Archive for 'Housing & Real Estate'
Mortgage Provisions in New Financial Overhaul Bill
The Financial Overhaul Bill which will be signed into law soon when President Obama pens his name on the legislation. The bill is over 2,300 page long and includes new rules for nearly all facets of the financial economy. Although much of the attention thus far has been on provisions focused on limiting large bank’s [...]
Posted: July 20th, 2010 under Housing & Financial Legislation.
Tags: new financial overhaul bill and mortgages
Comments: none
Macro view on debt
If you’ve been a regular reader of “My Mind on Mortgages” over the years then you know that I am a big fan of the Economist magazine. I appreciate their global perspective and use of economic theory in explaining current events. From time to time they publish special reports on hot topics that are very [...]
Posted: June 29th, 2010 under Credit Crisis.
Tags: debt problems, economist special report on debt
Comments: none
PDX is named an “elite city” in the Economist
I like to provide hyperlinks to articles when Portland is mentioned in the national and international press. The Economist (my favorite news periodical) recently published THIS ARTICLE in which Portland is compared to other international cities such as Vancouver BC, Stockholm, and Freiburg, Germany. It’s worth a read.
Posted: May 31st, 2010 under Housing & Real Estate.
Tags: or; portland in the economist, Portland
Comments: none
Future of Fannie and Freddie could be wrapped up in amendment
The WSJ is reporting in this post that an amendment to the financial overhaul is bill is expected that would end the government’s subsidy of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac in the future. If you’ll recall the two quasi-governmental agencies that secure somewhere around 70% of all conventional mortgages in the US were taken into [...]
Posted: May 5th, 2010 under Housing & Financial Legislation.
Tags: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, financial overhaul and Fannie, financial overhaul and Freddie, impact of financial overhaul on fannie and freddie
Comments: none
What’s that lurking in the “shadow”?
Barclay’s Capital released a study yesterday indicating that, according to their calculations, there are currently fewer banked-owned properties for sale than previously thought. This might come as a surprise to those who work in the real estate industry. Their numbers show that at the end of February there were 480,000 homes for sale nationwide that [...]
Posted: April 29th, 2010 under Housing & Real Estate.
Tags: foreclosures and housing inventory, when is the best time to buy a home?, when will foreclosures peak?, when will REO peak?
Comments: none
Mortgage Late’s Decline in March
Many housing market analysts remain concerned about the impact that foreclosures will have on the housing in the next few months. The pace of foreclosure remains high and that means a banks will be bringing REO to the market for months and probably years to come. However, we received good news today that may be [...]
Posted: April 19th, 2010 under Housing & Real Estate.
Comments: none
Portland gets WSJ love
This article appeared in today’s online WSJ. Portland gets some major love. Here are a few excerpts:
*Alex Payne plans to move to Portland with his wife next month, while keeping his job at San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. Last October, Mr. Payne caused a stir when he blogged about his frustrations with San [...]
Posted: April 14th, 2010 under Housing & Real Estate.
Tags: PDX, work in SFO and live in PDX
Comments: none
Oregon Land Use in WSJ
I don’t pretend to be an expert on land use planning but anytime Oregon is featured in the WSJ I like to check out the story. This morning there is a feature article about Oregon’s land-use laws and the impact it is having on pear farmers in Jackson County (Southern Oregon).
As a resident of Portland [...]
Posted: April 2nd, 2010 under Housing & Real Estate.
Tags: oregon land use laws, WSJ on Oregon land use laws
Comments: none
New accounting rules may make covered bond program more prominent
Rob Chrisman wrote in yesterday’s edition of the “Pipeline Press” (a great blog if you want to stay abreast of the changes in the mortgage industry) that new accounting rules may make covered bonds more common with regard to securing mortgages. I originally blogged about covered bonds back in 2008 when the subprime mortgage crisis [...]
Posted: February 23rd, 2010 under Credit Crisis.
Tags: covered bon, summary of covered bond program, what is a covered bond
Comments: none
2010 RESPA, FHA, and Property Appraisal Presentation
On February 8th I provided an industry update to a group of real estate professionals. The subject of the presentation was focused on providing realtors with the essential information they should be aware of when working with buyers and sellers who are using mortgage financing. Here are the slides for your learning pleasure:
Launch your own [...]
Posted: February 11th, 2010 under For Professionals, Presentations.
Tags: 2010 mortgage industry update summary, 2010 what realtors need to know about mortgage changes
Comments: none
