interesting thought – Can living near a train station save you from foreclosure?
Mortgage defaults higher in neighborhoods dependent on driving, research shows –
BY MARY WISNIEWSKI – thanks MK – … the chance of foreclosure is higher in neighborhoods more dependent on cars, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, which included data from Chicago’s Center for Neighborhood Technology. The report examined 40,000 mortgages in Chicago, Jacksonville and San Francisco. … – Chicago Sun Times
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major piece by Mark Hanson – Principal Balance Reductions – Quit Wasting Your Breath – Mark Hanson Blog
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Congressman Ron Paul – Texas Straight Talk – Are US Taxpayers Bailing Out Greece? – Ron Paul at House.gov
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Coming Soon: 5 Million More Foreclosures – Barry Ritholz – Studies keep showing what we have known for a long time: Fighting foreclosures is a futile — and counter-productive — use of resources. New studies by John Burns Real Estate Consulting and Standard & Poor’s Financial Services conclude that loan mod efforts only serve to delay the inevitable, resulting in future foreclosures. – Big Picture Blog
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New wave of foreclosures by end of 2010 is feared – By Jim Puzzanghera and Don Lee – About 4 million U.S. homeowners are 90 days or more delinquent on their loans or in foreclosure proceedings, Moody’s Economy.com says. A federal loan modification program is helping a relative few. – LA Times Business
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Reverse Mortgages? – Obama to Promote Annuities and Other Forms of Guaranteed Life Income – The Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (the “Agencies”) are soliciting comments whether the agencies could or should enhance the use of lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a stream of income after retirement. One of the questions is related to reverse mortgages: What are the advantages and disadvantages of approaches that combine annuities with other products (reverse mortgages, long term care insurance), and how prevalent are these combined products in the marketplace? – Reverse Mortgage Daily
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The Unloved Annuity Gets a Hug From Obama – By RON LIEBER- As slogans go, it’s hardly “Keep Hope Alive,” or even “Change We Can Believe In.” But there were annuities, in a report from the administration’s Middle Class Task Force that came out this week. They are among the tools the administration is promoting as it tries to give Americans a better shot at a more secure retirement. – NY Times
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US Subprime Prices Down Nearly 6%, 2007 Vintage Drops Significantly – Sandro Scenga – Heightened concerns about the valuation of U.S. subprime RMBS assets manifested in an across-the-board drop for all vintages, according to Fitch Solutions in its latest CDS of RMBS indices results. – RiskCenter.com
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Shadow Inventory of Homes to Take Nearly 3 Years to Clear: S&P – by JON PRIOR – … As for the total amount of homes in the shadow inventory, Amherst Securities places the total at 7m. The Royal Bank of Scotland found 2.7m, and First American CoreLogic counted 1.7m. S&P estimates the inventory to equal a 33-month supply of homes. Analysts added the estimate is actually conservative, as they did not assume homes not showing signs of distress would default and push the overhang of supply even further. … – HousingWire
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Federal Housing Finance Agency Proposes New – Housing Goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – has links to full rule and appendices – FHFA Press Release