Mortgage Information

A widely disparaged set of new rules affecting home appraisals has actually had relatively little negative effect on real estate appraisers, according to a new study by an appraisal management company (AMC).

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Industry Report Finds Little Impact from Appraisal Rules

The FDIC is looking at principal writedowns in its loss-share agreements with failed banks as a way to help at-risk homeowners avoid foreclosure, according to FDIC Chair Sheila Blair.

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FDIC’s Blair Touts Writedowns on Underwater Mortgages

Pending home sales fell in January, despite expectations of a boost from expanded tax credit, according to new figures from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

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Pending Home Sales Fell in January

The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), originally scheduled to end in June, will be extended at least one more year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced.

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Home Affordable Refinance Program Extended

During January, the cost of funds index dropped 4 basis points from February, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco reported.

COFI was 67 BPS better than a year earlier.

A more widely used index on adjustable-rate mortgages, the yield on the one-year Treasury bill, tumbled between January and February.

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COFI Eases

The dollar volume of mortgage insurance written during January dropped 18 percent from December, the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America reported.

Volume was down 41 percent from a January 2009.

Last month’s activity was the lowest level of activity since at least 2000 based on an analysis of data by MortgageDaily.com.

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Record Low M.I. Volume Headed Lower

The vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation testified before Congress today, according to a transcript of his prepared statement.

The hearing addressed the availability of credit for small businesses and commercial real estate. “

The most prominent area of risk for rising credit losses at FDIC-insured institutions during the next several quarters continues to be in CRE lending,” he stated.

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FDIC Warns About Continued CRE Losses

Freddie Mac reported that it plans to stop buying and securitizing interest-only mortgages.

While Freddie gave no explanation for the move, its January summary of operational activity indicated that delinquency on interest-only fixed-rate mortgages is running around twice the rate of fully amortizing loans.

For instance, on interest-only fixed-rate loans originated in 2006, the 90-day delinquency was nearly 900 basis points higher than on fully amortized fixed-rate loans from the same vintage.

Excerpted from:
Freddie to Dump Interest Only Loans

Home loan delinquency of at least 90 days jumpbed 16 basis points between December and January, Freddie Mac reported.

Compared to January 2009, delinquency was 205 BPS worse.

While delinquency topped 7.50 percent on 30-year fixed-rate mortgage originated in 2007, delinquency on all vintages of 15-year fixed-rate loans was less than 2 percent.

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15-Year Loans Far Outperform 30-Year at Freddie

Existing home sales took another big drop in January, falling 7.2 percent after posting a record decline in December.

Source:
Home Sales Post Second Big Drop