Bank Of America Hit By Mortgage Meltdown
Bank of America posted a 77 percent loss in its quarterly profit for the first quarter of 2008 which may send shock waves through the mortgage and credit industries. The new trend shows that US homeowners with second mortgages, homebuilders and small business owners are showing an alarming trend in defaulting on their mortgages, which lead BoA to set aside $3.8 billion.

Mortgage Rates Hold Steady As A Rate Cut Is Believed To Be Coming
Fixed rate mortgages averages held pretty steady throughout the week while the adjustable rate mortgage average declined. Short term mortgage rates may continue to slide downward as speculation of a Fed rate cut at the end of the month.

Bear Stearns & Wachovia Meltdown
If you need more proof that the mortgage crisis has spread beyond subprime mortgage lenders all you need to do is take a look at the first quarter earnings for two of the top mortgage lenders in America.

Fannie Mae Warning To Homeowners Walking Away From Mortgage Obligations
One of the largest sources of home mortgage financing, Fannie Mae has issued a warning to homeowners planning to give up on their home loan obligations by walking away.

Mortgage Rates Hold Steady Throughout Week
Mortgage rates for the 30 year fixed rate mortgage remained largely unchanged this week despite news that the US economy is facing a sharp downturn and pending home sales for the month of February were lower than anticipated.

PMI Releases Spring 2008 Risk Index
PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., the U.S. subsidiary of The PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE: PMI), today released its Spring 2008 U.S. Market Risk Index(SM), which ranks the nation's 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) according to the likelihood that home prices will be lower in two years.

Bush Administration Expands FHAsecure to Offer More Assistance and Financing Aid to Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
Bush administration is expanding a government program to help homeowners head off foreclosure as it scrambles to counter Democratic calls for a broader federal housing rescue.

IMF Foresees Global Slowdown, Mild US Recession
The International Monetary Fund says the world economy is losing speed in the face of a financial crisis in the United States. VOA's Barry Wood reports that in its semi-annual forecast, the IMF says 2008 world growth is decelerating by over a full percentage point from last year to 3.7 percent.

House Committee to Hold Hearing on Economic, Mortgage and Housing Rescue Bill
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank announced today the committee will hold a hearing on the economic, mortgage and housing rescue plan he announced last week.

Mortgage Applications Increase 5.7 Percent
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 4, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 725.6, an increase of 5.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 688.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 5.7 percent compared with the previous week and was up 10.9 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

Washington Mutual Dropping Wholesale Mortgage Lending
Washington Mutual, once the second largest residential mortgage lender in the US will stop originating mortgage loans through independent mortgage brokers. However, WAMU will still originate mortgage loans through its 2,200 retail bank branches located throughout the country.

US Subprime Crisis Could Cost $945 Billion Globally
The International Monetary Fund says world-wide losses from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis could hit $945 billion as the impact spreads into the global economy.

Mortgage Rates Edge Up Slightly
For the week ending April 4th, mortgage rates on the 30 and 15 year fixed rate mortgages saw a slight increase while adjustable rate mortgages dipped slightly. Let’s take a look at the economic data to be released that will have an impact on mortgage rates throughout the week.

US Fed Chief Defends Investment Bank Bailout
Top U.S. financial officials say the markets could have been thrown into chaos if the government had not taken strong action to rescue a big investment bank that was falling into bankruptcy. But critics say the move put billions of dollars at risk, and unfairly helps large investors at a time when ordinary people facing home foreclosure get little aid. VOA's Jim Randle reports from Washington.

Mortgage Rates Find Stability Despite Mixed Bag of News
In a mixed week of news, perhaps the most important outcome is that mortgage rates remained at attractive levels:

Mortgage Rate Forecast For April 2008
In the beginning of March mortgage rates for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.13 percent. Throughout the month mortgage rates slightly increased before the Feds lowered interest rates in the middle of the month and rates began to fall for the first time since February which helped the 30 year fixed rate mortgage average5.83 percent at the end of the month.

Fannie Mae Releases New Mortgage Qualification Guidelines
Flush with new cash to buy up Mortgage Backed Securities, Fannie Mae has released new guidelines when it comes to credit score, LTV and prior foreclosure standards for borrowers. While my presumptive thought was that they would tighten the screws across the board, Fannie is actually expanding approval criteria in certain instances.

US Central Bank Chief Says Economy Could Face Mild Recession
The head of the U.S. central bank, Ben Bernanke, told a congressional committee the U.S. economy could face a mild recession, but it should recover later this year. VOA's Barry Wood reports.

Henry Paulson Mortgage Changes and Financial Overhaul
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveiled his “blueprint” today towards the financial overhaul of the US economy and what parts the federal government would play. The financial overhaul will also include changes on the way mortgage loans are originated.

Federal Housing Administration Encourage Lenders To Forgive Mortgage Debt
A new mortgage aid program, which the Bush administration is finalizing, would call for mortgage lenders to forgive a portion of a homeowners’ mortgage debt in exchange for the financial backing of the federal government.

Refinancing Boom Amid Falling Mortgage Rates Mortgage applications nearly doubled last week after the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by 0.75 percent last week.

Mortgage Rates Fall During Week This week there has been a number of huge factors contributing to the recent decline in mortgage rates. The Fed has lowered interest rates by 0.75 percent, JP Mortgage purchase Bear Sterns and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are pumping $200 billion into the housing industry.

Fed Rate Cut – Mortgage Rate Affect
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates today, but the rate cut was not as deep as many investors had hoped that it would be.

Mortgage Rates Update
The US economy is showing signs of panic as mortgage rates have been very unstable throughout the week.

Fed Accepts $200 Billion In Mortgage Debt
After an emergency meeting Monday night, the US Federal Reserve decided it was time to make another move to help improve the mortgage and credit crisis and potentially avoid a recession.

Mortgage Rate Forecast For March 2008
Mortgage rates for the first two months of 2008 have hit their lowest point in over three years and their highest point in over a year. March will be one of those months where rates can go either way at a moments notice.

Mortgage Appraisal Industry Reform
Residential appraisal companies owned by mortgage companies are under scrutiny for over inflating U.S. home values during the refinance boom. A new reform, headed by Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General of New York, is aimed at easing the pressure on appraisers so they can do their job accurately.

Rising Mortgage Rates & Declining Mortgage Applications
Mortgage rates are on the rise again hitting a seven week high for fixed rate mortgages. As the mortgage rates continue to increase, mortgage applications for refinancing begin their steady decline.

“Project Lifeline” The New Government Backed Mortgage Relief Program
Six major banks making up half of Americas mortgage loans have joined a government backed mortgage relief program that will halt the foreclosure process for up to 30 days while lenders try to work out a payment plan that is in the best interest of the homeowner and the banks.

Second Fed Rate Cut This Month
For the second time this month the Federal Reserve has slashed key interest rates in hopes of stimulating the U.S. economy. Although the rate cut does not tie directly into mortgage rates, mortgage rates have been on a downward spiral for the past month.

Bank of America To Purchase Countrywide Financial Corp.
Bank of America Corporation today announced a definitive agreement to purchase Countrywide Financial Corp. in an all-stock transaction worth approximately $4 billion.

Mortgage Rates Spiraling Downwards
Thanks to the Federal Reserve’s emergency rate cut earlier in the week, fixed rate mortgages have declined for the fourth straight week in a row. The news has brought forth a refinance boom that could save many homeowners from their adjustable rate mortgages and possibly cut monthly mortgage expenses for those with a fixed rate mortgage above 6 percent.

Emergency Fed Rate Cut
The Federal Open Market committee cut the minimum interest rates that banks can charge one another for making loans by 0.75 percent, driving rates down to 3.5 percent. The emergency rate cut came a week before the next scheduled meeting on January 30th 2008.

Mortgage Rates Decrease As Homeowners Refinance
Many homeowners are taking advantage of declining mortgage rates to refinance out of their adjustable rate mortgages. Even homeowners with a fixed rate mortgage are taking the opportunity to shorten their mortgage terms and lower their mortgage rates and payments as it has been years since mortgage rates have been this low.

Mortgage Lender First NLC Shuts Down Shop
“Due to conditions beyond our control, effective immediately we are no longer taking applications. Those loans where closing documents have been executed will be funded in the normal manner,” is posted on the home page of their website.

Decreasing Mortgage Rates Favor Consumers
Mortgage rates continue to decline as U.S. economic worries continue to mount. Freddie Mac reported that the 30 year fixed mortgage loans have fallen to their lowest point in over two years.

Mortgage Applications Strong Start In 2008
During the first week of 2008, the number of mortgage applications jumped an amazing 32.2 percent, ending three weeks of sharp declines. Although application volume is still down 13 percent since the downslide, this is good news for a slumping housing market.

Citigroup Creating New Mortgage Business
Bill Beckman has been appointed to create a new U.S. Residential Mortgage business that will include the origination, servicing and capital markets securitization processes. The announcement came Tuesday afternoon after the company’s stock shares dropped by 3.3 percent.

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