Countrywide Financial is the nation’s largest mortgage lender. As of Friday, Countrywide was telling brokers to stop offering the option of no-money down.
“Please get in any deals over 95 LTV (loan-to-value) today!” Countrywide said late on Friday in an urgent e-mail to brokers. “Countrywide BC will no longer be offering any 100 LTV products as [...]
Our new Fed Chief and our old Fed Chief were both making headlines today. I use the term “old” in reference to his status as the former Fed Chairman and not based on the fact that Mr. Greenspan turned 81 today - congratulations. Before his birthday party, the former central banker told Bloomberg news agency [...]
Mortgage Fraud is real and rampant in the United States according to the FBI. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that mortgage fraud has cost businesses nearly $48 billion and consumers about $5 billion in the past 5 years. There are some cases that involve appraisers, lenders, attorneys, and real estate agents. While other scams can [...]
With the recent slowdown in the housing market, several nationwide homebuilders having been feeling the hurt. Make no mistake about it, residential home construction is no easy business. In 2006, sales fell 17% and builders are still struggling with current inventory levels.
Some business leaders find it difficult to call it like it is. D.R. Horton’s [...]
Our new Fed Chief and our old Fed Chief were both making headlines today. I use the term “old” in reference to his status as the former Fed Chairman and not based on the fact that Mr. Greenspan turned 81 today - congratulations. Before his birthday party, the former central banker told Bloomberg news agency [...]
Existing homes sales in most states declined from year-ago levels in the 4th quarter of 2006. No newsflash there. Prices dipped slightly as more sellers were willing to negotiate on price. Again, everyone is clear on what has happened. What is less than clear is the outlook for 2007.
National Association of Realtors (NAR) Chief Economist [...]
When there is an absence of economic data, it is impressive if nothing else, how much attention is paid to speeches given by Federal Reserve officials. Once of the most important jobs of the Fed is to control inflation. Everyone on Wall Street knows this. Yet, when St Louis Fed President William Poole comes out [...]
I will re-read this post twice before I publish it so I make sure I do not sound like a market cheerleader. Instead of saying the mortgage market is “fantastic”, let’s look at why it is so “great” right now.
The Fed worries that a strong economy can lead to inflation, which is enemy #1 against [...]
Good news from the former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan today in his remarks made in Tokyo. He does not think economic slowdown in the U.S. is probable, which is a tamer version of his warning made earlier in the week.
“It is possible we can get a U.S. recession toward the end of the [...]
Each month, we get the monthly non-farm payroll report from the Labor Department. No other piece of news is more closely watched by the markets and the Federal Reserve than this employment data. The report for January showed that the unemployment rate climbed to a four-month high and wage growth was a little slower than [...]
