And yes, it is staying dark later in the morning, and the sun is
going down earlier here in the northern hemisphere. But we don't
change the clocks until November 6th.
Likes sands through the hourglass so are the days of our
lives... the U.S. Senate
voted yesterday to restore higher loan limits, approving,
60-38, an amendment to a federal spending bill that would raise
the maximum size of loans that can be guaranteed by
government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae (FNMA)
Freddie Mac (FMCC) and the Federal Housing Administration. The
amendment was sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), but things don't look so
good for it in the Republican-controlled House, as many
argue that the current reduced loan limits help scale back
government support of the mortgage market. Why didn't they think
of scaling back government interference 10 years ago when "they"
told Fannie & Freddie to increase home ownership?
If you're an appraiser, I hope that San Diego AMC AppraiserLoft doesn't
owe you any money. Appraisers who worked for it are owed more
than $3 million. Someone wrote to me and said that a real estate
settlement firm, SettlementOne,
unfortunately yet another company whose name is two words stuck
together, is in discussions with AppraiserLoft to acquire
certain assets of the company, but not its liabilities, and to
help its customers. If you're an appraiser, you'll probably want
to contact the lender directly.
I think that, since U.S. citizens feel that Congress is doing
such a wonderful job managing our debt and handling Fannie &
Freddie, that Senators legislate residential mortgage loan
underwriting guidelines. How 'bout it!? Sens. Michael Bennet,
D-Colo., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., have unveiled the Sensible
Accounting to Value Energy (SAVE) Act, which aims to "encourage
investments in energy efficient home building, enable better
mortgage underwriting and potentially create more than 80,000
construction jobs. Under
the bill, federal mortgage agencies would consider a
borrower's expected energy costs when determining loan
repayment ability." Once again, good intentions...
The
government can’t seem to take itself out of the mortgage biz.
But as it was pointed out to me, one presidential candidate – Ron Paul – is a free
market supporter. His economic plan would close 5 federal
agencies, including HUD - quite the opposite of the Refi.gov
approach!
It would seem that Freddie & Fannie are "turning up the
heat," "playing hardball," "taking no prisoners," whatever you'd
like to politely call it. It is already a well-known, unstated
fact that the entire buyback process is handled differently when
"small pockets" originators are involved instead of "deep
pockets" lenders. But it seems that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
are becoming more aggressive in their quest for refunds as
bad home loans spread to more recent years: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-19/bofa-jpmorgan-say-refund-demands-mount-for-post-bubble-loans.html.
The
banter about the servicing options continues. “On the FHFA
paper’s 2nd option: Everyone I’ve talked to is touting this as
the best option. What isn’t discussed is that it is assumed that
a new, deep, liquid market for excess IO will suddenly appear.
When cold water is thrown on that idea, the next response is
that the TBA market will move to quarter coupons, so there isn’t
a separate IO market – it’s embedded in your Best Ex decision.”
Another noted, “Without commenting on the efficacy of any of the
approaches, I think FHFA et al are fooling themselves if they
think these market changes will happen rapidly or happen at all,
with the future of Fannie & Freddie still unknown. I
continue to believe that if there are any changes, they will be
minimal, and any major overhauls will be tabled until the future
of housing finance is decided. And based on the pace of reform
in Washington, that’s currently scheduled to take place the day
before hell freezes over.”
As
California goes, so goes the nation? "The California Department
of Real Estate adopted rules that expand the enforceable
duties and responsibilities of supervising mortgage brokers.
In addition, the rules also clarify the specific bases for
imposition of discipline and further explain the immediate
prohibition against real estate business activities triggered by
a person’s receipt of a notice of intent." Per a note from
AllRegs.
What we need is a new index, although it is not so new. BuildFax
unveiled its BuildFax Remodeling Index (BFRI) for August 2011 which
showed that remodeling activity reached a record high during
the month. BuildFax found that, based on its national
footprint of permit data, an estimate of over 3.3 million
residential remodeling projects will be permitted in 2011. This
figure is up from the estimated 3.1 million residential
remodeling projects that were permitted in 2010, an almost 9.5
percent increase. August became the month with the highest level
of remodeling activity since the Index was introduced in 2004
and represented the 22nd consecutive month of increases. "As
mortgage rates hit record lows, it is apparent that millions of
Americans are refinancing their homes and using some of their
new monthly savings to reinvest in their homes with remodeling
projects," said Joe Emison, VP of research and development at
BuildFax.
I
can't post every local mortgage organization's events, but let's
just say that local organizations are alive and well. In
Glenwood Springs, the Colorado
Mortgage Lenders Association is having a lunch &
continuing education session in a few weeks. More information
can be found at https://cmla.com/civicrm/event/info?id'&reset1.
(The fellow in the photo bears a passing resemblance to Michael
Milken.)
And in San Francisco, "In an effort to provide a medium for the
broker/banker community to network about concerns, triumphs, and
general questions related to the mortgage industry, the San Francisco/Peninsula
Chapter of CAMP will commence its first monthly Round
Table on Oct 27 at 8:30AM.” For questions, please contact Kathy
Pan, EliteCapitalInc@gmail.com.
The
link to register:
