Tag Archives: Freddie Mac

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed A. 2861 into law last week, banning Wall Street Home Resale Fees, or private transfer fees. New Jersey becomes the 19th state to restrict the use of these fees. On the federal level, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has issued guidance that restricts Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from investing in mortgages with these fees. A bill currently being considered in the House would ban the fees across the country.

The Obama administration's signature foreclosure prevention program will help only 700,000 Americans save their homes, according to a scathing report released Tuesday by the Congressional Oversight Panel. The group's assessment falls far short of the 3 to 4 million homeowners that the president pledged would receive more sustainable mortgage loans when the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was launched in March of last year, and is well below the 8 to 13 million foreclosures expected by 2012.

Mortgage Industry Advisory Corporation (MIAC) just announced that it closed the sale of two Freddie Mac bulk mortgage servicing portfolios in November with a combined unpaid principal balance of approximately $2.5 billion. The portfolios carried delinquency rates of 1.28 percent and 3.87 percent. The New York-based brokerage says it will be marketing a $70 million Fannie Mae mortgage servicing deal later this month.

Mortgage interest rates rose again this week, marking the fourth consecutive increase. Freddie Mac says the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has jumped to 4.61 percent, up from 4.46 percent just one week earlier. If such sharp increments continue at this pace, the 30-year rate could rise above where it was a full year ago (4.81 percent) in a matter of mere weeks. For a $200,000 conventional loan, the sudden rise amounts to $50 more in monthly payments than if buyers had locked in rates just two months ago.

With property values still tumbling, it's no surprise that nearly a quarter of the nation's mortgage borrowers owe more than their home is worth. Industry studies support the consensus that the farther a borrower sinks into negative equity, the more likely they are to throw in the towel. The severity of this catch-22 is now top-of-mind for government officials. The administration is reportedly pressuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make principal write-downs a key component of their foreclosure prevention efforts.

Industry data released Wednesday shows that new mortgage applications for the purchase of a home jumped 1.8 percent for the week ending December 3. This is the third weekly increase recorded by the closely watched home purchase index, which has reached its highest level since early May. All market indicators point to a continued rise in mortgage rates and that seems to have prompted some homebuyers to act now. Refinancing, on the other hand, is becoming less attractive.

Freddie Mac announced Tuesday that beginning in January 2011, the company will begin disclosing pool-level delinquency data on a monthly basis for all single-family Freddie Mac Participation Certificate (PC) and Giant PC securities. Freddie Mac says providing this delinquency disclosure data at the pool level will make the company's delinquency disclosures consistent with an industry practice previously established by Ginnie Mae.

They've been sitting at half-century lows for months now, but that trend appears to have snapped as mortgage interest rates across the board rose again this week. One industry report points out that long-term rates have been heading upward for three weeks straight; another says they've now hit a four-month high. Freddie Mac puts the average 30-year rate at 4.46 percent and the 15-year rate at 3.81 percent. Bankrate says the larger jumbo 30-year fixed rate jumped as well, settling at 5.29 percent.

CoreLogic Credco recently introduced FinalCheck, an automated, fully ""decisionable"" suite of prefunding risk evaluation products that instantly verify credit, application, and fraud data in an easy-to-read report for lenders. The company says FinalCheck is designed to help lenders satisfy GSE requirements, reduce repurchase risk, and increase loan delivery confidence.

Freddie Mac said Wednesday that it has ordered all foreclosure evictions involving occupied single-family and 2-4 unit properties to be suspended from December 20, 2010 to January 3, 2011. The policy applies to all homes with Freddie Mac mortgages. It's become a common practice for lenders to temporarily halt evictions during the holiday season. Fannie Mae and most other large mortgage providers are expected to follow suit.