Tag Archives: Alt-A Loans

John Paulson Will Be Wrong

The combination of expiring tax credits, the failure of HAMP, the conclusion of the Fed buying dodgy MBS, the growing shadow inventory of foreclosures, Option ARM and Alt-A resets, and rising interest rates will result in a further fall in home prices of at least 20% in the next two years. Continue reading

Posted in Best Of The Storm, Everything About Foreclosures, Fresh Perspectives, Home Economics, Real Estate Data | Tagged Alt-A Loans, Case-Shiller, Foreclosures, HAMP, Home Prices, Housing Bubble, Loan Modifications, Median Home Prices, Obama, Option-Arm Loans, Supply vs Demand, Tax Credits, Underwater Borrowers | 1 Comment

Government Subsidies Diminish Home Ownership

We have managed to obtain the opposite of what we desire, and we are paying a huge amount of money to do so. We would be better off to do nothing. The money we spend as a society to encourage home ownership actually diminishes it. Continue reading

Posted in Best Of The Storm, Fresh Perspectives, Home Economics, Industry & Technology, Mortgage News | Tagged Alt-A Loans, Debt-to-Income, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GSEs, Home Equity, homedebtors, Interest-Only Loans, NAR, Negative Amortization, Option-Arm Loans, Ponzi Scheme, Recast, Renting, Reset, Subprime Loans, The American Dream | 2 Comments

We Can’t Afford To Subsidize Housing

From 1994 to 2005, the homeownership rate reached record highs, thanks largely to innovations in the mortgage-finance market that reduced down payments and minimized equity. This shifted the basic wealth-building proposition of homeownership away from savings to an almost exclusive focus on capital gains. Continue reading

Posted in Best Of The Storm, Fresh Perspectives, Home Economics | Tagged Alt-A Loans, Home Prices, Homeownership Rates, Subprime Loans, The American Dream | 1 Comment

Strategic Default: Are The Rich Really Different?

If prices continue to stabilize and loan modification programs can find ways to perform better, there is a chance that there won’t be too many high-end defaults here in the East Bay. But, if prices continue to fall and modifications continue to fail at alarming rates, then those considering walking away will have more reasons for doing so.

If, as the Times suggests, the wealthy really are more prone to walking away, then social mood could darken very quickly. If strategic default ever becomes socially acceptable in million-dollar neighborhoods, then look out below. Continue reading

Posted in Banking and Finance, Best Of The Storm, Data, Data, and More Data, Everything About Foreclosures, Home Economics, Social Mood Swings | Tagged Alamo, Alt-A Loans, Class Warfare, Danville, Foreclosures, Jumbo Loans, Los Altos, Mortgage Delinquency Rates, Option-Arm Loans, Orinda, Piedmont, strategic default, Walking Away | Leave a comment

10 important real estate charts showing no recovery in 2010

How is it possible to have a market that is getting better when unemployment in many top housing bubble states remains at peak levels? In California unemployment remains at 12.6 percent (a modern record high) and we have over 100,000 unemployed Californians that have now exhausted a stunning 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. Continue reading

Posted in Real Estate Data | Tagged Alt-A Loans, Housing Bubble, Recovery, Strategic Defaults, Unemployment | 4 Comments