Mortgage applications decreased 5 percent for the week ending July 22, according to weekly data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinancing also decreased 5.5 percent from the previous week.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 69.6 percent of total applications from 70.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 6.1 percent from 5.8 percent of total applications from the previous week.
— Miranda Neubauer [more]

How big a deal is the upcoming cutback in mortgage limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal
Housing Administration? Will buyers and sellers who depend on jumbo-sized loans find themselves in a
financing squeeze after Oct. 1, when the limits plunge in key markets around the country?
Housing and realty lobbies are pushing hard on Capitol Hill for a continuation of the $729,750 high-cost
area maximum, but one industry is delighted by the prospect and is gearing up to fill the gap.
From small community banks to megabanks, the message is the same: Bring on the switch to lower
limits. [more]

It’s difficult to make grand predictions for the mortgage market, following the volatile activity during the throes of the recession, but Ron Gitter, a real estate attorney and blogger at coopandcondo.com, thinks there’s one movie that could unravel the mystery: “Jason and the Argonauts.” Like Jason’s quest for the golden fleece, Gitter said in a Huffington Post opinion piece, the mortgage market faces several challenges on its quest for stability, notably Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s changing roles in the secondary market and an interest rate that has nowhere to go but up. “The one-two punch of higher interest rates and the inevitability of changes coming to Fannie and Freddie only further slow the process of the elusive real estate recovery,” Gitter said. “For those of us on the ground, getting deals done seems to get more difficult every day.” [Huffington Post]

Eighteen different military families are alleging that JPMorgan Chase illegally foreclosed on their homes, making harassing calls and overcharging on their mortgages. In this video from MSNBC, a JPMorgan spokesperson admits that it “clearly made mistakes,” but residual outrage is still rippling through the political community. [more]

Based upon early indicators last January, it looked like some 200 banks were on track to fail in 2010. The number didn’t reach that high, but more banks went under across the country last year than in any year since 1992, during the savings and loan crisis.

Commercial real estate loans are the problem for many troubled banks these days, showing that not all lenders can use “extend and pretend” to get through the downturn.

The nation closed out the year with 157 bank failures, up from 140 in 2009. And while the total number of failures increased last year, the total assets of failed banks declined by more than 40 percent.

[more]

Attorney General-elect Eric Schneiderman’s legislative agenda may feel like deja vu for a lot of New Yorkers, according to the New York Times, with mortgage foreclosure woes ranking among his top priorities. Like past attorneys general Elliot Spitzer and Andrew Cuomo, Schneiderman said he plans to take aim at Wall Street, including mortgage lenders who may have contributed to our current fiscal malaise. [more]

Government-owned mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are pushing back against private banks that have failed to buy back loans that didn’t satisfy underwriting standards, according to Bloomberg News. In total, roughly $13 billion worth of loans filed in buyback requests have not been fulfilled by lenders including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, according to Fannie and Freddie. [more]

The financial landscape is taking a heavy toll on consumer confidence — particularly when it comes to buying a home, according to a report from research website FindLaw.com. Almost two-thirds of U.S. residents say they’re less likely to buy a home in the near future because of the economic climate, while only 8 percent of Americans say that they’re more likely to buy a home due to the current financial situation. Stephanie Rahifs, an editor with FindLaw.com, said that the low mortgage rates haven’t proven enough to move buyers into the market. “Stricter lending requirements are often making it more difficult for many people to obtain mortgages. High unemployment rates are raising concerns about housing appreciation, affordability and foreclosures,” Rahifs said. “These factors are causing many people to shy away from the idea of buying a house.” Lower-income families, in particular, are moving out of the housing market, the report shows, with those whose annual income is less than $50,000 much more likely to say they are less inclined to buy a home. TRD

[more]

Stan Humphries

Poor credit scores are becoming an increasingly difficult hurdle for potential homebuyers to overcome, according to real estate website Zillow.com, which says roughly a third of Americans currently have credit scores so low that they’re unlikely to qualify for a mortgage. While the declining credit scores — nearly 30 percent of Americans have a credit score of 620 or lower — could explain this, changing attitude toward home lending could also be at fault. Stan Humphries, chief economist with Zillow, said that the recession has changed many lenders’ mindsets regarding credit scores. “Four years ago, in the era of easy-to-get subprime loans, many borrowers with low scores did buy homes, which in turn helped contribute to a housing bubble,” Humphries said. “Today’s tighter credit is a predictable response by banks after the foreclosure crisis.” TRD

[more]

Auctioneer Real Estate Disposition has scored a Hamptons beach house foreclosure auction. The 3,000-square-foot Montauk home will hit the block next week, according to the Wall Street Journal, in a region that has remained relatively immune from the foreclosure crisis. The three-bedroom, four-bathroom home was sold for $1.28 million in 2006 and has a starting bid of $379,000. This is the auction company’s first Hamptons-area foreclosure listing, according to a spokesperson, out of the more than 27,500 properties auctioned so far this year across the country. [WSJ]

[more]