Modest Inflation Expectations Allow Mortgage Rates to Once Again Set New Record Lows

September 3, 2010 By: Freddie Mac

McLean, VA – Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) has released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), and for yet another week, fixed-rate mortgages reached record lows, as did the 5-year adjustable rate in this survey. (The 30-year fixed-rate survey began in 1971, the 15-year began in 1991,...

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FHFA Establishes New Housing Goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

September 3, 2010 By: Federal Housing Finance Agency

Washington, DC -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has sent a final rule to the Federal Register establishing new housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) for 2010-2011. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA) required FHFA to establish housing goals for t...

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HUD SECRETARY ANNOUNCES NATIONAL FIRST LOOK PROGRAM TO HELP COMMUNITIES STABILIZE NEIGHBORHOODS HARD-HIT BY FORECLOSURE

September 2, 2010 By: HUD

WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced an unprecedented agreement with the nation's top mortgage lenders to offer selected state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations a "first look" or right of first refusal to purchase foreclosed hom...

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Mortgage applications rise 2.7 pct on low rates

September 2, 2010 By: AP

NEW YORK — Mortgage applications rose 2.7 percent last week as more borrowers took advantage of the lowest rates in decades to reduce their monthly loan payments. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday the increase was led by a 2.8 percent rise in refinance applications. The number of loans...

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Foreclosures Pose Potential Trouble on Election Day

September 2, 2010 By: NY Times

Home foreclosures, the epidemic spawned by the crash of the real estate market, are once again a potential election-year bugaboo.

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Stabilizing Neighborhoods: Lessons Learned from the Field

September 2, 2010 By: Federal Reserve Board Governor Elizabeth A. Duke

Good morning. I want to welcome you to the Federal Reserve Board for this two-day summit to examine the problems associated with vacant and abandoned property and to explore innovative approaches to neighborhood stabilization.

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OCC Survey Finds Bank Underwriting Standards Remain Tight

September 2, 2010 By: Office of Comptroller of the Currency

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has released its 16th annual Survey of Credit Underwriting Practices and reported that the trend of tightening underwriting standards has continued for the last three years. However, the OCC is beginning to see some easing of standards in r...

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17,000 people attend loan-modification marathon in West Palm Beach

September 1, 2010 By: Palm Beach Post - FL

WEST PALM BEACH — The Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America is finishing up its five-day mortgage modification event tonight with about 31 percent of homeowners walking out with a new lower monthly loan payment

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Reverse Mortgage Counseling Toolkit

September 1, 2010 By: Loansafe.org

WASHINGTON (LoanSafe.org) – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released the new HECM Counseling Protocol as Appendix 4 of the Housing Counseling Handbook, 7610.1 REV-5. A number of these changes involve new materials and tools which have been developed by the Nation...

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FDIC Issues Fourth Quarter 2010 CRA Examination Schedule

August 31, 2010 By: FDIC

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has issued the public list of institutions that it has scheduled for a Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) examination during the fourth quarter of 2010. This list is published pursuant to revised CRA regulations published in May 1995 that require each f...

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