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New Mortgage Rules Could Shrink Lending by 20%.

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Study: New Mortgage Rules Could Shrink Lending by 20%.
Pending mortgage regulations could lock today's tight lending standards in place and result in nearly 20% fewer mortgages being issued in the coming years, restraining home sales and construction, according to a new study.
The report from the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank, provides an estimate of the potential impact of three important mortgage regulations set to take effect next year:
Together, the new rules "will raise the cost of borrowing for millions of home buyers and tighten access to credit beyond pre-boom standards, a period of much more responsible lending than in the lead-up to the housing crisis," says the AAF paper.>>Wall Street Journal

 

U.S. sues Bank of America over 'Hustle' mortgage fraud
REUTERS - The United States filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against Bank of America Corp, accusing it of selling thousands of toxic home loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that went into default and caused more than $1 billion of losses. Wednesday's case, originally brought by a whistleblower, is the U.S. Department of Justice's first civil fraud lawsuit over mortgage loans sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. >>Reuters

Great Recession creates 4.8 million renters By Kerri Ann Panchuk*
The United States added 4.8 million renters in the past six years while losing 1.7 million owner households as the dynamics of the real estate space changed in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The market experienced additional changes in the first nine months of 2012, creating unexpected outcomes in the housing finance sector, prompting the MBA to alter its forecast for 2012. >>Housing Wire

Mortgage Rates Unchanged To Slightly Higher by Matthew Graham
Mortgage rates were steady to very slightly higher in most cases on Monday, though some lenders were in slightly better territory than on Friday. Market movements were fairly subdued with the all of today's trading in Treasuries and Mortgage Markets contained inside the range established by Friday's highs and lows. Conventional 30yr Fixed Best- Execution remained at 3.375%>>Mortgage News Daily

Existing Home Sales Decline; Prices Rise for Seventh Consecutive Month By Jann Swanson
Existing home sales declined slightly in September, but the national median home price rose as inventories tightened.  The National Association of Realtors® said that completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops were down 1.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.75 million units in September.  August sales were revised upward from 4.82 million to 4.83 million.  The September number is 11.0 percent higher than existing home sales in September 2011 which were at an annual rate of 4.28 million.>>Mortgage News Daily 

Home Price Gains Boost Consumer Spending in September By: Tory Barringer 
A significant increase in home prices helped push Deloitte's Consumer Spending Index up in September, the company reported. The index, which tracks consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending, rose to 3.53 from 3.27 in August. A substantial 10.5 percent bump in housing prices accounted for much of the overall increase>> MReport

Mortgage Rates Continue Improving To End The Week by Matthew Graham
After improving for the first time in a week yesterday, Mortgage rates moved slightly lower again on Friday.  That said, late day market weakness may lead some lenders to recall initial rates sheets and raise rates/fees modestly.  Even then, rates would still be at their best levels of the week with more lenders today joining the ranks of those already back down to a 3.25% Best-Execution for 30yr Fixed Conventional loans. >> Mortgage News Daily

Distressed Sales Leading to Inaccurate Appraisals By: Esther Cho 
Inflated appraisals were identified as one of the causes of the housing bubble, and now undervalued appraisals are viewed as a reason for a stalled recovery.
In a September National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey related to home appraisals over the past three months, 11 percent of Realtors said a contract was cancelled because a home was appraised at a value below the negotiated price >>MReport

Foreclosures hit 5-year low By Kerri Ann Panchuk
Foreclosure activity reached a 5-year low in September with only 180,427 filings made on distressed properties, RealtyTrac said Thursday. The filings surveyed include default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions. Overall, September's foreclosure numbers fell 7% from August and 16% from last year as more non-judicial foreclosure states moved through backlogs of foreclosure inventory. >>HousingWire

Property Flipping Gaining Momentum in 2012
With home prices still near historic lows and rental rates on the rise, several investors who have sizable cash are now entering the flipping market to make a profit on the influx of distressed assets that are available throughout the country. According to RealtyTrac, nearly 100,000 properties have been flipped nationwide in the first half of 2012. This is a substantial increase over the previous two years by 25% and 27%, respectively >>Mortgage Technology

Mortgage Rates Slightly Higher To Begin The Week by Matthew Graham
Mortgage rates rose gently to begin the holiday-shortened week despite improvements in the underlying bond markets.  Some lenders' rate sheets are little changed from Friday's latest offerings while others are marginally higher in cost with no change to the Best-Execution rates, which moved higher from 3.25% to 3.375% after Friday's jobs report >>Mortgage News Daily

Cash Buying Down in 2012 as Non-Investors Return By: Tory Barringer 
The percentage of homes purchased with cash nearly doubled between 2006 and 2011, even as mortgage rates fell into free-fall, research firm Hanley Wood Market Intelligence reported. Analysts Jonathan Dienhart and Ken Lee revealed that between 2006 and 2011, the share of homes purchased with cash jumped from 22 percent to 40 percent. The upward trend finally stalled in 2012 with a drop back to 38 percen >>MReport