look at MSNBC's article.

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Protect Your Credit Score!!

Did you know that every time you receive a "pre-approved" or "pre-screened" credit offer in the mail that it is actually causing your credit score to go down? Every time they want to send you one of these offers, they have to run a credit check first to make sure that you are indeed pre-qualified and this causes your score to slowly drop.

There is a great way to prevent that from happening so you can protect your credit score. You can choose to opt out of these offers. That means no more junk mail too! Once you sign up for this, they can no longer check your credit without verbal or written consent from you. This is a secure site made by the credit reporting agencies. You can find it by clicking here.

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FannieMae Desktop Underwriter Update Release Info!

On eFannieMae.com:   News   |   Learning Center   |   Selling Guide

DU Version 8.3 March Update Release Notes Available During the weekend of March 17, 2012, Fannie Mae will update Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) Version 8.3 to implement enhancements to DU Refi PlusTM. The updates included in this release will apply to DU Version 8.3 loan casefiles submitted or resubmitted to DU on or after the weekend of March 17, 2012. View the Release Notes on the Desktop Underwriter page for details.

eFannieMae.com  |  Privacy Policy

"With this release, modifications are being made to the credit risk assessment in order to give more borrowers the ability to refinance using DU Refi Plus. As a result, the number of DU Refi Plus loan casefiles that receive an EA-III recommendation will be expanded."

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Fed White Paper: "The U.S. Housing Market: Current Conditions and Policy Considerations"

The Federal Reserve wrote a report addressing the current problems in the US housing market. They say that it doesn't cover everything but it is to serve as a "framework for thinking about certain issues and tradeoffs that policymakers might consider."

It discusses the American economy, the unemployment rate, housing foreclosures and more. They may push the government-owned mortgage buyers to rent out the homes they own as a possible way to improve the housing market.

Read all about it by clicking on this link here.

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Tricks of the Trade

Hello Fellow Realtors and Loan Originators,

Welcome to Mortgage Jive! This is the place to gather together and share tips and information regarding mortgages, loans and the real estate market in general. I will be posting the latest news from the industry here.

Please feel free to contribute anything you have come across that would benefit everyone. The goal is to increase our knowledge to stimulate our businesses so that we are fully equipped to do our jobs and help home buyers with all their needs. This is all about connecting, networking and thriving in this economy!

Bookmark the page and visit back often! Thank you!

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