Lending Blog
Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation WILL Raise Interest Rates Overnight
To usher in the New Year, Congress naturally helped itself to yet another break, while leaving the economy to fester on the newest roadblock to recovery: self-inflicted bloated interest rates, suddenly apparent in the rush to lock loans for a February close of escrow. In an effort to discover the source of these most unwelcome adjustments and the subsequent unpleasantries in explaining it all to borrowers, I dug deep in some unlikely places to uncover the truth. And not surprisingly, the truth hurts. Believe it or not, the housing and lending industry is now the unlikely and unwilling sponsor of the payroll tax extension. Bitter pill though it may be to swallow, the painful truth is that Congress lacked the spine and the creativity to … [Read More...]
The Mortgage Markets And Liquidity
Since the beginning of the economic crisis, the hurdles imposed by Congress' desperate attempt to speed-reverse the power and subsequent damage caused by the oligarchy of big banks, combined with the barbed wire effect of the much-abhorred Dodd-Frank bill has, as intended, made money-lending unrecognizable. Nothing like swinging the pendulum too far in the other direction while praying it spells "redemption". The survivors in the lending business have had to adapt and morph their business model to meet every nuance and addendum to every incoherent word of every incomprehensible shape-shifting lending regulation (that incidentally seem to defy the laws of political physics when considering the speed and stealth with which they are passed). … [Read More...]
Lenders still making big money on home appraisals – BostonHerald.com
Lenders still making big money on home appraisals - BostonHerald.com. … [Read More...]
FHA, The Past, The Present, and The Future
Long gone are the days that we threw FHA into the "New Sub-prime" bucket. When I first started originating FHA loans in 2005 everything was a "manual underwrite". We boasted the fact that it was "make sense underwriting". There were no computers or automated underwriting involved. Then, we went through a period where everyone came to spoil the party. The less knowledgeable individuals submitted "no doc" loans through the FHA system. The sad thing is that underwriters actually took the time to deny those files. Back then, FICOs could be as low as 500, or below in some cases, cash out to the maximum 97% loan to the value of the property, and debt to income ratios in the 60's. The up front mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) was less than 1 … [Read More...]
S & P Case Schiller Report Confirms That San Diego is THE Best Market in The Nation
As per the Case Schiller Report San Diego shows the best Month over Month and Year over year home price appreciation. One more reason to rely on your local Real Estate and Mortgage experts. … [Read More...]
2011 Financial Outlook
Since there are more opinions than possible outcomes to this burning enigma, I would like to start by making a proper disclaimer. If anybody tells you that they know for sure what is going to happen in the next 3, 6 , 9 or 12 months, run, don't walk the other way. If you happen to have read our 2010 outlook you saw that I got pretty lucky even though I disagreed with most of the talking heads on Wall Street. Most of them predicted a 6-7% rate by years end and, although the market has been making a pretty big run over the past couple of weeks for higher rates, it is nowhere near those levels. Housing: The housing marking continues to be in an extremely shaky state. Although most politicians claim that there is a recovery in place, most … [Read More...]
Real Estate Blog
February 22 Case Schiller Report, Is The Glass Half Full or Half Empty?
The much anticipated S & P Case Schiller report is out today. Unless you live in Washington DC or San Diego the news are grim at best. The report goes on to say: "Both Los Angeles and San Francisco reported negative annual rates of return in December, leaving San Diego and Washington DC as the only two cities where home prices are increasing on a year-over-year basis, +1.7% and +4.1%, respectively." Please see chart below for full details on how the San Diego Real Estate market performed: Follow the link for the full February 22nd S & P Case Schiller report. … [Read More...]
California And The West South Central Home Price Index Lead The Country In Price Increases
Today, January 25th, FHFA released their "U.S. Monthly House Price Index Unchanged from October to November" Below is the chart that highlights California having the second best increased in Home Price Index released by the FHFA: … [Read More...]
San Diego Home Price Index (HPI) Continues To Improve
Although the nation's HPI (Home Price Incex) dropped 1.6%, San Diego continues to recover nicely. … [Read More...]
