Chancellor Alistair Darling will say in his pre-Budget report that the economy performed worse in 2009 than he first predicted, Treasury sources have said.
Mr Darling is expected to say that the UK economy shrank by 4.75% this year - more than the 3.5% originally forecast in the Budget in March.
The adjustment follows the economy’s unexpectedly [...]
Archive for November, 2009
Recession ‘worse than estimated’
November 30th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
Tags: news, Office for National Statistics, treasury
more...Few mortgages permanently modified
November 30th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
In October 2008, JPMorgan Chase & Co. shaved 25 percent off Rick Mullen’s mortgage payment by lowering his interest rate, helping him to stay in his Valencia, Calif., home despite a downturn in his small business refurbishing large shipments of damaged shoes.
More than a year later, Mullen is grateful but frustrated, he says, because Chase [...]
Tags: bank of america, borrowers, foreclosure, interest rate, lenders, loan, Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage payment, Obama, small business, Treasury's Office of Homeownership Preservation
British banks receive billions in secret bailout
November 27th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
The Bank of England extended secret emergency financing to Royal Bank of Scotland and to what was then HBOS during the banking panic last October, indicating the two banks were even closer to collapse than had been thought.
From the beginning of October 2008 when Ireland guaranteed the liabilities of all its banks, HBOS needed life [...]
Tags: Bank of England, borrowing, collateral, commercial loans, controversial government, emergency financing, government debt, insurance, loans, mortgages, Royal Bank, secret bailout
Last Week Mortgage Applications Declined
November 26th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
For the second week straight, mortgage applications dropped 4.5%.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s index, mortgage applications dropped from 629.1, during the prior week, to 601 last week, which is a 4.5% decrease.
Government programs have been helping the housing market recover from the worst economic crisis since the 1930’s. The first time home buyer [...]
Tags: home buyers, low mortgage, mortgage, Mortgage Bankers Association, tax credit
Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey
November 25th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 20, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5.8% compared with the previous week.
The Refinance [...]
Tags: loan to value, LTV loans, MBA, mortgage, mortgage loan, The Mortgage Bankers Association
Discussing Broader Implications
November 24th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
In last month’s report from the NAR, existing-home sales jumped 9.4 percent to an annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a level of 5.10 million in August. Sales activity was at the highest level since hitting 5.73 million annualized units in July 2007. Total housing inventory at the end of [...]
Tags: current sales, home price, homes available for sale, traditional homes
Debt will cost us
November 23rd, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
Canadian writer Margaret Atwood is the author of more than 35 books of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. Her novels include “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Blind Assassin,” which won the Booker Prize in 2000. Atwood says her 2008 book, “Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth” is “not a practical guide about how to [...]
Tags: bankrupt, borrowers, Council of Mortgage Lenders, debt credit, debt will cost us, financial institutions, financial world, massive financial, mortgages, subprime mortgages
Stocks Decline in Early Trading as Dollar Rises
November 20th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
Stocks fell in early morning trading Friday as the dollar continued to strengthen, and after a week of mixed economic reports.
Overseas markets declined. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB plans to start pulling back some of its stimulus programs as the economy begins to recover.
With little U.S. economic news to help sway [...]
Tags: dollar rises, European Central Bank, foreclosure, homeowners, investors, mortgage, Mortgage Bankers Association
Rates on 30-year loans remain below 5 percent
November 19th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 4.91 percent
Rates this week for 30-year home loans stayed below 5 percent for the second week in a row.
The average rate fell to 4.91% from 4.98% a week earlier, mortgage company Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Rates hit a record low of 4.78% in the spring, but [...]
Tags: Freddie Mac, government debt, homebuyers, loans, mortgage, mortgage rates, National Association of Realtors, tax credit
Mortgage Delinquency
November 17th, 2009 by Mortgage Writer
Florida ranked second among states with the highest mortgage delinquency rates in the third quarter, at 13.3%, a credit and information management company. At 14.5%, Nevada was No. 1.
Nationwide, the ratio of borrowers who were 60 days or more past due on their mortgages increased for the 11th straight quarter, hitting an all-time high [...]
Tags: borrowers, Florida, mortgage debt, mortgage delinquency, mortgages, nationwide