WASHINGTON - Home foreclosures will keep rising next year no matter who is elected president in November.
Even the optimism that surrounds a new president taking office cannot resurrect home values overnight, and presidents have no direct ability to reduce rising mortgage rates. Nevertheless, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain both promise help for homeowners […]

[Read more →]

AP - Americans with mortgages exceeding the value of their homes face long odds of getting help under an expanded Bush administration program aimed at helping distressed borrowers.
Article Source

[Read more →]

A shiver ran through the market yesterday with the news that First Direct was stopping making new mortgages. Sure, the withdrawal is temporary, the result of a flood of demand as it offered better terms than its competitors for a two-year fixed mortgage. But it is one more sign of the squeeze on mortgages, raising […]

[Read more →]

AFP - Germany’s IKB unveiled more bad news Thursday, suspending the sale of billions of euros (dollars) of risky assets tied to US subprime mortgages and revealing it was getting yet more state aid.
Article Source

[Read more →]

NEW YORK (AP) — Bond Insurer FGIC Corp. said Monday it lost nearly $2 billion in the fourth quarter and continues to seek a reorganization of its insurance operations and to raise capital to shore up its financial position.
The loss resulted primarily from writing down the value of securities guaranteed by FGIC that are backed […]

[Read more →]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — It started last summer when borrowers with weak credit started defaulting on their mortgages. Last night, it brought down an 85-year-old pillar of Wall Street.
How did we get to this point? How did rising foreclosures among subprime borrowers lead to Bear Stearns being scooped up in a fire-sale for two bucks […]

[Read more →]

Reuters - Wall Street banks are facing a “systemic margin call” that may deplete banks of $325 billion of capital due to deteriorating subprime U.S. mortgages,
JPMorgan Chase & Co , said in a report late on Friday.
Article Source

[Read more →]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — More home owners than ever are losing the battle to make their monthly mortgage payments.
Over 900,000 households are in the foreclosure process, up 71% from a year ago, according to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. That figure represents 2.04% of all mortgages, the highest rate in the report’s quarterly, […]

[Read more →]