Effort to Increase Mortgage Lending Launched

By Mike Colpitts A new product designed to increase mortgage lending and aid bankers in their risk taking decisions is being launched by real estate research firm CoreLogic in conjunction with FICO. The credit scoring product evaluates traditional credit data from consumer credit files and adds a new series of dimensions to more accurately reflect… Continue reading Effort to Increase Mortgage Lending Launched

Home Buyer Traffic Tumbles

By Mike Colpitts Home buyer foot traffic in new housing developments tumbled in May, indicating future home sales are expected to weaken, according to the latest Campbell-Inside Mortgage Finance survey. The closely watched index fell from 51.6 in April to 44.8 in May demonstrating major weakness in new home sales are expected in coming months,… Continue reading Home Buyer Traffic Tumbles

Banks Play Catch Up On Foreclosures

By Mike Colpitts Banks are playing catch up formally repossessing homes in judicial foreclosure states as they unwind a back-log of foreclosures from the robo-signing scandal. The foreclosure inventory remains at near all-time highs with 4.12% of all  U.S.  homes with mortgages in the foreclosure pipeline, according to Lender Processing Services. However, new problem loan… Continue reading Banks Play Catch Up On Foreclosures

Mortgage Borrowing Rates Drop to Unprecedented Record Low

By Mike Colpitts Lower Treasury bond yields and uncertainty over the world economy drove mortgage rates to another record all-time low this week as the 30-year fixed rate mortgage hit an average of 3.62%. The historic drop in rates was also experienced in the shorter term 15-year fixed loan. The drop in rates is unprecedented… Continue reading Mortgage Borrowing Rates Drop to Unprecedented Record Low

Victim or Not Homeowners Pay for Crisis

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

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