Widespread Fear Freezes Housing Market

From the New York Times:

You have to wonder sometimes what they’re smoking over there at the National Association of Realtors.

On Tuesday, the self-proclaimed “voice for real estate” released its “existing home sales” figures for July. They were gruesome. Sales were down 27 percent from the previous month, and down 26 percent from a year ago. Annualized, the July sales figures would translate into fewer than 3.9 million homes sold this year — a staggeringly low figure. (The record high occurred in 2005, when more than seven million houses were sold.)... 

Nagle Law Group, P.C. 4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028 (602) 595-3156 http://www.naglelawgroup.com.realestate.asp

Flippers are big share of home sales

House flippers and investors are making up a large portion of the struggling housing market, NPR reports. NPR cites housing data that shows one-third of home sales in July were all cash. That means a good portion of home sales were from investors and flippers. Usually, 10 percent of home sales are all-cash affairs
The Phoenix market continues to struggle but there are cash investors buying homes to flip, resell when the market recovers or rent.

Read more: Flippers are big share of home sales - Phoenix Business Journal

Nagle Law Group, P.C. 4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028 (602) 595-3156 http://www.naglelawgroup.com.realestate.asp

Making Home Affordable - Updated Detailed Program Description

From United States Treasury:

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/reports/housing_fact_sheet.pdf

Nagle Law Group, P.C. 4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028 (602) 595-3156 http://www.naglelawgroup.com.realestate.asp

American Dream 2: Default, Then Rent

By MARK WHITEHOUSE

PALMDALE, Calif. -- Schoolteacher Shana Richey misses the playroom she decorated with Glamour Girl decals for her daughters. Fireman Jay Fernandez misses the custom putting green he installed in his backyard.
But ever since they quit paying their mortgages and walked away from their homes, they've discovered that giving up on the American dream has its benefits.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126040517376983621.html

Nagle Law Group, P.C.
4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028
(602) 595-3156
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Is Strategic Default a Menace?

No one should decide to default without sitting down first with a knowledgeable professional to discuss the best course of action.... 

http://city-journal.org/2010/forum0427.html

Nagle Law Group, P.C. 4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028 (602) 595-3156

FRBB Public Policy Discussion Papers | Reducing Foreclosures

Reducing Foreclosures

Public Policy Discussion Paper No. 09-2
by Christopher L. Foote, Kristopher S. Gerardi, Lorenz Goette, and Paul S. Willen
This paper takes a skeptical look at a leading argument about what is causing the foreclosure crisis and what should be done to stop it. We use an economic model to focus on two key decisions: the borrower’s choice to default on the mortgage and the lender’s choice on whether to renegotiate or “modify” the loan.

FRBB Public Policy Discussion Papers | Reducing Foreclosures

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Fed’s mortgage modification program: Keep your house, lose your credit « Colorado Independent

Program could extend credit crisis

By Joseph Boven 4/8/10 9:29 AM

Americans who choose to take advantage of the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program as it stands today are entering into a buyer-beware system that may deliver short-term relief but also long-term pain. Although the program, known as HAMP, works to reduce monthly mortgage payments by half or one-third of monthly income, the program can also ruin participants’ credit for years to come, severely limiting their ability to borrow money and threatening for that reason to extend the housing crisis at the heart of the recession.

Fed’s mortgage modification program: Keep your house, lose your credit « Colorado Independent

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Geithner tells panel that more has to be done to help homeowners avoid foreclosure

Geithner tells panel that more has to be done to help homeowners avoid foreclosure

By Renae Merle

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 30, 2010

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told a Senate panel Thursday that mortgage lenders were still not doing enough to help homeowners avoid foreclosure and that some borrowers who qualify for federal aid are still losing their homes.


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Underwater Mortgages On the Rise

First American CoreLogic reported today that more than 11.3 million, or 24 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages, were in negative equity at the end of the fourth quarter of 2009, up from 10.7 million and 23 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2009. An additional 2.3 million mortgages were approaching negative equity at the end of last year, meaning they had less than five percent equity. Together, negative equity and near‐negative equity mortgages accounted for nearly 29 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide.

Read more at http://www.loanperformance.com/infocenter/library/Q4_2009_Negative_Equity_Final.pdf

Nagle Law Group, P.C.
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Phoenix, AZ 85028
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Two of three local mortgages underwater

Phoenix area homeowners are drowning in their mortgage payments.
According to new research from the real estate website Zillow.com, nearly 67 percent of all homeowners with mortgages in the Phoenix area are underwater on their homes. That means they owe more on the mortgage than the house is worth.

Read more: Two of three local mortgages underwater - Phoenix Business Journal

Nagle Law Group, P.C.
4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028
(602) 595-3156
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Why Don't Lenders Renegotiate More Home Mortgages? Redefaults, Self-Cures, and Securitization

Securitization does not explain the reluctance among lenders to renegotiate home mortgages.

Working Paper 2009-17a

Nagle Law Group, P.C.4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028 (602) 595-3156
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Media: News Releases > New Nationwide Survey Provides Comprehensive Look at Sentiment Toward Housing

Media: Fannie Mae News Releases; New Nationwide Survey Provides Comprehensive Look at Sentiment Toward Housing

Non-Financial Motivations Eclipse Financial Reasons for Owning a Home

Nagle Law Group, P.C.4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140Phoenix, AZ 85028(602) 595-3156
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More people walking away from mortgages...

In March, Morgan Stanley estimates that 10.7m homeowners are underwater, or about 23 per cent of all properties in foreclosure.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f8f99804-53f5-11df-aba0-00144feab49a.html

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010.  

Nagle Law Group, P.C. 4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028 (602) 595-3156

Fight to Save Home Ends in Heartache

Fight to save home ends in heartache... From KJZZ on July 23, 2010

This story demonstrates the importance of having an attorney advising you early in the process. The Whites could have saved themselves thousands of dollars in unnecessary payments to their lender, possibly avoiding the need to file bankruptcy on top of still having had their home foreclosed upon.

Nagle Law Group, P.C. 4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028

Yes we can ... walk away from bad mortgages: roger lowenstein blames the banks: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance

yes we can ... walk away from bad mortgages: roger lowenstein blames the banks: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance

Nagle Law Group, P.C.

4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140

Phoenix, AZ 85028

602-595-3156

Federal housing program complicates short sales...

A recently implemented federal housing-market stimulus program designed to encourage short sales appears to be doing just the opposite, according to Phoenix-area real-estate agents, title companies and mortgage lenders.

Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives, the fourth initiative to be launched under the banner of the Obama administration's Making Home Affordable program, offers a cash incentive of up to $3,000 to homeowners on the brink of foreclosure who stick around to complete a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure, rather than just walking away....

Read more at http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/2010/07/15/20100715biz-shortsalebonus0715.html

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Phoenix 7th highest for home foreclosures

More than half of the 206 U.S. metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more posted year-over-year increases in foreclosure activity -- even while foreclosure activity decreased in nine of the 10 metros with the highest foreclosure rates, according to a report Thursday from RealtyTrac Inc.

The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro area posted the nation's seventh highest metro foreclosure rate, with 4.28 percent of its housing units (one in 23) receiving a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2010.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2010/07/26/daily40.html?ana=e_du_pub

Nagle Law Group, P.C. 4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028 (602) 595-3156 http://www.naglelawgroup.com.realestate.asp

Home Sales Dip as Unsold Inventory Persists

Glut of Properties on Market Hints at Falling Prices Through Rest of Year as Sector Adjusts to End of Buyers' Tax Credit

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704421304575383493086578632.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1

Nagle Law Group, P.C.
4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028

Housing prices are likely to go lower

Bottom of market still year off, economists say

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/07/27/20100727housing-prices-declining.html#ixzz0uu7BsZf2

Nagle Law Group, P.C. 4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140 Phoenix, AZ 85028 http://www.naglelawgroup.com

Strategic default penalties threaten struggling homeowners

From the Minnesota Independent:

"Last week, Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise that buys up mortgage contracts from loan originators to keep the housing market liquid, announced new penalties for homeowners who strategically default.

“Defaulting borrowers who walk away and had the capacity to pay or did not complete a workout alternative in good faith will be ineligible for a new Fannie Mae-backed mortgage loan for a period of seven years from the date of foreclosure,” the company announced, adding that the policy goes into effect this Thursday, July 1. “Fannie Mae will also take legal action to recoup the outstanding mortgage debt from borrowers who strategically default on their loans in jurisdictions that allow for deficiency judgments.”

The new provisions mean that if you strategically default, you likely cannot get a conforming mortgage for seven years. And if you strategically default in some areas, Fannie Mae will come after you in court...."

Read more...

Nagle Law Group, P.C.

4530 E. Shea Blvd., Ste 140

Phoenix, AZ 85028

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