Real Estate Information

The Mulligan Team's Blog

The Mulligan Team

Blog

Displaying blog entries 71-79 of 79

Freddie Mac Suspends Foreclosure of Occupied Homes

Friday, November 21, 2008

by The Mulligan Team

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) today announced it has ordered its national network of mortgage servicers and foreclosure attorneys to suspend all foreclosure sales and evictions involving occupied single family and 2-4 unit properties with Freddie Mac-owned mortgages between November 26, 2008 and January 9, 2009. The suspension will help servicers implement the Streamlined Modification Program recently announced by Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), HOPE Now and 27 mortgage servicers. The temporary suspension is also expected to give servicers more time to help borrowers avoid foreclosure.

Specifically, Freddie Mac servicers and foreclosure attorneys were told to contact as quickly as possible an estimated 6,000 borrowers with foreclosure sales scheduled between November 26, 2008 and January 9, 2009. If the property is occupied, the servicers and foreclosure attorneys will halt the sale. This temporary suspension of foreclosure sales will not apply to vacant single family properties. Additionally, no evictions will be completed between November 26 and January 9.

“By working closely with FHFA and our servicers, Freddie Mac is on track to help three out of every five troubled borrowers with Freddie Mac-owned loans avoid foreclosure this year,” said Freddie Mac Chief Executive Officer David M. Moffett. “Today’s announcement builds on this momentum and provides a new measure of certainty to many of these families during the holidays.”

Moffett said that by delaying these foreclosure sales, the nation’s servicers will have the opportunity to work with more borrowers who could qualify for a modification under the new Streamlined Modification program scheduled to begin by December 15.

“Today’s announcement has the potential to enable more families struggling in these extraordinary times to take advantage of this vital new initiative developed with FHFA, the Treasury Department and the mortgage finance industry,” said Moffett.

Moffett also emphasized that lenders servicing Freddie Mac-owned mortgages will continue to work with borrowers to consider all workout options Freddie Mac employs to help distressed borrowers who can and want to stay in their homes, such as permanent rate reductions and mortgage term extension modifications.

This year, Freddie Mac expects to approve 84,000 workouts for the estimated 140,000 who are delinquent on Freddie Mac-owned mortgages. (For more about Freddie Mac workout options, seefreddiemac.com/avoiding_foreclosure.)

Freddie Mac's temporary suspension of foreclosure sales is the latest in a series of efforts to help troubled borrowers. Other recent initiatives have included, delegating expanded workout authority to servicers, doubling the amount of money servicers are paid for successful workouts, and paying non-profit organizations to reach out to worried borrowers.

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Over the years, Freddie Mac has made home possible for one in six homebuyers and more than five million renters.

Mortgage Rates Increase Slightly

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

by The Mulligan Team

Yesterday the bond market took a big hit with the increase of stocks traded on Wall Street. As a result we have seen a slight decrease in rates. So you are not left in the dark just wanted to give you a rate update as of 3:30 Tuesday afternoon. Conventional Rates are 6.25% Government Rates are 6.5% State Housing Rates are 6.5%

Median Home Price Across the Country

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

by The Mulligan Team

Zoom in to your metropolitan statistical area to get the latest quarterly median home price for your market, and its percentage change from the previous quarter.
View Larger Map

Weekly Mortgage Review

Thursday, September 11, 2008

by The Mulligan Team

Courtesy of Alan Greer
Bank of America
Mortgage Loan Officer
Ph (843) 285-3031

Last Week

The Labor Department reported Friday, August 5^th, payrolls shrank by 84,000 last month, more than the 75,000 –economists predicted, and higher than the 51,000 jobs lost in July. The nation’s unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent from 5.7 percent.

This Week

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Congress should view the next few months as a "time out" in the highly charged debate over what to do with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But lawmakers already are sketching plans for what the two troubled government-sponsored companies should look like in the future -- from taking them private, to nationalizing them or turning them into a public utility, to letting them continue to operate as private entities with government backing.

It's up to a new president and a new Congress to decide what happens next.

The Bush administration announced Sunday it was seizing the two huge mortgage companies, which together own or guarantee about $5 trillion in home loans, about half the nation's total, in a bid to help reverse a prolonged housing and credit crisis. They're being placed in a government conservatorship, a move that could end up costing taxpayers billions of dollars.

Paulson has acknowledges there's no way Congress can decide what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the end of the year, but he also said policy makers would make "a grave error if we don't use this time out to permanently address the structural issues" they pose.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are private companies that were chartered by Congress, serve a vital role of providing cash flow to mortgage markets by buying up loans from banks. Their pseudo-governmental status confers lucrative benefits, exempting them from some taxes, letting them hold less capital than required of banks, and -- most significantly -- allowing them to borrow at rates much cheaper than other companies because investors believe that the government will never let them falter.

The result of Sunday’s actions pushed mortgage rates down on Monday, September 8^th.

Coming Up

The Federal Reserve meets again on September 16^th. Will they raise rates or not?
FHA will eliminate seller funded down payment assistance on October 1^st.
FHA will increase its MIP premium charged to homebuyers from 1.5% to 1.75% for the upfront premium October 1^st.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

by The Mulligan Team

I wanted to take a minute and try to summarize the news regarding the government’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how it may impact the mortgage and housing markets. In the short term, the rescue is likely to help bring mortgage rates down and should improve credit availability and affordability. While it will not solve all the problems the housing market is facing, it is a significant step.

As for specifics, Federal officials on Sunday announced the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, putting the government in charge of the twin mortgage giants and the $5 trillion in home loans they back. The government’s move extends as much as $200 billion in Treasury support to the two companies and represents a dramatic attempt to shore up the nation's housing market. It places the two companies into a "conservatorship" to be overseen by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Under conservatorship, the government would temporarily run Fannie and Freddie until they are on stronger footing.

In simplistic terms, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are quasi government agencies which are run as private companies, but have operated with the implicit backing of the government. That guarantee has now become explicit. Their role, when created by Congress, was to help promote the flow of money in the mortgage market. An individual deposits money in a checking or savings account at a Bank. The Bank then lends that money to an individual who wants to buy a home and secures the loan with a mortgage. That mortgage is then, in many cases, purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, allowing the Bank to make another loan to another homebuyer. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac then package the loans into securities and sell them to investors or Wall Street. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac then use that money to buy more mortgages from the Bank. And the cycle continues.

The problem is that, with the changes in the housing market and increasing levels of default, investors have been more hesitant to buy these mortgages or to lend money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Without this constant infusion of money, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are unable to continue to purchase the same number of mortgages from the Banks. That makes fewer loans available, increases mortgage interest rates and results in a squeeze on the credit and housing markets. With the Treasury Department now standing behind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and being willing to inject the necessary money, the capital markets, and the mortgage cycle I talked about above, should flow more freely.

The stock market responded well to the news today and it should help stabilizing the credit markets which should, in turn, help the housing market as well.

Weekly Mortgage Review

Thursday, August 28, 2008

by The Mulligan Team

Courtesy of Alan Greer

Bank of America

Mortgage Loan Officer
Ph (843) 285-3031

Last Week

Mortgage rates remained low as oil prices have stabilized and concern over inflation has subsided.

Initial Jobless Claims were reported at 432,000, which was basically in line with expectations. The more closely watched four-week average of new state filings rose to 445,750, the highest since the recession of 2001. The report, while looking bad, is being somewhat discounted as a new federal program continues to skew the new claims in recent weeks.

This Week

Mortgage application volume rose less than 1 percent during the week ended Aug. 22, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey. The trade group's application index rose to 421.6 during the week, from 419.3 a week earlier, which had been the lowest index level in nearly eight years. Refinance volume rose 0.3 percent, while purchase volume increased 0.6 percent during the week. Refinance volume accounted for 35.2 percent of all applications. The index peaked at 1,856.7 during the week ending May 30, 2003, at the height of the housing boom.

Americans felt better about the economy in August as a barometer of sentiment posted the biggest rise in two years amid falling gas prices. Two reports suggested a bottom could be nearing for the housing market, but economists caution that it's too early to proclaim that the worst is over.

The Conference Board, a private research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 56.9 from a revised 51.9 in July. That's the largest gain since August 2006 and was above the 53 expected by economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR. It's also the second month in a row that sentiment improved, after a six-month slide since January, but it remains about half what it was a year ago, and worries about the job market persisted.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday showed home prices dropped a record 15.4 percent during the second quarter. But the rate of single-family home price declines slowed from May to June, a possible silver lining.

Sales of new homes rose in July but still fell short of economists' expectations, and prices continued to sink. The July increase followed a sharp downward revision to June's sales.

"Consumer confidence readings suggest that the economy remains stuck in neutral but may be showing signs of improvement by early next year," Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement.

While economists say they can't underestimate the relief among consumers to see gas prices come down, Americans are still faced with a number of challenges as they head into the crucial fall and holiday selling seasons, from a weak job market to tight credit conditions and the housing slump.

"It's encouraging to see the benefit of lower gas prices helping consumers a bit," Thayer said. But he noted that there's still a lot of worry out there. As for the housing market, he cautioned that mortgage rates have not come down and tighter lending standards could stall any housing recovery.

Coming Up

The Federal Reserve meets again on September 16^th. Will they raise rates or not?
Will the Government bail out Freddie and Fannie soon? If it happens, what will the impact be? What if it doesn’t happen?
Fannie and Freddie will enact new Pricing guidelines on October 1^st . New major changes will have big impact on home buyers. More to come on that in the weeks to come.
FHA will eliminate seller funded down payment assistance on October 1^st.
FHA will increase its MIP premium charged to homebuyers from 1.5% to 1.75% for the upfront premium October 1^st.

Weekly Mortgage Review

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

by The Mulligan Team

Courtesy of Alan Greer

Bank of America

Mortgage Loan Officer
Ph (843) 285-3031

Last Week

In a sign that the U.S. housing market may strengthen in coming months, an index of sales contracts on previously owned U.S. homes rose 5.3% in June from the prior month, the National Association of realtors reported Thursday. The index, which is considered a leading indicator of existing home sales, was down 12.3% from the June 2007 level. Pending home sales in June rose in all regions, with a gain of 9.3% in the South, 4.6% in the West, 3.4% in the Northeast and 1.3% in the Midwest. The May pending home sales index was revised to a decline of 4.9% from the prior estimate of a 4.7% drop.

This Week

Rates are slightly improved even in the face of a hotter than expected read on consumer inflation. The overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July was reported at a fat 0.8%, far outweighing estimates of 0.4%. This left year over year Consumer prices up 5.6%, the biggest year-over-year increase since January 1991. After excluding volatile food and energy prices - the Core CPI rose 0.3%, also hotter than expectations of 0.2% leaving the year over year Core CPI at 2.5%, the biggest gain since January. The culprit is clearly higher Oil prices during July, which spiked to $147 a barrel. But the decline in Oil prices since maybe the reason why the Bond market is discounting a very unfriendly CPI Report.

Also helping Bonds shrug off the bad inflation news was a worse than expected Initial Claims Report, which showed 450,000 new claims, hotter than the 438,000 the street had expected. The number continues to get worse and worse and underscores weakness in the labor market.

Mortgage rates are trading slightly after a smoking hot Producer Price Index (PPI) was reported. The headline PPI rose 1.2% in July, double expectations and leaving the year over year headline PPI at a very hot 9.8% - the biggest year over year gain in 27 years, but largely due to record high Oil prices in July. The Core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.7%, well above expectations of 0.2%. This brought the year over year Core PPI to 3.5%, the biggest increase since 1991. Typically a hot inflation number such as this would pressure Bonds lower, but the spike in Oil in July was cause for the huge spike in headline PPI and with Oil dropping over the past few weeks, Traders appear to think that next month's wholesale inflation reading may be softer. So Bonds shrugged off this news just a bit.

Building Permits, an indicator on future construction, were reported at 937,000, which was below expectations of 959,000. Housing Starts were reported at 965,000, slimly beating expectations of 960K.

Coming Up

The Federal Reserve Meets again on September 16^th.

charleston real estate mulligan team summerville carolina one real estate

Fed Cuts Rate

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

by The Mulligan Team

The surprise decision by the Federal Open Market Committee to cut the federal funds yesterday may reflect growing fears that the U.S. economy is weakening. Ironically, the concern may be good news for people hoping for lower mortgage rates.

While rates on fixed and adjustable-rate mortgage loans are not tied to the Fed rate, mortgage rates often dip when investors fearing an economic slowdown grow more conservative and buy up Treasuries and bonds. This causes long-term rates -- and by extension, mortgage rates -- to fall, creating an opportunity for lower mortgage rates.

With rates are at a 5-year low now is a good time to start shopping for a home. It's also a good time to refinance from an adjustable-rate mortgage to a fixed-rate.

Watch closely because the Real Estate market may just surprise us all in the next few months.

Whitehall Real Estate Sales Update

Monday, October 29, 2007

by The Mulligan Team

When compared to 2006, this year’s statistics for Whitehall show that homes are staying on the market longer, and although fewer have sold, the average price per square foot has increased. At this time in 2006, 56 homes had sold after an average 53 days on market. The 2006 sales averaged $111 per square foot.

How can you interpret this information? First, Whitehall continues to be a very popular neighborhood for resale. Homes are selling, and if they are priced reasonably they tend to sell in less than three months. Also, the homes in our neighborhood continue to appreciate. While the rate of appreciation has slowed, the amount of appreciation is significant. When we began marketing homes eight years ago, the average price per square foot for Whitehall homes was $86! Only one home sold for over $100 per square foot. It wasn’t until 2005 that homes in Whitehall sold, on average, for more than $100 per square foot. Price per square foot has been well above that ever since.

While the media continue to forecast doom and gloom for the housing market, remember this fact: Every Market is Local. As homeowners in Dorchester County, we are truly fortunate to live in an area that is a growing and desirable place for people to live.

Also remember that the averages in this report may not hold true for your particular home. Before you list your home for sale, be sure to request a customized market analysis from a realtor with a proven track record in Whitehall. When that time comes, we invite you to contact the team that has sold the most listings in Whitehall for five years running: The Mulligan Team.