Free Republic

Recently, Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored enterprise, sought approval from its oversight agency, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), to purchase and guarantee second mortgages in the United States.While the business case for this proposal is deficient (for an excellent perspective on that, see the article by R. Christopher Whalen), I will discuss the economic and political premises behind this move and its possible consequences.What Does It Mean to “Nationalize Second Mortgages”?Understanding the single-family mortgage market in the US means realizing that there is no market in the real sense of that term. A whopping 70 percent of home mortgages in...

Thousands of homeowners face the risk of losing their homes due to “zombie mortgages” bought by companies — with some forcing foreclosures without their knowledge, according to a shocking report.. Many of the stunned homeowners took out second mortgages during the subprime lending housing bubble between 2004 and 2008 that they believed were written off — only to learn the mortgages have come back to haunt them. An investigation by NPR found at least 10,000 old second mortgages that foreclosure activity had been initiated on in just the last two years. [snip] But their was a “zombie” mortgage on her...

Homebuyers are feeling whiplashed by surging mortgage rates, and the outlook just turned grim. The average rate on the 30-year mortgage increased to 7.37% on Thursday, a steep climb from 7.11% at the beginning of the week, according to Mortgage News Daily. The quarter-point increase comes as rattled investors respond to a hotter-than-expected inflation reading. At the same time, a separate measure tracking weekly average rates rose to 6.88%, up from 6.82% the week prior, Freddie Mac found. Elevated rates have left would-be buyers in a pinch, causing both repeat and first-time buyers to step away from any purchase plans....

Why Biden thinks the Chinese Communists are “not bad folks” and “not competition for us.” “Biden Gets China,” headlined the January 2, 2012 report in The Atlantic. As author Steve Clemons explained, “Vice President Joe Biden will take the lead on the administrations next phase China policy.” This marked a shift to a “strategy of engagement with Biden at the top,” that allows the US to deal with China’s likely next president from a Vice President to a Vice President/Next President status -- and to continue both the Departments of State’s and Treasury’s ongoing engagement with other designated key Chinese...

Twenty percent ($929 billion) of the $4.7 trillion of outstanding commercial mortgages held by lenders and investors will mature in 2024, a 28 percent increase from the $729 billion that matured in 2023 ... “The lack of transactions and other activity last year, coupled with built-in extension options and lender and servicer flexibility, has meant that many loans that were set to mature in 2023 have been extended or otherwise modified and will now mature in 2024, 2026, 2028 or in other coming years,” said Jamie Woodwell, Head of Commercial Real Estate Research at MBA. “These extensions and modifications have...

Tth elevated interest rates and persistently high home prices, American homebuyers have felt firsthand the squeeze on their budgets. According to real estate mogul Grant Cardone, the necessity for substantially longer mortgage terms is on the horizon. “The savior of America will not be lower prices, it will be longer mortgages,” he said in a recent TikTok video. “In your lifetime, you will see mortgages go from 30 to 40, 50 and maybe even 60 years. You could, if you live long enough, see a 100-year mortgage in America.”

Hundreds of loans on office buildings are about to come due at a very bad time.. Loans were taken out in time of low interest rates and are now hard to refinance.. Too many of the loans defaulting could trigger banking crisis and hurt economy ... About $117 billion worth is expected to be due this year and needs to be repaid or refinanced, ... A big chunk of it is at risk of defaulting and costing banks and developers huge sums, sending some into insolvency. Owners of office space around the country took out their loans when interest rates...

Attorney John Thaler joined Brannon Howse with former Arizona State Representative Mark Finchem Friday night on Lindell TV to explain the alleged phony mortgage and real estate transaction scam used by the Sinaloa Cartel to bribe elected officials and control the state of Arizona. The Sinaloa Cartels and the treasonous Americans who work with them are destroying our country by flooding Arizona with dangerous drugs and crime. The Gateway Pundit reported that Tempe Police seized over 30 million lethal doses of fentanyl. In 2022, the DEA nationwide seized over 50.6 million deadly fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills and over 10,000 pounds...

Mortgage rates jumped again this week — remaining at a 23-year high and increasing the likelihood that rates could soon hit 8%. The rate on the average 30-year fixed mortgage increased to 7.49% from 7.31% the previous week, according to Freddie Mac, following the yield of the 10-year Treasury, which spiked to a 16-year high this week. Rates are at their highest point since December 2000 for a second week in a row, with few signs of softening. Steeper rates continue to smother homebuyer demand, forcing the price-conscious to the sidelines. Meanwhile, those still on the hunt leaned on lower-rate...

Home mortgage rates have surged past 7%, hitting the highest level in more than 20 years and dealing another blow to Americans trying to break into the housing market. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.09% this week, up from 6.96% last week and the highest since 2002, according to data released Thursday from mortgage giant Freddie Mac. One month ago rates were at 6.78% and for much of the year held in the low-to-mid-6% range. But borrowing costs have been on the rise lately. Inflation is a major driver of mortgage rates and amid continued...

Now that inflation is waning, there is hope that mortgage rates will fall to 5% in 2024. These lower rates would make borrowing to buy a home less expensive, but they could make the housing market much harsher for first-time homebuyers. That’s because a drop in mortgage rates would cause an increase in demand, and more demand without more supply is a recipe for competition. Like in 2021, we could see a spike in bidding wars, with the typical home selling above its asking price in record time. First-time buyers should prepare for a challenging road ahead as inflation dies...

BREAKING: Katie Hobbs and Runbeck election services have been named as recipients of Sinaloa cartel bribes via deeds of trust and phony mortgages in AZ senate investigation. When are the criminals running this country going to be held accountable? A California-based law firm has accused Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Runbeck Election Services, and a slew of other election officials, mayors, judges, city councilman, and county supervisors in the state of receiving bribes from the Sinaloa cartel. During a Thursday hearing before the Senate Elections and Municipal Oversight & Elections Joint Committee, the principal investigator for...

Home sales plunged 21 percent in the United States during the month of April, as new prospective homeowners appear to be scared of being 'locked in' to higher mortgage rates. The number of new listings continued what appears to be a trend, as listings are down 31 percent from 2019. The 2019 figure was used as a benchmark as it happened before the pandemic. In April 2021, home listings were up 41.5 percent over 2019. Mortgage rates have gone over 6 percent since September of 2022, causing the once-booming housing market to finally settle.

One of the steps recommended for financial success is to achieve a good credit rating. Showing that you can borrow money and pay it back opens doors for more opportunities. Organizations that have money to lend like this behavior and become more willing to advance the sums needed to finance a home or business. The Biden Administration does not. This week, President Biden signed a decree that will add a $40 per month charge to loans made to credit-worthy borrowers. The funds obtained will be used to subsidize loans to unworthy borrowers. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the cross-subsidy scheme...

Tucker calls out Biden's new equity agenda in home ownership For centuries, politicians in this country assumed that in order to win an election, you had to convince voters to vote for you. You had to make their case. That was called democracy. But the defining strategic insight of the modern Democratic Party is they don't really need to convince anyone of anything. What matters is demographics. To import enough people from elsewhere, people who are financially dependent on you in order to live. That's the story of the state of California. That's why California changed. It's why Texas is...

Homebuyers with good credit scores will soon encounter a costly surprise: a new federal rule forcing them to pay higher mortgage rates and fees to subsidize people with riskier credit ratings who are also in the market to buy houses. Lenders and real estate agents say the changes will frustrate homebuyers with high credit scores and homeowners seeking to refinance because the rule punishes them for their relatively strong financial positions. “The changes do not make sense. Penalizing borrowers with larger down payments and credit scores will not go over well,” Ian Wright, a senior loan officer at Bay Equity...

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced Wednesday that it’s increasing the maximum term for a mortgage modification to 40 years or 480 months. The previous term limit was 30 years or 360 months. The federal agency suggested the move would protect borrowers against default if they had lower monthly payments. The new regulation aims to help homeowners retain their homes after defaulting by allowing mortgagees to further reduce the borrower's monthly payment, since the outstanding balance would be spread over a longer time frame. The change will align FHA with modifications available to borrowers with mortgages backed by the Federal...

About 270,000 homebuyers who bought during the red-hot housing market this year already owe more than their house is worth... Among the 450,000 underwater borrowers in the third quarter, nearly 60% had mortgages originated in the first nine months of 2022... That's about 1 in 12 homes purchased in 2022 with a mortgage, or 8%. Nearly 40% of homes bought this year have less than 10% of equity left to tap. The figures reflect yet another fallout from rapidly rising mortgage rates this year, which have put pressure on housing values as home price growth cools at a record pace...

The good news for Americans? The global slowdown is helping to lower US Treasury yields which, in turn, helps to help to lower US mortgages rates. Kind of a perverse “good news” story when you think about it. The bigger picture is the slowdown caused by 1) a global economic slowdown and 2) the tightening of Fed monetary policy to fight inflation. Look at the Case-Shiller national home price growth YoY (blue line) against M2 Money growth YoY (green line). Just move the green line to the right and it covers home price growth. Both are slowing down with anticipated...

The US mortgage market is like Mussgorsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Where are the paintings are bad. US mortgage rates fell for a fourth week in a row, the longest such stretch of declines since May 2019. The contract rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage eased 8 basis points to 6.41% in the week ended Dec. 2, still the lowest since mid-September, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday. Rates have retreated for the past month as the Federal Reserve has signaled it will soon slow down the pace of interest-rate hikes, likely at next week’s policy meeting. Even...