Current Housing Indicators |
| CURRENT | PREVIOUS | ||
| Existing Home Sales | 4.49m | ▼ | 4.74m |
| New Home Sales | 309,000 | ▼ | 344,000 |
| Housing Starts | 583,000 | ▲ | 477,000 |
| Building Permits | 547,000 | ▲ | 531,000 |
| HMI | 9 | UNCH | 9 |
| Existing Home Prices | $170,300 | ▼ (annually) | $199,800 |
| New Home Prices | $201,100 | ▼ (annually) | $232,400 |
More Videos
- Realities of the New Obama Refis
- A Bigger Housing Bailout for Obama
- Home Prices: Are We There Yet?
- Treasury: Jingle Mail A Myth
- How Bad Is The Housing Market? One Man's Tale
- Appraisal Code Sparks Huge Response
- New Rules on Home Appraisals End Up Thwarting Many Sales
- Mortgage Bankers Slash 2009 Forecasts
- $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit Proposal
- Watch The Mortgage Apps
|
CNBC'S MOST SHARED
- 'We're in the Middle of a Crash': Black Swan
- The Rising Mountain of Debt May Be the Next Crisis
- SEC May Reinstate Rules for Short-Selling Stocks
- Latvian Banker Taking Souls as Collateral
- The Worst Expected 2010 State Budget Gaps
- Cuddle Parties Heat Up
- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin Will Resign
- Malaysia PM Speaks to CNBC
- NY City Apartment Sales Down More Than 50%
- Best Cities For New Grads
- Fireworks At Pharma's Market
- Value of Warren Buffett's Annual Gift to Gates Foundation Falls Along With Berkshire's Stock
- Michael Jackson: The Music And The Money
- Five Stock Picks for This Market
- Realities of the New Obama Refis
- Weak Dollar Means Gold at $1,040: Strategist
- Court Ruling Could Mean Trouble for TiVo
- Lance, Please Back Out Of Tour
- TeleMedicine Gets An Apple App Store Facelift
- Schwarzenegger Signals Key Budget Concession
- Palin's Resignation May Hurt Her Future
- North Korea Fires 7 Missiles Off East Coast
- The Rising Mountain of Debt May Be the Next Crisis
- Drug Bust Nets Heroin Stuffed in Build-A-Bear Toys
- For Banks, Wads of Cash and Loads of Trouble
- SEC May Reinstate Rules for Short-Selling Stocks
- Vatican Runs Deficit Amid Economic Crisis
- Earnings Season: A Likely Game-Changer
RSS FEED
Text Size 
 |
CNBC.com |
Even the insiders I’m talking to, who know far more than I do, and who will be at the table, are answering my questions with: “Honestly, I’m just not sure.”
However, Treasury officials have said that the plan would likely involve the government purchasing mortgage backed securities as well as whole loans. Now the mortgage securitization process is so ridiculously complex, that I’m not even going to begin to explain where in the process the government could step in, so let’s stick to the whole loan side of the equation.
If the government is buying loans in order to get them off the balance sheets of distressed banks, and these loans are expected to be delinquent at some point soon, then what is the government's course of action once they take ownership of the loans?
Last fall, Henry Paulson spearheaded the “Hope Now” coalition of lenders and investors, the purpose of said coalition being to save borrowers by modifying and restructuring troubled loans. Does the government now join "Hope Now" itself and get in the loan modification business? But wait, if the government’s goal is to maximize taxpayer return, then that is in direct conflict with letting borrowers off the hook, right?
The politicians want the loans saved and the homeowners kept afloat, but that, in most cases, means losing money on the loan. Then there’s the issue of selling the asset at a discount…does that produce more return than the loan restructuring?
What I’ve heard is that the government would hold these assets to “maturity.” But again we’re faced with the unknown. We don’t know how many of these assets (loans) will perform and how many won’t.
Just putting my questions out there.
For Investors
- Is It Time to Buy Stocks Now?
- Measuring Risk in Volatile Times
- What the Experts Think You Should Do
- Is Your Money-Market Fund Safe? Find Out
- Slideshow: Biggest Chapter 11 Cases in US History
- Eight Tips for Investing in Hard Times
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes