Fannie and Freddie Show the Danger of Mortgage Guarantees – The Atlantic
They say that those who learn nothing from history are doomed to repeat it. Policymakers need only to look to Fannie and Freddie to see why government mortgage guarantees might not be such a bright idea.
Don’t get fooled by Bernanke – Brett Arends
When the time comes to write Ben Bernanke’s biography, I already have a great title. How about “Behind The Curve”?
Housing Tax Credit not high on list of options – CR
“Well, Mr. President, this is your ‘holy-shit moment.’ It’s worse than we thought.”
Psychological Stages of a RE Bubble Market – Barry Ritholtz
Shiller: Time for More ‘Inspirational’ Housing Policy Ideas – WSJ
Any examples? Mr. Shiller offered a few. Mortgages should be indexed to inflation, he said, to allow for greater long-term certainty for borrowers. As inflation rises, so, too, would the mortgage payments–and vice-versa. Those types of loans, which are more common in economically volatile developing countries, grow as inflation—and home prices—rise. Right now, if the U.S. enters a period of deflation and home prices fall further, borrowers’ mortgage debt “is going to be amplified” as it was during the Great Depression, he said.
Another idea: mortgage contracts in the future should include some kind of “preplanned workout,” that would prescribe exactly how a loan modification would proceed if the borrower fell behind on payments.
`Zombie’ Hotels Arise in Ireland as Recession Empties Rooms – Bloomberg
While some establishments cut their losses and shut, others are lowering prices to stay in business and avoid repaying tax breaks if they were to close.
Housing Market: What’s Ahead? – Time
The bottom line for housing is that the bottom will be long–perhaps very long– and bumpy.
Loan Mod Saves OC ‘Housewife’ Alexis Bellino’s Home – OC Register
The original loan amount was for $4.5 million. Because the Bellinos missed all mortgage payments since the first of the year, the debt — with fees and penalties — swelled up to $4.62 million, the documents indicate.
However, the auction (or trustee sale), scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 25, never happened. The Bellinos modified the loan on their home, a foreclosure did not occur, and the family never had to move out.
“Chase Bank has been great to work with on my modification,” Jim Bellino said in an interview Friday. “The trustee sale has been canceled, and the modification has been agreed upon.”
Frannie’s juristic parasites – Felix Salmon
Everybody knows that the biggest winners from default and foreclosure are always the lawyers. But did you know that default fees on foreclosed properties alone are now being racked up at a rate of $2 billion a year?
The Un-American Dream – Forbes
America’s distinction is that it was the first nation founded on the principle that you have a right to pursue your own happiness without government interference. But the government’s homeownership crusade means it gets to decide how you should live, and stick-and-carrot you into living that way.
