Michael Pond Team Blog

According to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Index, housing prices rose 3.8 percent in April from a year earlier. Of the 20 major metropolitan areas surveyed, 18 posted month-to-month gains but the increases were largely due to demand created by the tax credit. David M. Blitzer, chairma...

As the Federal Reserve wrapped up their purchases of mortgage-backed securities in March, analysts suggested that interest rates would begin to climb once the program ended. Instead, rates have continued to fall. Last week, Freddie Mac said rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages had dropped to th...

Loan Quality Initiative In response to Fannie Mae's LL 2010-02, we will be implementing guidelines and procedures to ensure compliance with LQI. This will be a work in progress. Expect fine tuning along the way. This applies to loan applications taken on or after June 1st and will only apply to c...

Spencer Rascoff, chief operating officer of Zillow Real Estate, says record low interest rates are undoubtedly good for the market but, until the unemployment and foreclosure numbers improve, housing will remain fragile. Click here to see the video clip: http://michaelpond.wordpress.com/2010/06/2...

WOW! 1,295 prisoners, including 241 serving life sentences, received $9.1 million in the first time homebuyer credits, even though they were incarcerated at the time they reported that they bought their home. These prisoners didn't file joint returns, so their claims could not have been the resul...

Following the tax-credit backed sales surge, new home sales dropped 32.7 percent in May, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Year-over-year sales fell 18.3 percent. It was the largest monthly drop and the slowest sales pace since...

According to Altos Research's 10-City Composite Price Index, May saw a 0.2 percent increase in the median sales price of single-family existing homes. It was the first increase since July 2009 and 6.1 percent below last year's peak. The index is based on prices in Denver, Washington D.C., Boston,...

The FBI started a mortgage fraud crack down on 3/1/10 which has led to 485 arrests so far.  This includes 10 recent arrests in Charlotte, NC where I lend.  The industry cannot achieve normacy until the entire process is transparent and parties are accountable for the quality they deliver to the m...

Billy Procida, president of real-estate firm William Procida Inc., believes the excess housing inventory will be absorbed over the next few years but doesn't foresee significant gains in pricing.  Click link to see interview clip: http://michaelpond.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/housing-starts-and-the...

Former Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. chairman Lee Farkas is being held pending a pre-trail hearing.  He is being accused of a 1.9 billion dollar fraud against investors, HUD and the tax payers (using TARP funds).   If convicted he will spend the rest of his life in jail.  Read more about...