Arizona Real Estate Notebook

The default rate on subprime loans that have been packaged into bonds to be sold to investors rose to 10.09 percent in November, up from 6.62 percent a year earlier. It’s the highest default rate in a decade, exceeding the 10.05 percent level reached in November 2001 at the end of the last U.S. economic [...]

At least according to Lou Barnes.

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending February1, 2007. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 1/11/2007. “Interest rates moved higher following the latest upbeat economic news,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “The strong 3.5 percent annualized growth in the economy over the final quarter of 2006 [...]

30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending January 11, 2007. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 1/11/2007. “Looking forward, we expect rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages to remain below 6.5 percent in the coming year and for adjustable-rate mortgage rates to be less attractive to borrowers in 2007 than they have [...]

6.19% and 0.6 points – 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending January 4, 2007. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 12/07/2006. “Interest rates were flat this past week, reflecting the mixed messages from recent economic indicators,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist… “Currently the market is [...]

It’s approaching conventional wisdom that the Fed will likely cut rates in the next few months. The Fed is expected to let the benchmark rate stand at 5.25 percent at its next meeting at the end of this month, but many analysts predict a rate cut in the coming months.

Wow! Maybe this is where the real estate bubble really did indeed burst… and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer group of guys. MLN, based in Middletown, Conn., which last year is reported to have lent more than $12 billion, is the fourth lender to withdraw from the subprime market in the last two [...]

As foreclosures skyrocket next year (foreclosures are a lagging economic indicator) we’ll see tons of legislation across the U.S. targeting the mortgage industry. This article on Colorado foreclosures gives a good list of the kinds of legislation we might see. “I think it’s a severe problem that calls for regulatory action as well as legislation,” [...]

6.17% and 0.4 points – 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending December 28, 2006. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 12/07/2006. “Mortgage rates edged up over the week following news of a jump in consumer spending in November,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “Financial markets [...]

6.11% and 0.5 points – 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending December 21, 2006. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 12/07/2006. “A quiet week for financial markets translated into a quiet week for mortgage rates as well,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “This isn’t much [...]

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) has filed a Notice of Charges against three former Fannie Mae executives Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are going to see increasing “oversight” from OFHEO from here on out. They apparently were given enough rope to hang themselves… so to speak.

Hey, Bubble Blogger, put your money where your mouth is! Short real estate and mortgage stocks. But then again, maybe they did. Some of those stocks have huge short positions already.

People hate PMI, Private Mortgage Insurance. If you put less than 20% down, your lender will require you pay PMI. PMI insures that if the lender has to foreclose on you, that he won’t lose any money. PMI is expensive and it is NOT tax deductible. Where your mortgage interest payments are tax deductible, PMI [...]

I’m shocked, really, to find out that refinancings are the lion’s share of these subprime loans. What were those homeowners thinking? Wow! Real estate professionals can be in a position to help keep borrowers from getting locked into bad loans, but since the lion’s share of these loans are refinancings, real estate professionals typically don’t [...]

Colorado officials are apparently investigating whether advertisements in Denver-based newspapers offering low interest rates on mortgage loans were a bait-and-switch tactic. Mortgage fraud will become a big national story next year and then mortgage regulation will follow.

The FBI is focusing local resources investigating real estate-related fraud in the Las Vegas Valley. “Mortgage fraud is a major concern here in Las Vegas and, as a result, the FBI does investigate these issues,” I think we’ll be seeing a lot more mortgage fraud investigations and prosecutions in the next few years.

Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, expects the 30-year mortgage rate to hover around 6.5 percent for the remainder of the year, but climb to 6.8 percent by the end of 2007.

6.10% and 0.5 points – 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, average in Western U.S. for week ending December 14, 2006. Blue line is Freddie Mac forecast made 12/07/2006. “Mixed economic reports have kept mortgage rates from making any drastic changes this week,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. “On the upside, there was [...]

Federal Reserve press release; Economic growth has slowed over the course of the year, partly reflecting a substantial cooling of the housing market. Although recent indicators have been mixed, the economy seems likely to expand at a moderate pace on balance over coming quarters. Readings on core inflation have been elevated, and the high level [...]

If you’ve cut back on spending and you still can’t make your monthly payments, “pick up the phone and call your lender early and let them know you have had some hardship,” he said. “Having done that shows some good faith, that you were willing to make some hard decisions and give up things to [...]