mortgages

A number of new films have been produced chronicling the misadventures in America’s residential property markets and financial system.  One such story is American Casino.  I have yet to see the film.  However, below is a…

Spain has been a laggard in the search for improving economic fundamentals.  The news coming out of Spain has been dreadful from employment to house prices to mortgages and banking. But the first ray of hope appeared yesterday when it…

Fannie Mae has the luxury of marking its accounts more accurately because they have no fear of being nationalized or going bust since they already have hit the wall.  So, when we read the latest quarterly results from Fannie Mae, we are not…

If you haven’t seen any of Jim the Realtor’s videos over at Calculated Risk, you are not getting a feel for what’s happening in residential real estate in America.  The guy really gives the whole housing problem in California a look…

I supported a proposal to help foreclosed homeowners by Dean Baker and Andrew Samwick back in June (see “Why not protect the homeowner?”).  Apparently, the Obama Administration likes this proposal and is floating a trial balloon via…

I got a tip from a friend Andrew about a sale of assets by Wells Fargo (WFC) which raises a number of interesting questions.  He sent me the following 14 July article from the Milwaukee Business Journal. Wells Fargo sold $600…

This comes via the Nationwide website: As a responsible lender which aims to support its borrowers Nationwide has responded to market conditions and made an option available which enables some existing customers in negative equity to move…

The Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, is now bringing back the dreaded 125% mortgage.  While the lender claims these mortgages are a “niche product” designed for customers of Nationwide in negative equity, the Financial…

Let’s say you’re an American named Maria living in Southern California.  The year is 2006.  You make $45,000 and your husband David makes another $40,000.  You have two children aged six and four and your two-bedroom apartment is getting…

Apparently the answer to this question is yes.  CNBC is reporting that home ‘owners’ who refinance their mortgages through loans backed by Fannie and Freddie will be able to borrow up to 125% of their homes’ value (hat tip Marshall…