Last Friday was the first day of spring. Congratulations, you made it through winter – now if only your savings had… Conforming To $729k? What is the word on when the conventional $729,250 will be rolled out? Hah! Call me “out of the loop”, but I have none. There are reports that big banks’ retail
March 2009
With tax preparation season in full swing, here’s the IRS site that discusses mortgage interest deductions. There’s a lot of items that most people don’t know such as: second homes can be treated just like primary residences from a tax deduction standpoint, mortgage insurance is deductible up to $109k adjusted gross income, points on refis
We’ve already discussed why the last big wave of hysteria about AIG and resulting 90% bonus tax is deadly for big banks, now here’s the next hysteria wave says The Economist: Shocking though the bonuses have been, they pale in comparison with the $49.5 billion of payments that AIG has made to counterparties in its
In the context of proposed legislation to tax Wall Street bonuses at 90%, Goldman Sachs head Lloyd Blankfein is reportedly going to return $10b in TARP funds his firm received. Another unnamed Goldman exec said “It’s just impossible to run our business in this environment,” which is an understatement given the shortsighted proposal for such
I tell folks that money isn’t everything. But it sure keeps the kids in touch. Non-FHA Lender Rules Speaking of money, can non-FHA approved lenders get paid on an FHA loan? In other words, can a mortgage lender advertise to brokers, “Get Paid On All Your FHA Loans Without Being FHA Approved!”? According to HUD,
Below is the complete Treasury plan that’s been eagerly anticipated plan to remedy the credit crunch that started August 2007. It’s clearly presented and there are further links at the bottom to follow up Q&As. Bottom line: it’s a plan for private investors to be able to raise money with FDIC backing to be able
The economic downturn has more Americans shifting to smaller homes. For example, Bernie Madoff just traded a 3,500 square foot penthouse for a 9 x 10 windowless studio in lower Manhattan. And for anyone needing financing on larger homes, it appears that Bank of America is truly “ruling the roost” when it comes to jumbo
This week was the eleventh week of a mortgage bond purchase program by the Federal Reserve—here’s week 10. Beginning on March 12 and ending on March 18, the Fed bought $28.2b of mortgage bonds—below is a table breaking down the amounts for each coupon and maturity across the three agencies that issue mortgages: Fannie Mae,
The House yesterday approved a 90% Wall Street bonus tax on a 328-93 vote. Below are excerpts from a WSJ report: The House measure was approved on a 328-93 vote and would impose a 90% surtax on bonuses granted to employees who earn more than $250,000 at companies that have received at least $5 billion
Amazon.com WidgetsThis week, it’s somewhat difficult to find the market mood. On the one hand we seem to be in the trough of the recession with GDP at -6.2%, the worst since 1982 (and a revision that’s expected to be the same next week). And on the other hand we saw the Fed step in
House Passes 90% Bonus Tax The House of Representatives passed a quick bill which places a 90% tax on the AIG bonuses, after the US taxpayer, in effect, paid for AIG’s gambling losses, and on bonuses received by the employee of any company that receives more than $5 billion in TARP money. Unfortunately for any
Re-Locks If a broker renegotiated a lock every second, how long would it take to get better rates on 1.25 trillion loans? Over 39,000 years, which is about how long it will take investors to forget the miserable pull-through that they’re facing. Yesterday Fannie 4.5’s moved above a price above 102, plus a conservative .5
RATE UPDATE Rates on conforming loans up to $417k and super-conforming loans up to $625k have been about even for the past four weeks, but it looks like they’ll break downward thanks to new Fed action. Super-conforming loan limits to $729k will be phased in by most lenders in the coming weeks. Rates on Jumbos
Full Fed statement below following today’s FOMC meeting. They’ve more than doubled their mortgage bond buying program to drive rates down. Rates trading lower on the news. FULL FED FOMC STATEMENT: Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January indicates that the economy continues to contract. Job losses, declining equity and housing
The US Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation at the consumer level of the economy, was +0.4% in February and +0.2% year-over-year through February. Excluding volatile oil and food costs from the readings, “Core” CPI for February was +0.2% and +1.8% YOY through February. Here’s the December CPI report which includes complete CPI numbers for
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