Mortgage Market Update - 3/24/08

Several interesting things going on in the market place today.  First, The JPMorgan Chase/Bear Stearns deal, under a lot of pressure from Shareholders and Investors at Stearn, Chase ups the purchase price to $10 a share and agrees to absorb the first billion of loses and then the gov't covers the next $29 billion...Still a very sweet deal for Chase.  Wall Street seemed to like it as well and the stocks have surged today...sending bonds lower and of course mortgage interest rates up. 

PennyMac (Private National Mortgage Acceptance Co.) a newly formed company sponsored by Blackrock Inc. and Highfields Capital Management, will obtain and service distressed mortgages.  Stanford Kurland, the Ex-President and COO of Countrywide until 2006, will run the newly formed company.  (I had to scratch my head and read this twice myself.?)

The Mortgage Market is experiencing changes so rapidly.  March 31st will be the last day my company has 100% financing available to homeowners as MI companies bail from underwriting these loans.  Other changes include, LTV changes with higher credit scores required.  Some of my clients are receiving letters that their Home Equitylines of credit have been frozen...and some credit card limits are being lowered. 

I believe we are almost at the bottom...Which means light at the end of the tunnel.

Good Luck,