Housing Bubble Bursting?

[sunnycal]

How many foreclosures will be a result of the total lack of support families of the National Guard are getting from the government that sent them to the war in Iraq? People are losing their homes, businesses and their families are falling apart with no support from Washington.

 

[Greg Bell]

Servicemen act does not allow a lender to foreclose while owner is in combat

 

[sunnycal]

Servicemen act does not allow a lender to foreclose while owner is in combat

I would like to see proof of that and that it covers the National Guard. I've seen all kinds of news stories about the tragedies these people are facing, many are losing their businesses as a result of being away so long. What happens when they aren't making the payments for a while?

 

[Greg Bell]

If you are on active duty during war the lender needs to be notified and foreclosure procedures will stop.National Guard on active duty is the same as if you enlisted.No such luck for businesses.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Where's that soft landing?

MarketWatch First Take: Commentary: Housing recovery getting further away

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- People weren't buying many houses even when they could get a mortgage. And now that it's become impossible for some buyers to get a loan, it's likely sales will fall further.

Housing now has three strikes against it:

1. The supply of homes is much, much too high.
2. Prices are too high.
3. Getting a mortgage isn't easy.

The bubble in home prices was fed primarily by lax underwriting standards for mortgages. Under the new regime, buyers will be approved for loans that they can repay, which means middle-class incomes will no longer support $700,000 mortgages. If you want to sell your house for that, you'll have to find a rich person willing to live in your three-bedroom ranch. Dozens of lenders have shuttered their doors and stopped lending to subprime or Alt-A buyers. Adjustable-rate mortgages are more expensive than fixed rates. Many borrowers are turning to government programs.

In the meantime, prepare for more horrible news. On Thursday, for instance, the mortgage bankers will report on the number of mortgage defaults and foreclosures...

 

[Randolph Kinney]

New U.S. home foreclosures set record, mortgage bankers report

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The number of mortgage loans entering the foreclosure process in the second quarter set another record, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

According to the group's quarterly delinquency survey, a seasonally adjusted 0.65% of loans on one- to four-unit residential properties entered the foreclosure process during the period, the highest level in the survey's 55-year history. In the first quarter, when the previous record was set, 0.58% of loans entered the process; a year ago, 0.43% entered the process.

The delinquency survey covers more than 44 million mortgages, meaning more than 286,000 loans entered the foreclosure process during the quarter.

California has 17% of the subprime ARMs in the country and more than 19% of the foreclosure starts on subprime ARMs. California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona have more than one-third of the country's subprime ARMs and more than one-third of the foreclosure starts on subprime ARMs.

According to the survey, 1.40% of all outstanding loans were somewhere in the foreclosure process during the second quarter, up from 1.28% in the first quarter and 0.99% a year ago.

 

[Pamela Crowley (Florida)]

7 sections to read.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0709/gallery.subprime_blame.fortune//index.html

Subprime: Let the finger-pointing begin!
The crisis brought on by worries about shaky subprime mortgages continues to rattle Wall Street. Even as the storm rages, the blame game has begun.

The borrowers
Mortgage brokers
Appraisers
Mortgage lenders
Wall Street
Rating agencies
The Federal Reserve

Appraisers

Let's not forget the brokers' handmaidens, the real estate appraisers, who too often buckled under pressure from lenders to overvalue houses.

Paul Demos, a Chicago-based appraiser, accepts some culpability for his trade. "Lenders would tell appraisers, 'This is the value we need for the loan to work,'" he says. "And appraisers would do it." That's kind of the opposite of how they're supposed to work. But, hey, whatever. It's a judgment call, right? Except nobody is exercising any judgment. In comparison with the other participants, though, the appraisers come across as bit players.

 

[Evab12]

Bust

Be glad you're not in KY. My business is the slowest it's been in 15 years.

 

[Greg Bell]

REO'S Keep me going.

 

[Jerry Dell]

Pam

Interesting article "Lion share of blame goes to the Greenspan Federal Reserve"