Home Loan Modification Plans Huge Failures

2010 February 26

Government loan modifications

Government loan modifications

Home Loan Modification Plans -  Fewer than 5 percent of all trial loan modifications on Freddie Mac loans stuck, that is, were converted to permanent modifications, according to a recent article on CNNMoney.com.

Under the Obama administration plan, qualifying homeowners would have their loans modified to payments that are no more than 31 percent of pretax income. During the trial period, homeowners must supply documentation to verify income and expenses. This appears to be the hitch. Some banks have begun sending servicers door to door to obtain the documentation, or have begun offering $25 gift cards to provide the paperwork.

Dallas Texas real estate lawyers

San Diego Real Estate Prices

2010 February 25

San Diego real estate median sales prices  for January 2010 vs January 2009.

The San Diego home price data was derived from data published by the San Diego San Diego Association of Realtors and the graphs were  produced by Website Traffic Builders

San Diego condominium sales prices

San Diego condominium sales prices

San Diego home sale prices

San Diego home sale prices

Austin Texas real estate lawyers

Large Wave of Home Foreclosures Still to Come

2010 February 25

home foreclosures

home foreclosures

Yesterday, Freddie Mac chief executive, Charles Haldeman, warned of a “potential large wave of foreclosures” still to come.

Freddie Mac lost almost $26 billion last year. Freddie Mac, which has lost a total of almost $80 billion since the housing crisis started in 2007, is bracing for more pain. The company said a record 4 percent of its borrowers are at least three months behind on their payments and facing foreclosure.

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New Home Sales in West Drop 11.9%

2010 February 24

New Home Sale

New Home Sale

The Commerce Department reported today that new home sales dropped 11.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 309,000 units, the lowest level on records going back nearly a half century.

Here in the West we saw sales fall 11.9% from December but they were up 13.8% from  a year ago.

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Home Loan Write Downs

2010 February 24

Wells Fargo inherited a $119.7 billion portfolio of option ARMs when it purchased Wachovia. The bank now is writing down an average of $46,000 per loan, and as much as $100,000 in some cases, and transferring these loans to interest-only loans, deferring balances to six to 10 years. According to the Wall Street journal, the nation’s fourth largest bank is betting that an increase in consumer income will cover the banks option arm portfolio.

Fresno California real estate lawyers

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices in San Diego Increase

2010 February 23

San Diego California home prices

San Diego California home prices

In a report released this morning, home prices continued to show an annual rate of decline in the month of December, according to a report released by Standard and Poor’s , although the pace of the drop in home prices continued to slow. But, prices rose in four of 20 cities in December: Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego and Las Vegas. In San Diego home prices were up 2.7%. read more…