Free Republic

Bank Chief Seeks to Rein In Risky DealsAs the real estate market slows, some mortgage lenders are trying to prop up profits by relaxing lending standards for certain types of loans, endangering borrowers and financial institutions, a top banking regulator said yesterday. Speaking to the New York Bankers Association, John M. Reich, director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, warned that some lenders are making it too easy for unsophisticated borrowers to take on risky nontraditional mortgages that they may not fully understand. * * * But a regulatory crackdown on the loans, known as interest-only and option mortgages, could...

The area's home prices have a 60-percent chance of dropping, one of many factors making San Diego the riskiest real estate market in the nation, according to a quarterly report put out by a California mortgage insurer.The report, put out by the Bay Area insurance company PMI Group, is well-respected by experts, who said it usually gives an accurate picture of the state of the nation's 50 largest home-buying markets. However, they stressed that the report is merely the latest in a long line of analyses that point to something the industry already knows: The nation's housing market is cooling,...

Half Say Burst Has Begun or Will Shortly, According to Phoenix Lending Survey Results; 93 Percent of Lenders Predict Housing Prices Will Drop 10 - 20 PercentNortheast and West Coast Likely to Be Hardest Hit, Say Lenders Two-thirds of lenders nationwide believe a real estate bubble currently exists in the United States - and half of them believe it has already begun to burst or will burst in the next six months, according to the results of this quarter's Phoenix Management "Lending Climate in America" Survey. A significant 93 percent of lenders surveyed expect an anticipated housing correction to result...