Housing Bubble Bursting?

[Randolph Kinney]

No crunch on credit-union mortgages, but qualifying is the trick

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- As many mortgage lenders tighten loan underwriting standards and interest rates on jumbo mortgages rise, consumers may be able to find a friend in their credit union.



One reason: Many (although not all) of the mortgage loans made by credit unions are held in their own portfolios and therefore don't need to be sold to investors, said Bill Hampel, chief economist for the Credit Union National Association and Affiliates.

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/08/20/news/02foreclosures082007.txt

On a hushed street in the middle of a neighborhood that didn't exist a few years ago, foreclosure is a constant neighbor.

Little Lake Street in Chula Vista is one of many spots countywide where next-door neighbors are simultaneously drowning in their mortgages.

But it's especially bad here: In the last few months, foreclosure has hit 1326 Little Lake Street. And the house across the street: 1327. And next door: 1330. And 1346, and 1401, and 1406, and 1413, and 1425, and 1448. And others.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2007/08/20/news/02foreclosures082007.txt

As foreclosures skyrocket throughout the county and recent mortgage sector trouble makes getting a loan infinitely more difficult, the county's housing market is making a turn for the worse. Many homeowners can't sell or refinance for as much as they owe on their houses.

Lloyd,

I know the location. I also know that there are other neighborhoods like that one as the article states.

I wonder when this will reach its peak?

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

Lloyd,

I know the location. I also know that there are other neighborhoods like that one as the article states.

I wonder when this will reach its peak?

I don't know when it will bottom out, but in some areas, like parts of Eastlake / Otay Ranch, and also up north in some areas like Canyon Hills in Lake Elsinore, and some areas around Perris and Murrieta, there are so many REOs, and so many listings, that it's going to be a long haul.

The more REOs there are, the lower prices will go. And the lower prices go, the more REOs there will be. Kind of a vicious circle...

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Those dollars are now coming home

[FONT=times new roman,times, sans serif][SIZE=-1]A Fear of Foreign Investments

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But at a time of global financial instability, the administration has started to worry that foreign governments are increasingly converting their dollar holdings into investment funds to acquire companies, real estate, banks and other assets in the United States and elsewhere. The fear is that these so-called sovereign wealth funds could destabilize markets or provoke a political backlash.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

How bad are the job losses?

Housing woes prompt hefty share of financial job cuts: Challenger

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Problems in the nation's housing markets have prompted many of the 20,957 job cuts announced by financial institutions since the beginning of the month, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.



Moreover, 11,040, or 53%, of those cuts have come since last Friday, the global outplacement consultancy reported on Tuesday.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Accredited Home Halts U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications, Fires 1,600 Workers

Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., reeling from the collapse of its planned sale to Lone Star Funds, will shut more than half of its mortgage operations and fire about 1,600 people.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

HSBC Will Eliminate 600 Jobs in U.S. as It Scales Back Subprime Lending

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Accredited, HSBC Close Offices, Fire Employees as Subprime Crisis Spreads

Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. stopped making home loans, HSBC Holdings Plc closed a U.S. mortgage office and H&R Block Inc. tapped bank lines as a credit crunch started by subprime mortgages shrank demand for loans and left companies unable to fund themselves in the debt markets.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Who's next? Lenders that are in trouble

Twenty-two lenders that are still in trouble

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- At least 22 of the country's largest mortgage lenders that haven't gone bankrupt are still engaged in risky underwriting practices, according to a new study by SMR Research Corp.

Some 15% of all mortgage debt still outstanding has subprime characteristics, according to SMR's estimate. That would amount to about $1.5 trillion in the U.S.

One lender that produced especially risky scores in the study included IndyMac Bancorp.