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Home Loan Demand Nudges Higher in Latest Week
CNBC.com (03/10/10)
Despite a slight uptick in long-term mortgage rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported an 0.5 percent gain in its seasonally adjusted home loan application index for the week ended March 5. The activity was driven by a 5.7 percent surge in purchase loan requests. Refinancing demand fell 1.5 percent and made up 67.2 percent of applications, versus 69.1 percent the prior week. Adjustable-rate mortgages, meanwhile, rose to 5.1 percent of application volume from 4.8 percent.
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The Shoe That Refuses to Drop: Home Equity Losses
American Banker (03/10/10) P. 1; Berry, Kate
Borrowers are making payments on second mortgages while falling behind on first mortgages. Lender Processing Services reports that home equity loans 30 to 89 days delinquent came down from a peak of 1.78 percent at the end of 2008 to 1.32 percent on Dec. 31 while the rate for first mortgages declined less steeply to about 3 percent. With 95 out of 100 borrowers still keeping up with their second mortgages, according to Rochdale Securities analyst Richard Bove, the staggering losses predicted for the banking sector are unlikely to materialize.
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Fed Debates How to Signal Next Rate Move
Wall Street Journal (03/10/10) P. A2; Hilsenrath, Jon; Reddy, Sudeep
Federal Reserve officials will spend much of their March 16 policy session focusing on how to signal a potential interest rate change in the future. Although the Fed is likely to keep rates where they are at the upcoming meeting in order to give the recovery more time to built, futures markets expect the target for the fed funds rate to be raised from zero to 0.5 percent by year end. Also, the central bank is likely to decide to end its program for purchasing $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities by the end of March, considering that rates have not increased as buying slowed.
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$2.8 Million in Refunds Going Out
Raleigh News & Observer (NC) (03/10/10) Bracken, David
Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance has agreed to refund $2.8 million to North Carolina homeowners and pay a $750,000 civil penalty to settle allegations by the state's Office of the Commissioner of Banks. The Tennessee-based firm, which finances manufactured homes, did not admit to any violations of mortgage laws. However, it did agree to implement new controls over how it collects debts, change other practices and contribute $250,000 to the State Foreclosure Prevention Project.
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Commercial Delinquency Lower Than Other Mortgages
Associated Press (03/09/10)>
The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that commercial mortgages were among the best-performing loans and leases held by banks and thrifts in the last three months of 2009. Commercial and industrial loans had delinquency rates of 4.39 percent, followed by commercial mortgages at 5.06 percent. Construction loans posted the highest delinquency rate at 18.56 percent, followed by single-family mortgages at 12.49 percent.
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