August 2011

What the Debt Downgrade Means for Your Mortgage

New York (Source: CNNMoney By Allan Chernoff) — At least one fear was not realized amid Monday’s meltdown: the concern that mortgage rates would immediately shoot higher in response to Standard & Poor’s downgrade of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, [...]


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Mortgage Rates Fall, Defying Predictions

(Source: By LESLIE BERKMAN The Press-Enterprise) – Those economic experts who predicted that Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. debt would cause mortgage interest rates to rise were proven wrong Monday when instead mortgage rates fell.


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Top 10 Residential Real Estate Cities Named

(Source: IB Times) – There are ten world cities in a class of their own when it comes to residential real estate according to international property advisors Savills in its World Class Index of premier global residential property locations published [...]


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Distressed Homes Account for 52% of Sales

(Source: By JEFF COLLINS / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER) – One out of every two Orange County homes sold in July was either a bank-owned property or a home selling for less than was owed lenders (called a short sale), [...]


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Price Your Home to Sell

(Source: Fox Business By Michele Lerner) – Setting a proper asking price for a house is a challenge for home sellers and real estate agents, especially where values are in decline. Experienced agents recommend asking prices that are backed with [...]


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Credit Downgrade Worries Real Estate Professionals

FRESNO, Calif. (Source: ABC Action News) — A dramatic drop for the dow on wall street in the wake of the S&P’s credit downgrade. But it’s not just stocks you should be worried about. Real Estate buyers and sellers are [...]


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This Malibu Mansion Could Become The Most Expensive U.S. Home Ever Sold At Auction

(Source: Business Insider Julie Zeveloff and Leah Goldman) – This stunning Malibu may turn out to be the deal of the century.


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Time to Sell Out of Mortgage REITs

(Source: Seeking Alpha) – S&P’s downgrade of Treasury Bonds will have widespread impact on the bond market. How will this affect the high yield mortgage REITs that rely on interest spreads? REITs such as Cypress Sharpridge (CYS), Annaly Capital Management [...]


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Bank of America’s Stock Value Falls 20%

(Source: By Alana Semuels, Los Angeles Times) – Bank of America Corp. lost a fifth of its stock value in a general market rout amid heightened concerns about its ability to get ahead of the bad mortgages it holds, as [...]


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U.S. Banks Get More Cash Than They Want

(Source: USA Today By Bloomberg News) – The European debt crisis is poised to flood U.S. banks with something they don’t want and can’t use: more money.


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Largest Global Banks Eliminate Jobs at Fastest Rate Since ’08

NEW YORK (Source: Bloomberg By Lindsey Rupp) – The biggest global banks are cutting jobs at the fastest rate since 2008 as a weak US economy squeezes revenue, regulators push firms to hold more capital, and companies restructure businesses to [...]


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Coordinated Action Needed to Prop Up Banks

(Source: CNBC By Patrick Allen) – Following the loss of 635 points off the Dow in a single session and widespread investor fear over the debt crisis in the US and Europe, US policymakers need to announce support for the [...]


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5 Banks Set Up Credit Bureau to Keep Track of Good, Bad Borrowers

MANILA, Philippines (Source: By: Doris C. Dumlao Philippine Daily Inquirer) — The country’s five largest credit card players have set up the Philippines’ first international private credit bureau, aiming to ease credit flow by reducing risk for lenders and lowering [...]


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European Bank Stress Measurements Hit Levels Unseen Since Lehman Collapse

(Source: Bloomberg By Gavin Finch and Elisa Martinuzzi) – Measures that gauge the level of European banks’ reluctance to lend to one another are approaching levels unseen since the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ)’s collapse.


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36th Free Wells Fargo Home Preservation Workshop in Chicago Aug. 17-18, 2011

CHICAGO, Aug 08, 2011 (Source: Market Watch) — Wells Fargo & Company WFC -2.37% announced today it is hosting its 36th free Home Preservation Workshop in Chicago on August 17 -18, 2011 for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Wells Fargo Financial, [...]


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West Palm Beach Firm Rolls Out a New Loan Modification for Underwater Borrowers

WEST PALM BEACH (Source: By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post) — Lenders have long resisted cutting loan amounts for struggling homeowners, fearing it would entice more borrowers to default.


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Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae Sued to Block Illegal Reverse Mortgage Foreclosures

(Source: MoneyWatch By Ilyce Glink) – Imagine losing an elderly parent only to find, while still grieving, the family home your parents purchased is going to be foreclosed on by their lender. According to a release issued late last week [...]


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Limits on Mortgage-Interest Deduction Worth Considering

(Source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service) – The following editorial appeared in the Seattle Times on Friday, Aug. 5:


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BlackRock Looks to Buy More U.S. Mortgage Agency Debt

(Source: Reuters By Kevin Plumberg) – BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, is looking for opportunities to buy U.S. mortgage agency debt in the wake of Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. sovereign rating, said Rick Rieder, the firm’s [...]


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Mortgage Paperwork Mess: Next Housing Shock?

(Source: CBS News) – Home prices have been falling for months, sending us into a second housing shock. Home values are almost down to what they were back in 2002. A key factor bringing down prices – and holding back [...]


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Negative Equity Affects 827,000 Households, Lenders Say

(Source: BBC) – The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said the figures, for the first quarter of 2011, suggest the problem is not as great as in the early 1990s.


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AIG Sues BofA for $10 Billion Alleging “Massive Fraud”

(Source: Reuters By Jonathan Stempel) – The insurer AIG is suing Bank of America Corp to recover more than $10 billion of losses from a “massive fraud” on mortgage debt, deepening the morass of litigation faced by the largest U.S. [...]


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Short Sales Become Bank Foreclosure Shortcut

NEW YORK (Source: TheStreet By Shanthi Bharatwaj) — Banks dealing with lengthy, complicated and frequently messy foreclosures are starting to see “short sales” as a quicker and cheaper way of getting bad loans off their books.


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Short Sale Transaction Can Be Lifeboat For Homeowners Underwater

(Source: Coloradoan by Pat Ferrier) – Short sales are among the most arduous real estate transactions, often taking many months to close – if they get done at all.


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China’s Real Estate Bubble? Three Reasons It’s Not.

(Source: The Christian Science Monitor) – The term ―real estate bubble – describes a phenomenon where property quickly increases in value compared with other economic indicators, such as income and demand. In China, however, average salaries have, for the most [...]


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Murder Trial to Stay in Giles County for Real Estate Agent’s Murder

COLUMBIA, Tenn. (Source: The Associated Press) — A murder trial will go forward as planned in Giles County after the defendant unsuccessfully argued for a change of venue due to pretrial publicity.


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Offshore Investors Snapping Up Fla. Real Estate

MIAMI (Source: Miami Herald) – Offshore investors are flocking to Florida’s distressed real estate prices as major companies with ties to Hong Kong, Spain, Argentina and Malaysia are snapping up properties sensing the local market has bottomed.


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Students May Never Repay Loans

(Source: MorpethHerald) – Many graduates are unlikely to ever pay back their tuition fee loans, regardless of the cost of their course, it has been suggested.


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Choose Student Loans on Your Own Terms

(Source: By Gail MarksJarvis Chicago Tribune) – Students preparing to go to college this fall might be preoccupied with choosing a computer or shopping for sheets that fit a dormitory bed.


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If America’s Good Days Are Over, So Are China’s

(Source: Forbes) – “Be careful with what you wish f0r,” goes an old saying. “Because when it comes true, it may not be good for you.”


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