The Federal Housing Administration announced that the default rate on FHA backed loans passed 9% as of Q409. This is concerning news for the housing market considering that FHA insured a total of $752 billion in mortgages in 2009, up 24% from 2008. Despite these growing default rates, US Departme
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02/11/2010
Today Ben Bernake outlined some of his plans for the Federal Reserve to start pulling in the massive amount of funds the Treasury pumped into the economy to prevent economic collapse. In a talk with the House Financial Services Committee, he announced that the Fed would begin to raise the rates
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02/10/2010
Lender Processing Services has released numbers indicating that the percentage of delinquent mortgages has passed 10%, meaning that approximately 7 million mortgages are behind on their payments. This percentage sets a record, and indicates that continuing unemployment and underwater loans are co
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02/04/2010
PMI Mortgage Insurance believes home values are beginning to stabilize in most metropolitan areas, according to a risk index the company utilizes to determine the percent chance of home values dropping in the coming 2 years. According to their statistics, half of all metropolitan areas monitored
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02/04/2010
GMAC has reported that due to the failing mortgage market, defaults and foreclosures, it expects a $5 billion loss. This comes after reports of a net loss of $10.3 billion for 2009. GMAC has accepted numerous capital infusions from the government bailout program TARP in order to stay afloat, and
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02/04/2010
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that its annual budget for this year has dropped 5% from last year, to $4.16 billion. The cause for this drop was FHA’s raising of the upfront premiums for its insured mortgages, citing that it wanted home buyers to have more at stake i
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02/03/2010
This Tuesday, President Obama announced his decision to shift TARP’s focus to slowing the foreclosure rate and promoting job creation for the nation. While the plan has primarily been used to shore up faltering financial institutions, record profits turned in by banks accepting TARP benefits has
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02/03/2010
Because of the economic downturn and continuing unemployment, the average monthly apartment rent in Orange County, CA has dropped from 2008 approximately 7%. Hardest hit in the area has been Fountain Valley, suffering an 11.4% drop. Despite the significant drop in rental rates, owners have stil
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02/03/2010
Tomorrow will be the Laguna Beach Artwalk's 12th anniversary! Special events include a ceremony and reception at the Inn at Laguna, followed by the usual carosing and open art galleries that the even has become well known for! Here are just a few of the galleries participating, along with their
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02/03/2010
Today the Treasury announced new guidelines for getting borrowers into the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). These new guidelines are aimed at streamlining the communication between borrower and loan servicer and also should improve the gathering of the necessary documents
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01/28/2010
