By Ryan Jackson For nearly the past six years Housing Predictor has been forecasting the worst foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression and keeping you up to date on the numbers. Ever since the housing crisis started and foreclosures became mainstream news the numbers have been fogged by the deluge of daily reports on the… Continue reading Victim or Not Homeowners Pay for Crisis
Category: Banks
Bear Stearns Finally Settles with Shareholders
By Mike Colpitts Failed Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns has settled its massive class action lawsuit with stock shareholders for pennies on the dollar four years after the bank failed in a major disgrace at the height of the financial crisis on Wall Street. The settlement has received preliminary approval in U.S. District Court,… Continue reading Bear Stearns Finally Settles with Shareholders
Mortgage Rates Jump After Hitting Record Lows
By Ryan Jackson For the first time in more than two months, mortgage rates jumped higher as lenders reversed course, setting the average rate for a fixed 30-year mortgage at 3.71%, according to Freddie Mac. The shift could signal a change in rates to come. The rate on the 15-year fixed also saw a jump… Continue reading Mortgage Rates Jump After Hitting Record Lows
Another Small Step for Housing as Mortgage Rates Fall
By Mike Colpitts The U.S. housing market is taking one small step forward at a time. Little by little it is improving. The Mortgage Bankers Association report added to the chorus of reports indicating the small steps forward with its mortgage applications survey today, which showed a small increase in applications for mortgages last week.… Continue reading Another Small Step for Housing as Mortgage Rates Fall
Mortgage Company CFO Sentenced to 5 Years
By Ryan Jackson The former chief financial officer of one of the nation’s largest mortgage companies, Taylor, Bean and Whitaker, was sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in a $2.9 billion fraud scheme that led to the failure of the company, and cost hundreds of investors millions of dollars. Delton de… Continue reading Mortgage Company CFO Sentenced to 5 Years
FDIC Bank Failures Decline
By Mike Colpitts Only 24 U.S. banks have failed so far and had to be closed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation this year, the largest decline since the financial crisis started in 2008. The FDIC attributed the lower number of bank takeovers to an improving economy and an unwinding of bad mortgage debt. “This… Continue reading FDIC Bank Failures Decline
Short Sales Overtaking Foreclosures
By Mike Colpitts Bank assisted short sales or homes that sell at less than what is owed on a mortgage are overtaking foreclosed homes lenders put on the market. The development doesn’t come as a surprise to those involved in the real estate industry. Rather, they expected the transition as part of the U.S. housing… Continue reading Short Sales Overtaking Foreclosures
Foreclosures Jump Resumes After Robo-Signing Slowdown
By Mike Colpitts Foreclosure starts rose for the first time in more than two years in May, signaling a resumption of formal bank repossessions of homes with mortgages in default after months of slower foreclosures. Initial filings were lodged against 205,990 U.S. residential properties, according to RealtyTrac. The increase accounted for a 9% hike in… Continue reading Foreclosures Jump Resumes After Robo-Signing Slowdown
Shadow Inventory Declines, But Still Looms
By Mike Colpitts The shadow inventory or the number of homes that lurk uncounted by banks and other mortgage lenders in the abyss of the troubled housing market is shrinking as banks offer more troubled homeowners, including landlords short sales for the first time since the U.S. housing crisis started. Estimates of the shadow inventory,… Continue reading Shadow Inventory Declines, But Still Looms
Record Lows Drive Mortgages to Sizzle
By Mike Colpitts Driven by record low mortgage rates, applications for new mortgages soared to their highest level since 2009 as consumers applied for refinancing and new home mortgages in growing droves, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinance applications jumped by a sizzling 19% from the previous week, and purchase applications also climbed 12.8%… Continue reading Record Lows Drive Mortgages to Sizzle