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Ben Bernanke’s Christmas Gift: Mortgage Refis
Tweet Share on Facebook December 3, 2008 Comment (2)Masses of homeowners are looking to take advantage of the present Fed Chief Ben Bernanke recently slipped under the Christmas tree: lower mortgage rates.
As a result of two recent announcements by the Fed--that it would buy Fannie and Freddie debt and mortgage backed securities and might even purchase long-term Treasury bonds--average 30-year fixed mortgage rates dropped more than a half point, from 5.99 to 5.47, during the week ending November 28, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The lower rates triggered a flood of refinancing applications. “The Refinance Index increased 203.3 percent to 3802.8 from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 38.0 percent to 361.1 from one week earlier,” the MBA said in the report. “The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 69.1 percent of total applications from 49.3 percent the previous week.”
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Bad Mortgage Tally Could Jump Next Year
Tweet Share on Facebook December 2, 2008 Comment (1)While this year has been painful enough, 2009 is expected to be even worse for mortgage delinquencies, according to a recent report.
Adjustable-rate mortgages made during the housing boom are projected to trigger a surge in the number of consumers that fall behind on their home loans next year.
That’s according to a report in The Wall Street Journal about research conducted by TransUnion, a credit bureau.
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‘A Christmas Story’ House Rented for $5,250
Tweet Share on Facebook December 2, 2008 Comment (2)How much would you pay to spend Christmas Eve and morning in the original home from the 1983 motion picture “A Christmas Story?”
The winning bid on the eBay auction was $5,250.
Here are the details, via The Real Estate Bloggers:
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‘Bailout’ Takes Home Word of the Year Honors
Tweet Share on Facebook December 2, 2008 Comment (1)I missed this nugget from last week, but apparently Merriam-Webster made “bailout” its 2008 word of the year.
Via The Big Picture:
With politics and the economy foremost on the minds of many, it is no wonder that bailout—a word ubiquitously featured in discussions of the presidency and fiscal policy—took home honors as Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2008.
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Ben Bernanke: Fresh Attack on Mortgage Rates
Tweet Share on Facebook December 1, 2008 Comment (20)Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday opened the door to another unconventional measure to lower mortgage rates: buying long-term Treasury bonds.
In a speech in Texas Monday, the Fed chief said:
Although conventional interest rate policy is constrained by the fact that nominal interest rates cannot fall below zero, the second arrow in the Federal Reserve's quiver--the provision of liquidity--remains effective. Indeed, there are several means by which the Fed could influence financial conditions through the use of its balance sheet, beyond expanding our lending to financial institutions. First, the Fed could purchase longer-term Treasury or agency securities on the open market in substantial quantities. This approach might influence the yields on these securities, thus helping to spur aggregate demand.
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Financial Turmoil Hits Donald Trump’s Casinos
Tweet Share on Facebook December 1, 2008 Comment (4)Higher unemployment and home foreclosure rates are hitting Atlantic City’s casino industry, and even Donald Trump is feeling the pain, Bloomberg reports.
From Bloomberg:
Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the casino company founded by Donald Trump, said it will forgo a $53 million bond-interest payment due Dec. 1 as it negotiates with creditors on ways to restructure the company’s finances…
The casino owner posted its fourth straight quarterly loss this month as its Atlantic City properties attracted fewer gamblers and it wrote down the value of its Taj Mahal Casino.
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