Fannie Mae has apparently decided to get in the rental business: In a move that provides relief to thousands of renters who face eviction but draws the federal government even deeper into the housing market, the loan giant Fannie Mae said Sunday that it would sign new leases with renters living in foreclosed properties owned by the company. It is the first nationwide effort to provide widespread relief to renters ensnared by the unfolding mortgage crisis, and it will effectively transform Fannie Mae — a government-controlled mortgage finance company — into a national landlord. It may also increase pressure on…
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There’s no question a liberal ethos is taking over in American government, and quite possibly in Canada.  Whether this will be "Neoliberalism" is anyone’s guess.  I don’t really know what this ideology means, but if there’s lots of it on the horizon, Doomers should pay attention. Doom friend OSO reports, approvingly, that his own country of Australia and New Zealand have both been steeped in the stuff for many years.  And they’re doing just fine, thank you very much! Is this what’s in store under Obama and Ignatieff governments?  You be the judge.   Neoliberalism Down Under by One Salient…
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Apparently GSE regulators have come to the conclusion that if loose lending got us into this mess, loose lending can get us out.  Here’s a couple of goodies this week. First, "We don’t need no stinking appraisals": Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance companies seized by the U.S. government, are considering forgoing new appraisals on refinanced loans to help struggling homeowners, their regulator said. “If they refinance someone, rather than doing a loan mod, do they need a new appraisal if they already have the credit?” Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart told reporters after a speech in…
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  "Because they’re levered, the amount of global assets that would be affected if all this went down would be eight or 10 times the nominal value of the notes, so you’re starting to get into the $200-billion, quarter-trillion-dollars’ worth" David Dodge, Governor of the Bank of Canada, December 11, 2007 [1] Thanks go to Doomer Yossarian, who just dropped this delightful find out of his B-25 (see comment #2 below): "Its unique shape was designed to conserve energy by allowing less light into the building." Big hat tip to the good folks at the Financial Post part of Canada’s…
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If the government works any more to "help" the housing market, they might just bring it to a complete halt.  Talk of possible lower interest rates has apparently moved even more potential buyers to the sidelines: Seems the hope of low, low interest rates has caused some potential home buyers to hold off on their purchases recently. From Kenneth R. Harney’s Nation’s Housing column at latimes.com: Could a 4.5% mortgage be your personal piece of the bailout pie? Apparently many consumers thought precisely that the week after hearing that the Treasury Department was working on plans to slash loan rates…
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