Housing Market

House Passes Mortgage Bankruptcy Bill

The U.S. House approved legislation on Thursday that will allow bankruptcy judges to lengthen terms, cut interest rates and reduce the principal owed by bankrupt borrowers.
The so-called "cramdown" bill (the actual name of the bill is the "Helping Families Save Their Home Act") passed by a margin of 234-191. The legislation was modified to become more lender friendly; it requires borrowers to certify that they provided their lenders with financial information and gave them time to provide other alternatives.

Borrowers receiving a cramdown must reimburs their lender for a portion of the loss if they sell the property before they complete a five-year bankruptcy repayment plan.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, who opposed the legislation, says it forces those who acted responsibly to “subsidize scam artists, speculators and those who knowingly made bad decisions.”
The bill also permanently increases the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s insurance on bank deposits to $250,000, gives loan servicers legal protection when they modify troubled loans, and retools the Hope for Homeowners lending program, which has so far been a failure.
The Senate is expected to consider a version of the bill as early as next week.
Source: Bloomberg, Dawn Kopecki (03/06/2009)/Realtor.org

Freddie Mac on Thursday released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which shows the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.15 percent for the week ending March 5, with an average 0.7 point.

That’s up from last week when it averaged 5.07 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed mortgage averaged 6.03 percent.

"Mortgage rates followed bond yields higher this week, following reports of record continuing jobless claims and a downward revision in economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2008," Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. "Real Gross Domestic Product was revised from a 3.8 percent decline to a 6.2 percent drop in the fourth quarter mostly led by a 4.3 percent fall in consumer spending, which was the largest decrease since the second quarter of 1980.”

Nothaft said data shows the housing market continues to slow; new-home sales fell 10.2 percent in January to the slowest pace since records began in January 1963, while pending existing home sales slowed by 7.7 percent, the weakest since the series began in January 2001.

“More recently the Federal Reserve noted in its March 4th regional economic report that residential real estate markets remained in the doldrums in most areas, with only scattered, very tentative signs of stabilization," he said.

The 15-year fixed mortgage this week averaged 4.72 percent with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.68 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.47 percent.

Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 5.08 percent this week, with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.06 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 5.34 percent.

One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 4.86 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 4.81 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 4.94 percent.

Average commitment rates are reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total cost of obtaining the mortgage.

Source: Freddie Mac/Realtor.org