There has been a distinct upward trend in the National Association of Realtor’s Pending Home Sales Index: Pending home sales are on an upward trend, which has been uneven but meaningful since reaching a cyclical low last April, and are well above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 2.0 percent to 97.0 in January from a downwardly revised 95.1 in December and is 8.0 percent higher than January 2011 when it was 89.8. The data reflects contracts but not closings. The January index is…
Read more…

Earlier this month, an agreement was reached between the states attorneys general and the nation’s major lenders on a $25 billion dollar settlement that is supposed to compensate homeowners hurt by inappropriate lending practices.  We all know however, that $25 billion won’t solve the problem.  As one real estate agent so aptly put it: “The latest mortgage settlement will have little to no impact on the current real estate market. It is limited to non-government backed loans, which accounts for less than 40 percent of the existing loans. If homeowners can’t afford their homes today the majority won’t be able…
Read more…

Back in 2008 Warren Buffett predicted a quick turnaround in housing.  Here at Doom we were skeptical about his prediction. Turns out that time around our crystal ball was better, and Buffett admits his predictions were off: OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that he was “dead wrong” with a prediction that the U.S. housing market would begin to recover by now, but he remains optimistic about the nation’s economy. In his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Buffett said he is sure housing will recover eventually and help bring down the nation’s unemployment rate. But he…
Read more…

If you are frustrated because taxpayer money is bailing out the GSEs due to mortgages losses, how do you feel about taxpayer money defending former Fannie/Freddie execs? [Thanks L!] A watchdog agency said Wednesday that the legal tab for former leaders of mortgage finance giantsFannie Mae and Freddie Mac is at least $110 million. And taxpayers have paid at least $47 million of it, according to an Office of Inspector General of theFederal Housing Finance Agency report.  And the total bill could be even higher since the inspector general report focused on only one particular legal case against Fannie Mae, and isn’t an exhaustive…
Read more…

Earlier this month the Obama administration released their latest plan to speed the housing recovery by allowing underwater borrowers to refinance.  While this will undoubtedly help a few people, in the long run, it will do nothing more than make it look like the administration is doing “something”. After all the schemes we see coming out of Washington, I thought it interesting that the best housing economic theory I’ve seen in print recently comes from a cartoon that was published in the Deseret News in 1935: [Hat tip to Mr. Twist]   It’s too bad that the artist who drew…
Read more…

With a bad economy and sinking home values, there are folks desperate to pay the mortgage.  Desperate enough, in fact, to turn their home into a billboard:  In return for allowing the front of their four-bedroom house to become a garish advertisement, the Hostetlers are getting their nearly $2,000 monthly mortgage paid by the marketing company behind the project, Brainiacs From Mars. In a residential neighborhood without heavy traffic, cars passing by the house slowed and drivers gawked at the vivid colors and a giant Brainiacs From Mars billboard. Romeo Mendoza, the company’s founder and CEO, told Reuters that his ultimate…
Read more…

According to the New York Times, states have finally negotiated a settlement with large lenders over alleged foreclosure abuses: After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation’s biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed by the bursting of the housing bubble, state and federal officials said. It is part of a broad national settlement aimed at halting the housing market’s downward slide and holding the banks accountable for foreclosure abuses. So what does this settlement look like?  From the Wall…
Read more…

Here’s a great CNBC interview with Sam Zell on CNBC on what government “assistance” has done for the housing market. [Thanks L!] As sales languish and prices continue to fall, the head of Equity Group Investments and numerous other ventures pinned the blame on policies that refused to allow market forces to take hold. “Rather than let the elements of the business world take care of the problems, we basically stopped the process of creating market clearing,” Zell said in a CNBC interview. “Had we allowed the market to clear without trying to stop reality…we would have a healthy housing…
Read more…

Poor L gets all kinds of real estate related spam, but he graciously sorts through it and sends the more interesting stuff.  I did think that the following chart on “When Can I Buy A House”, sent out by an Arizona mortgage broker, might be interesting to some of our readers:   If you go to the webpage, there’s info on how long after Chapter 13 as well.  Of course, if you aren’t buying a house because you are still waiting for that job to come through (and don’t feel bad, you’ve got a lot of company.) it will be…
Read more…

I confess that I didn’t watch the State of the Union address last night. I don’t even like baloney in my sandwiches– I can’t take it in large quantities. I did however, read the summaries this morning, particularly the housing proposals. This is the one that stood out to me: Obama proposed that “every responsible homeowner” be able to refinance. The existing refinancing program (HARP) lets borrowers who are current on their mortgages refinance even if they’re way underwater — but only if their loans are guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Obama’s proposal would extend refinancing to borrowers…
Read more…

Worried about losing your home to foreclosure?  There are a number of companies out there that are willing to help you, or rather, help themselves to your money. [Thanks L!] If you want to try and modify your loan, pick up the phone and call your lender.  You might be an amateur, but at least the price is right, and you can be confident that you have your best interests at heart.

Bank in 2008, Bank of America purchased the ailing Countrywide Financial.  This acquisition has turned out to be poisoned pill for BofA, in spite of former CEO Ken Lewis’ optimistic comment at the time of the purchase: “Countrywide presents a rare opportunity for Bank of America to add what we believe is the best domestic mortgage platform at an attractive price and to affirm our position as the nation’s premier lender to consumers,” Lewis said in a statement. MSNBC said at the time: It also places Lewis in the position of a market savior. By buying Countrywide, he’s keeping the…
Read more…

In the wake of “Occupy Wall Street” we are seeing another movement– Reoccupy Foreclosures.  I wasn’t completely comfortable with this case though.  One woman says she was targeted by predatory lenders to take out loans against her childhood home.  She found herself in foreclosure.  It doesn’t appear that she was forced, just temped.  That raises the question, is “The devil made me do it,” a reasonable defense? (Thanks L!)

Will the real San Francisco real estate market please stand up? Looking at the past week’s headlines, you wouldn’t think that these were the same market. For example, we read in the San Francisco Chronicle that real estate investors have become a potent force in a moribund real estate market: OAKLAND, Calif. — Real-estate investors have become a potent force in a moribund housing market, accounting for more than one-fifth of transactions in the San Francisco Bay Area over the past 12 months, according to real-estate data. Despite record low interest rates, many consumers simply don’t have enough confidence in…
Read more…

Yesterday Edward DeMarco, acting director for the Federal Housing Finance Agency Issued a statement to the House of Representatives entitled HR- Private Mortgage Investment Act. In this discussion, DeMarco reviews some recent changes to HAMP (Home Affordable Refinance Program). Changes to the program include: eliminating or reducing certain risk-based fees; removing the current 125 percent LTV 5 ceiling; waiving certain representations and warranties; eliminating the need for certain property appraisals; carrying over mortgage insurance coverage; and extending the end date for HARP until December 31, 2013. These changes were made to the program because so few homeowners were able to…
Read more…