Read our Blog
Advisory Council

Archive for the 'Mortgages' Category

Unintended Consequences: New FHA Condo Lending Rules

By: Myles, December 8th, 2009

Talk about unintended consequences. On the one hand the goverment is finally trying to put an end to the toxic mortgage crisis by limiting loans to condos and condo projects that are not solid (a good thing),  but their recent actions and restrictive regulations are making developers put on the brakes (not so good for the economy and […]

Tags: , ,

Mortgage Fraud: The Gov’t has come to the rescue

By: Myles, May 31st, 2009

Anyone applying for a mortgage or creating mortgage instruments or selling them — BEWARE.
The Chicago Daily New’s Ken Harney highlights a recent Obama administration piece of legislation and program that was put into law May 20th. It may not have made a big news, but for real estate it was the equivalent of a congressional declaration […]

Tags: , ,

Option ARM’s, Pick-a-Pay and Alt-A: Truth & Tumult

By: Myles, May 27th, 2009

Many have said to us, why publish so much negative news. Where is the good news. Two brief answers. First, it is what it is. Facts are facts. It’s very important that you know what “is.” And next, by knowing the bad news — up front – you not only get a heads-up, but you can position yourself to […]

No Tags

Under Water: Not Aqua Life, but Real Estate Realities

By: Myles, May 6th, 2009

Many say that housing is the key to our financial recovery and it is certainly central to the Real Esate market. So let us read the tea leaves, both past, present and future.
According to the leading real estate website Zillow.com’s first-quarter 2009 Real Estate Market Reports, which encompass 161 metropolitan areas and cover the value […]

Tags: ,

30 Percent Jump in Refi’s

By: Myles, March 18th, 2009

Applications for refinance loans jumped nearly 30 percent during the week ending March 13, 2009 as interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans dipped below 5 percent to tie a record low seen in January 2009.

In its weekly survey of members, the Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage applications were up 21.2 percent from a week earlier, […]

Tags: ,

Like Everything Else, Title Rates Rising

By: Myles, March 2nd, 2009

After cutting thousands of employees to stem losses in 2008, title insurers have finally seen a dramatic increase in business in recent months that’s largely driven by homeowners rushing to refinance loans to take advantage of low interest rates. This refinance-mania represents more than 40% of all policies written.
As business picks up, First American Corp. […]

Tags:

Mortage Update: 83% of all activity are Refi’s

By: Myles, December 29th, 2008

Near record low mortgage rates spurred a 62 percent spike in refinance activity, while purchase applications increased 10 percent. Refinance activity continues to surge as mortgage rates neared record lows. Here is all the lastest detail …….

Refiances Dominate: According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey, the refinance share of mortgage activity […]

Tags: ,

Even more pessimistic projections about the economy?

By: Myles, November 18th, 2008

Economists at Freddie Mac are more pessimistic about the economy than they were just a short month ago, and no longer believe mortgage origination’s will rebound in 2009.
And as bleak as these projections are, the real question is — who knows where all of this is going: Mortgage origination’s down, home sales down, home […]

Tags: ,

Maryland Foreclosures: Better news than expected

By: Myles, November 13th, 2008

Believe it or not, in Maryland the news is mixed, when it comes to foreclosures. It is not all negative. So how bad is residential real estate in Maryland? As reported today in the Baltimore Business Journal, RealtyTrac, Inc.

One of every 774 households in
Maryland was in foreclosure in October, according to an industry report […]

Tags:

The Great Home Default

By: Myles, October 31st, 2008

The Pew Charitable Trust has just released a comprehensive 54 page report entitled: 

Tags: