Beginning our series "Industry Checks & Balances" - at it's core are reliable credit decisions. In an era where most on the origination side know little about how sound credit decisions are arrived at; due to the advent of credit scores and matrix's of scores vs LTV vs DTI ratios, this issue is critical for the long term survival of individual careers and the industry as a whole. We'll explore most of the necessary 'checks & balances' over the next several months.
The last few months have seen some of the biggest changes to Buy to Let mortgage criteria since they were introduced in 1994. The so called 'credit crunch' has meant lenders are more selective about who they will lend to and the type of propositions they will lend on. How does this affect you and the mortgage deals available to you?
Housing price declines remain the greatest challenge to financial
markets and could prompt a deep recession, according to
Pimco's Bill Gross.
"Home prices which have fallen by 10% over the past 12 months and are
set for a repeat by this time in 2009. Lower Fed Funds? They would, in
Pimco's opinion, likely do more damage than...
If you are interested in learning how to refinance a home loan, then you should be familiar with that there are a number of important things you are going to have to take into consideration. In the end, in order to make intelligent choices regarding the issue of refinancing a home loan and related matters, you have to be an informed consumer, and this means making yourself as knowledgeable as you can on the matter.
Not being able to secure an ARM mortgage refinance when your payments and interest rate continue to climb is a very stressful situation. But by trying two know methods you may be able to save your home.
Countrywide Financial Corporation logged in on
Tuesday with its third consecutive quarterly loss due to a sharp increase
it its provision for loan losses.
On Tuesday the Nashville Business Journal reported that Bank of
America is planning to modify or otherwise work out some
265,000 Countrywide loans, allowing those customers to stay in their
homes.
The troubled loans that Bank of America has targeted for workout...
Today's mortgage market is more competitive than it has ever been. Never before have you had so many options; fixed rates, discount rates, cash back options, variable rates, capped rates, tracker mortgages - the list goes on! And then you need to choose your repayment option; repayment, interest only, ISA, Endowment, Pension or 'mix & match'! This guide is designed to help explain some of the options available to you.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell
to 62.3 in April's report on Tuesday, confirming declines seen earlier in
the month from other measures of consumer sentiment, yet coming in
slightly higher than the consensus expectation of 62.0.
The previous month's reading of 64.0 was revised upwards to 65.9.
Following a 35-year low in the previous month, the expectations
category saw...
Speaking in an interview with Fox Business news on Monday evening,
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he did not
believe that a second fiscal stimulus package was
necessary and that the tax rebates mailed out yesterday would make a real
difference to GDP.
The S&P Case-Shiller home price index continued its
sharp decline in February as both the 10-city and 20-city composite
indexes posted record annual declines in excess of 12.5%.
The weakest markets over the past year have been Las
Vegas and Miami, which have fallen by 22.8% and 21.7%, respectively.
Jacqui Douglas, economic strategist at TD Securities,
said, "Charlotte, NC continues to be the only Composite-
20 city posting year-over-year gains, although only barely at...
