Tag Archives: Fannie Mae

Mortgage Quality Highest in Decade

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Record low interest rates and low prices, are making housing more affordable than ever. This is also helping lower default rates, as average credit scores have soared, and Debt to Income Ratios used to quality borrowers have … Continue reading →

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Housing Construction, Retail Sales Surge

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Another sign that the economy is finally recovering—new housing starts surged 15 percent, to their highest levels since 2008 and the beginning of the Great Recession. This is boosting construction employment in particular, but also finance, insurance … Continue reading →

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Real Estate Leading Recovery—Part II

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Further evidence that real estate is recovering is the drop in both vacancy rates and so-called Real Estate Owned (REO) properties—i.e., that banks have taken back in foreclosure. Several analysts, including Calculated Risk, believe this is absorbing … Continue reading →

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Housing Values Jump in Q2 2012

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Consumers, perk up, as I said last week. Housing values are finally rising nationally. In fact, housing prices in all 20 city-metro areas in the Case-Shiller Home Price Index rose for the first time in years, before … Continue reading →

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The National Mortgage Settlement

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner The $25B National Mortgage Settlement has finally been signed off by a federal judge, and 5 of the largest banks will begin the process of providing relief to the estimated 9 million present or former homeowners who … Continue reading →

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HARP 2.0 Loan Modifications Begin This Week

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner The revamped HARP 2.0 loan modification program for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans kicks off this week, which allows unlimited loan-to-values for existing 30 or 15-year fixed rate mortgages owned by Fannie and Freddie, and maximum … Continue reading →

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Can the Fed Rescue Real Estate?

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner How can we thank Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke for keeping our economy afloat? Not only has the Fed kept interest rates low enough to prevent actual deflation, as happened to Japan over the past 20 years and … Continue reading →

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Employment Report Means Holiday Cheers!

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

Popular Economics Weekly Not only were the employment numbers for the past 3 months much higher than originally estimated, but job openings are growing. All we need now is for consumers’ credit conditions to ease to bring back their confidence. … Continue reading →

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What will Boost Real Estate?

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Never in my 30 years as a Mortgage Banker did I think I would see interest rates this low—as low as during Harry Truman’s Presidency. Yet very few homeowners are able to take advantage of those rates, … Continue reading →

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Don’t Blame Fannie and Freddie…

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Popular Economics Weekly

The Mortgage Corner Please don’t blame Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, guarantors of most of the housing market’s conventional mortgages and reason the housing market continues to function at all, for the housing bust. The bust was caused by the … Continue reading →

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