There are four housing indexes that the country looks to for information on the state of the market. According to a report from Standard & Poors (S&P), none of them, either individually or in the aggregate, provide a full picture of what, is going on, a possible concern because of the reliance of both government and industry on these reports to form and react to policy decisions. S&P says that the four reports, The Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) Purchase-only Index, First American CoreLogic's LoanPerformance Index, the National Association of Realtors®(NAR) Median Home Price Index, and the S&P/Case-Shiller Index; each collect data at least somewhat differently, and the data lags the reporting month by an average of 60 days. " Consequently," the report…(read more)
In a joint statement last week, Veterans Administration (VA) Secretary Eric K. Shinseki and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the expansion of the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH). The program will use local public housing agencies to channel $58.6 million to rental assistance specifically targeted to homeless veterans. This is the first phase of a program first implemented in 2008 that will ultimately invest $75 million to support the needs of homeless veterans. The current round of funding is designed to provide housing and other assistance to over 7,700 veterans and their families. HUD expects to announce a second set of grants that will provide another 1,355 rental vouchers and 400 project-based vouchers by the end of the summer…(read more)
The House of Representatives has just approved by a 406-4 vote the Federal Housing Administration Reform Act , a law designed to shore up the finances of the agency which now guarantees nearly one-third of the nation's mortgages. The new law gives FHA the authority it had requested to raise the ceiling on the annual premiums it charges borrowers for its guarantee, raises the limits on multifamily housing in certain high cost communities and in elevator buildings, and authorizes some previously announced provisions to increase enforcement of FHA lenders. Earlier this year FHA announced it intended to raise its premiums in a two-step process that was part of a larger program to put itself back on a firm financial footing. The first step, raising the up-front premiums due from the borrower…(read more)
The Federal Reserve has released the Beige Book The Beige Book is a compilation of anecdotal information and data on current economic conditions across the country. The findings are NOT THE VIEWS OF FEDERAL RESERVE OFFICIALS …instead, each Federal Reserve bank interviews key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources in their specific district. This report is published eight times a year. They call it the Beige Book because its Beige . This edition was prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and is based on information collected on or before May 28, 2010. Below is a summary of the findings and a few excerpts on bank lending and housing… Summary Economic activity continued to improve since the last report across all twelve Federal Reserve Districts, although…(read more)
Data released by Fitch Ratings on Monday show the same trend as other recent delinquency surveys: the worst appears to be over for subprime and Alt-A loans while delinquencies in the jumbo prime mortgage sector are continuing to increase. According to Fitch's Performance Metrics for May , delinquencies in Alt-A Residential Mortgage Backed Securities (RMBS) declined for the second straight month and subprime delinquencies fell for the third month in a row. Prime RMBS backed delinquencies, however increased slightly. Offsetting the good news, however, was a continued increase in roll rates, the number of loans moving from one delinquency bucket to a later bucket rather than curing and returning to "current" status. According to Fitch Ratings Managing Director Vincent Barberio, "A…(read more)
Federal Housing Administration Commissioner David H. Stevens has clarified and updated some of the changes made recently by FHA regarding condominium approvals, new net worth requirements for FHA-approved lenders, broker participation in FHA programs and electronic signatures. Stevens said that questions continue about temporary changes to the condo approval process which took effect in December 2009. He restated the changes which: Allowed the exclusion of tenant occupied and REO properties from the 50 percent owner-occupied calculation. Reduced the pre-sale requirement to 30 percent of total units to 30 percent. Increased the FHA concentration from 30 percent to 50 percent. FHA will display concentration information on the approved condo listing found on the FHA Connection and Condominium…(read more)
Federal Housing Administration Commissioner David H. Stevens has clarified and updated some of the changes made recently by FHA regarding condominium approvals, new net worth requirements for FHA-approved lenders, broker participation in FHA programs and electronic signatures. Stevens said that questions continue about temporary changes to the condo approval process which took effect in December 2009. He restated the changes which: Allowed the exclusion of tenant occupied and REO properties from the 50 percent owner-occupied calculation. Reduced the pre-sale requirement to 30 percent of total units to 30 percent. Increased the FHA concentration from 30 percent to 50 percent. FHA will display concentration information on the approved condo listing found on the FHA Connection and Condominium…(read more)
Stock futures ticked higher overnight and look to extend the broad rally which pushed the S&P 2.58% higher yesterday. Ninety minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 29 points to 10,261 and S&P 500 futures are up 3.75 points to 1,100.75. The 2-year Treasury note yield is 2.8 basis points higher at 0.845% while the benchmark 10-year Treasury noteyield is up 4.6 basis points at 3.395%. NYMEX crude oil futures are up 0.40 to $73.26 per barrel, but Gold futures are down 4.40 to $1,216.20. Global markets are also sharply higher, including a 3.24% gain in Japan’s Nikkei 225 and a 2.21% climb in France’s CAC 40. Most other markets are up more between 1% and 2%. China’s Shanghai index is the outlier, trading lower by 0.73%. The broad inclines occurred despite the…(read more)
A new report says that any signs of stabilization in the nation's home loan delinquency and foreclosure rates are still being neutralized by the sheer volume of loans in distress. The report, released by Lender Processing Services based on data current at the end of April, reported there are more than 7.3 million loans in distress nationwide, a number which includes real estate owned (REO). Compared to one year ago, overall delinquency and foreclosure figures were up markedly. In April 2009 the number of distressed loans totaled 6.36 million. The increase did however occur principally in the later stages of delinquency. Loans 30+ in arrears declined from 1.63 million to 1.48 million while those in the 60+ bucket were down from 0.72 million to 0.63 million. In the 90+ day category, loans…(read more)
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