Current Housing Indicators |
| CURRENT | PREVIOUS | ||
| Existing Home Sales | 4.91m | ▼ | 5.02m |
| New Home Sales | 460,000 | ▼ | 520,000 |
| Housing Starts | 817,000 | ▼ | 872,000 |
| Building Permits | 786,000 | ▼ | 857,000 |
| HMI | 14 | ▼ | 17 |
| Existing Home Prices | $203,100 | ▼ (annually) | $224,400 |
| New Home Prices | $221,900 | ▼ (annually) | $236,500 |
- Fear Gripping Commercial Real Estate—But Question Is Why?
- Reasons NOT To Modify Troubled Home Loans
- Bailout For Builders—Are They Next In Line?
- Homeowners: Not Just About Buying—It's Also About Investing
- Bailout Anger Boiling: "Is Kashkari A Chump?"
- That $300 Billion Hope For Homeowners Isn’t Working
- Frank Vs. Paulson: Just Who Has It Right On Mortgage Defaults?
- Citi Jumps On Mortgage Modify Bandwagon: Does It Really Help?
- Fannie Mae's Future Looks Pretty Grim—Downright Scary
- Home Loans: The Case For And Against Modifying Them In Court
- Out with Cox, in with Uptick Rule
- Pops & Drops: Hewlett-Packard, JP Morgan & Air Wagoner
- Mad Money Green Week: Owens Corning
- Fast & Furious: It's All About Soup
- Web Extra: The Trade on Walmart and RIMM
- Chartology: Grossly Oversold and Favoring the Upside
- The "Armageddon" Gameplan
- What's Next for Citigroup?
- What to Expect From a Geithner-led Treasury
- Soros: More Money Needed For U.S. Bailout
- HP Earnings: How Much Will "Hurt" From Economy?
- Obama Warns On Economy: Works On Stimulus Plan
- Citigroup's Ills May Signal Market Isn't Near Bottom
- US Inflation Bonds Hit by Deflation, May Recover
- Pros Say: Market Will Drop 5-10% — Ford Will Boom
- Bonds Drop on Profit-Taking, Geithner Move
- Jack Welch on Detroit: Let Them Go Bankrupt
- Bank Shareholders Face 'the Unthinkable': El-Erian

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CNBC.com |
One is from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which, in what it calls a “market-driven plan,” wants the government to buy loan pools at a discount and then sell those same loans back to Wall Street, again with the discount and also after they’ve been “modified.” Of course this begs the question: Does Wall Street want them back?
Then there was the email from the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, who is introducing legislation today that would allow the FHA to insure and guarantee refinanced mortgages that have been significantly written down by mortgage holders and lenders.
While nobody wants to use the words “government bailout,” most especially Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, these programs all require government money for a time at least. And these proposals are on top of Paulson’s teaser freezer plan, where banks and lenders are supposedly freezing some of the adjustable rates on some of the troubled subprime mortgages.
related content |
This is on top of Countrywide’s [CFC
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] deal with Boston-based NACA which is supposedly modifying many many loans on a case by case basis, on top of umpteen other lenders supposedly doing the same thing, and on top of FHA Secure which was the president’s plan to allow more folks to refinance into FHA loans, even if their loans are delinquent.
You would think we wouldn’t have any foreclosures at all these days, given all the plans, but California-based RealtyTrac reported today that foreclosure filings in February were up 60% from a year ago, and a year ago they were pretty darned high already.
Here’s the rub: So many troubled borrowers don’t qualify for so many of these plans. So many don’t contact their lenders about potential fixes. So many can’t even afford the modifications. So many don’t actually want their loans fixed because they have negative equity in their homes, and they’d prefer to walk away. So many fixes.
Questions? Comments?



