As Alex reported 9/24/2011 on Property Source Radio.
Realtor.org  – Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, Sept 20, 2011
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In overhauling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government may require more private mortgage insurance from borrowers and charge lenders higher fees to guarantee loans–moves that could increase borrowing costs, Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said this week at a mortgage conference in Raleigh, N.C.

Such steps are aimed at making the mortgage market more competitive and trim costs to the federal government by $28 billion over 10 years.

The government-sponsored enterprises buy loans from lenders and package them into securities that are then sold to investors. The GSEs charge a “guarantee fee” when they buy mortgages, a fee likely to be raised in 2012.

The increase could lead to a modest increase to mortgage borrowers. “Increasing the guarantee fees by 0.1 percentage point, as the White House proposed, would raise the monthly cost of a $220,000 mortgage by about $15,” The Wall Street Journal article notes.

Fannie and Freddie may also require borrowers to hold more private mortgage insurance to lessen the risks on taxpayers. The federal government took over the GSEs in 2008.

Any changes would be made “gradually” to avoid harming the already fragile housing market, DeMarco said.

Source: “Fannie, Freddie to Raise Fees,” The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 19, 2011) and “Mortgage Finance Head: Shift Risk From Treasury,” Associated Press (Sept. 19. 2011)

As Alex reported 9/17/2011 on Property Source Radio.
Realtor.org  – Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, Sept 12, 2011
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With the growth of green building the last decade, green lending has emerged to help finance those often costly “green” upgrades.

Dave Porter, with PorterWorks in Stanton, Wash., who provides continuing education courses on green lending to those in the real estate industry, says there are several basic types of green mortgages, which most of the public still isn’t very aware about. For example, energy-efficient mortgages (EEMs) are “used to finance the construction of a home that would meet green standards or to buy one that’s newly built.” An energy improvement mortgage (EIM), on the other hand, is used to buy and fix up a house that needs green improvements, like insulation or new windows.

The loans are available through mortgage programs by Fannie Mae, the Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Agriculture.

“They have slight differences in requirements, but basically they allow you to finance the home, plus the energy-conserving improvements, without having to qualify for the additional cost of the improvements,” Porter told the Chicago Tribune.

Source: “Market Ripe for Green Loans,” Chicago Tribune (Sept. 9, 2011)

As Alex reported 9/3/2011 on Property Source Radio.
Realtor.org  – Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, August 30, 2011
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development has once again extended its deadline for a program that provides up to $50,000 in interest-free loans to unemployed or medically ill home owners who are struggling to make their mortgage payments.

The new deadline is now Sept. 15. HUD resumed taking applications for the program on Monday.

The $1 billion Emergency Homeowners Loan Program, which launched in June, was originally slated to end on July 22, but HUD first extended the deadline to July 27 to give home owners more time to apply.

Home owners eligible for the program will be able to qualify for up to $50,000 in interest-free loans for up to two years. Home owners who have had a drop in income of at least 15 percent from involuntary unemployment or underemployment due to economic conditions or a medical emergency are eligible for the program. Home owners must still be able to contribute $150 per month toward their mortgage. (Learn more about eligibility requirements and the participating states at http://findehlp.com.)

Source: “HUD Extends Deadline for Unemployed Mortgage Assistance,” HousingWire (Aug. 29, 2011)

As Alex reported 8/27/2011 on Property Source Radio.
Realtor.org  – Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, August 23, 2011
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A new report argues that if banks wrote down the mortgage principal of underwater borrowers it could pump $71 billion per year into the economy and create more than 1 million jobs annually. The report, “The Win/Win Solution: How Fixing the Housing Crisis Will Create One Million Jobs,” comes from The New Bottom Line, a campaign that represents about 1,000 nationwide faith-based and community organizations.

The campaign argues in the report that by lowering home owners’ mortgage payments by an average of more than $500 per month–or $6,500 per year–that it would free up about $6 billion dollars per month that home owners could then spend on such items as buying groceries, household necessities, school supplies, etc.

“Home owners across the nation are struggling to pay their boom-era mortgages with their recession-era salaries and the economy is suffering for it,” according to the report. “Writing down the principals and interest rates on all underwater mortgages to market value would serve as the second stimulus that America so desperately needs, only without added costs to taxpayers.”

The group is pressing State Attorneys General, who are currently in settlement talks with the nation’s largest banks over allegations of foreclosure abuses, to stand firm on its request for principal reductions for underwater borrowers.

Source: “Fixing the Housing Crisis Would Create One Million Jobs Annually,” RISMedia (Aug. 21, 2011)