Home » Mortgage News » 2009 » May
FHA Allows $8,000 Credit to be Used for Purchase
First-time homebuyers will be able to immediately apply an $8,000 tax credit toward the purchase of a new home, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today. Read More» |
Mortgage Rates Rise on Higher Bond Yields
Mortgage rates edged higher this week, as inflationary fears drove up the cost of borrowing despite the Federal Reserve's ongoing efforts to keep interest rates down. Read More» |
Foreclosures Increase at Record Rate
More than one U.S. mortgage in eight is either past due or in foreclosure, as the number of new foreclosures rose sharply in the first quarter of the year. Read More» |
FHFA Reports Slight Decrease in Home Prices
U.S. housing prices fell by half a percent in the first quarter of 2009, the smallest decrease since the housing downturn began, according to a figures released Wednesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Read More» |
Exsting Home Sales, Prices Move Upward
Existing home sales rose slightly in April, driven by bargain hunters taking advantages of foreclosures, short sales and near-record low interest rates. Read More» |
Report Questions Effectiveness of Loan Modifications
A new study is raising doubts about the effectiveness of mortgage loan modifications as a means of providing relief to financially stressed homeowners. Read More» |
No Bottom to Housing Market Yet: Standard and Poor's
Housing prices continued to decline in March, suggesting that the housing market has yet to bottom out, according to a Standard & Poor's survey released today. Read More» |
New York AG Investigating Debt Relief Companies
The New York State Attorney General has announced an investigation into the debt settlement industry, issuing subpoenas to 14 debt settlement companies and one law firm with nationwide operations. Read More» |
Obama Approves Enhancements to Mortgage Refinance Program
Legislation to make the floundering Hope for Homeowners mortgage bailout program more attractive to lenders was signed into law Wednesday by President Obama, along with another measure designed to crack down on mortgage fraud. Read More» |
Economic Indicators Post Big Gain in April
The Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators posted its first increase in seven months in April and its biggest gain since November 2005, in one of the most hopeful signs to date that the economy may finally be bottoming out. Read More» |
Mortgage Rates Head Back Down
Credit remains cheap but hard to get, as mortgage rates declined again last week, approaching the record lows they have posted over the past two months. Read More» |
New Consumer Protection Agency Floated for Mortgages, Other Financials
The Obama administration appears to be floating a trial balloon to test the viability of a proposal that would concentrate authority over consumer financial products such as mortgages and credit cards within a single agency. Read More» |
Senate Approves Consumer Credit Card Protections
The U.S. Senate voted today to enact new restrictions on credit cards that would curb some common practices that have drawn the ire of consumers. Read More» |
Builder Confidence Rises as New Home Starts Fall
New housing starts in April fell to their lowest level in 50 years, even as home builders are starting to say that things are starting to look up. Read More» |
Texas May Lengthen Nation's Shortest Foreclosure Process
Financially stressed Texas homeowners could soon get a little more breathing room from the state's "fastest foreclosure in the West" foreclosure law under legislation that recently passed the state senate. Read More» |
Pace of Mortgage Refinancing Slows
The intense demand for home mortgage refinancing, which has soared over the past six months as mortgage rates have fallen, may finally be slackening. Read More» |
Homeowners Think Housing Market Has Bottomed: Survey
U.S. homeowners are increasingly coming to terms with declines in property values, but many remain unrealistically optimistic about the value of the own property, especially in regard to future trends, according to a new survey of consumer confidence. Read More» |
New Incentives for Mortgage Modification Program Announced
The Obama Administration is expanding its homeowner assistance program to provide new incentives for lenders to modify at-risk mortgages and to promote remedies short of foreclosure in cases where a homeowner cannot retain the property. Read More» |
FHA Seeks to Allow Tax Credit for Mortgage Down Payment
First-time homebuyers may soon be able to apply an $8,000 tax credit to their mortgage down payment, under a plan being advanced by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Read More» |
Fannie, Freddie Foreclosure Sales Up Sharply
Both foreclosures and foreclosure prevention efforts by government-sponsored lenders jumped in February, as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their kin lifted a two-month moratorium that had kept a lid on things. Read More» |
Foreclosures Set New Record - Barely
U.S. foreclosure rates increased slightly in April, easing what had a series of steady increases over the past year, but still enough to set a new all-time high. Read More» |
Foreclosures, Short Sales Send Housing Prices Down
Foreclosures and short sales made up nearly half of all existing single-family home sales in the first three months of 2009, as housing prices recorded their biggest annual decline on record. Read More» |
Citibank to Put Up $1 Billion for Mortgage Refinancings
Citibank will make available an additional $1 billion in loans to refinance mortgages for qualified homeowners, using capital it obtained through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the bank has announced. Read More» |
Small Businesses Increasingly Rely on Credit Cards
In a worsening economy, small businesses are growing increasingly reliant on the use of credit cards to cover expenses, despite increasingly unfavorable terms on those cards, according to a new report from the National Small Business Association (NSBA). Read More» |
Recession May Have Ended in April: Economists
In the wake of a number of encouraging economic trends in recent weeks, some economists are beginning to suggest that the worst recession in 80 years may already have ended. Read More» |
Job Losses Slow as Obama Urges Job Training for Unemployed
Job losses slowed in April, even as overall unemployment reached its highest level in over 25 years, according to figures released by the Labor Department on Friday. Read More» |
FHA to Seek $800M to Cover Reverse Mortgage Losses
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) says that its finances are solid, but still expects to ask the federal government for $800 million to cover losses in a reverse mortgage program for senior citizens. Read More» |
Realtors Call for New Consumer Mortgage Protections
With foreclosure rescue scams and other predatory lending practices on the rise, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is calling on Congress to enact new protections for consumers. Read More» |
Investors Voice Support for Mortgage Writedowns
A group of mortgage investors is expressing their support for measures that would enable homeowners to reduce the principal on at-risk mortgages and is calling on the banking industry to join them. Read More» |
Senate Approves Changes to Mortgage Relief Program
Legislation passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday may give new life to a program for financially stressed homeowners that has largely been a dud since it was introduced last year. Read More» |
Report: One in Five Homeowners Now Underwater
More than one in five U.S. homeowners now "underwater" on their mortgages, owing more than the home is worth, according to a new report documenting the continued slide in U.S. home values. Read More» |
Construction Spending Rose In March
Construction spending rose slightly in March, reversing five straight months of declines, according to figures released Monday by the Commerce Department. Read More» |
Fed Extends TALF to Cover Commercial Mortgages
The Federal Reserve Board, which has been moving aggressively to breathe life into the residential real estate market, has announced new measures to boost commercial real estate as well. Read More» |
Pending Home Sales Up in March
Pending home sales rose in March, as first-time buyers took advantage of low prices and mortgage interest rates, plus an $8,000 tax credit, to make the move into home ownership. Read More» |
134,000 Mortgages Modified in March
U.S. mortgage lenders modified nearly 134,000 mortgages for at-risk homeowners in March for the second month in a row, with foreclosure sales dropped sharply, the private sector HOPE NOW alliance has reported. Read More» |
House Passes Limits on Credit Card Companies
Legislation that would limit the ability of credit cards companies to raise interest rates and restrict other practices that have drawn the ire of consumers easily passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday. Read More» |