Although government-controlled GSE Fannie Mae lost much less money in the second quarter of this year than the first (“only” $2.9 billion vs. $6.5 billion in the first quarter), the GSE has still requested an additional $5 billion from the U.S. Treasury, bringing the tally of taxpayer-funded support to $104.8 billion since the federal government assumed control of the entity. Read full article »
Tag archives for Federal Government
Government Considers Removing Foreclosed Homes, Renting Them Out
In an effort to clear out the glut of unsold properties in today’s real estate market and prevent home values from continuing their downward spiral, the Obama administration is considering pulling foreclosed properties owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac off the market and renting them out. This could, according to Credit Suisse analysts, ultimately help avert another 3-5 percent Read full article »
tags: Ben Bernanke, BEREL, Bryan Ellis, Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter, carole vansickle, Credit Suisse, Draft, Fannie Mae, Federal Government, federal landlord, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Chairman, Foreclosed Properties, Foreclosure, Foreclosures, Freddie Mac, Gses, Obama, president obama, Real Estate, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investing News, Real Estate Investors, real estate investors news, Real Estate News, rental market, rental real estate
HAMP Conversions Plummet in August
The federal government’s beleaguered Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) fell to impressive new lows in August after a summer of progress with only 33,000 homeowners receiving a permanent loan modification that month. That is 33 percent lower than in September. While those who did manage to get their loans converted were able to reduce their loan payments down to about a Read full article »
category: Real Estate News
Fed Says there is No One-Size-Fits-All Short Term Remedy for the Housing Crisis
At a recent housing crisis meeting in Washington, D.C., Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said something that investors have been saying for literally years now and that the federal government certainly did not want to hear: “no one-size-fits-all short term remedies would work.” Pianalto went on to say that the nation’s housing market collapse Read full article »
category: Real Estate News
tags: Borrowers, Community Organizations, Community Reinvestment Act, Destructive Cycle, Facets, Federal Government, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Reserve Bank Of Cleveland, Financial Institutions, Foreclosures, Housing Market, Market Collapse, Mortgage Delinquencies, Mortgage Foreclosures, Neighborhood Stabilization, Oversupply, Resale Values, Sandra Pianalto, Stabilization Program, Term Remedy
Some Experts Replacing Double-Dip Predictions with Forecast of an “Extended Pause”
Due to level real estate values, declines in the stock market and commercial real estate market woes, more real estate investors and traders than before are beginning to batten down the hatches for an “extended pause” in the U.S. economy as a whole as well as the housing market. While optimistic analysts and the federal government’s PR team are calling Read full article »
category: Real Estate News
tags: Batten Down The Hatches, Bush Tax Cuts, Commercial Real Estate, Declines, Double Dip, Election Year, Federal Government, Housing Market, Incumbents, Market 1, Optimistic Analysts, Pr Team, Real Estate Investors, Real Estate Values, Slowdown, Stock Market, Uncertainty, Unemployment Numbers, Woes, Wsj
The Politics of Real Estate
Few industries are as profoundly impacted by the political machinations in Washington as the real estate industry. Whether it's old legislation like Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act or Barack Obama's massive mortgage bailouts, the U.S. political machine has a huge impact (usually bad) on the business of real estate.
Ideally, we could ignore politics. But here at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter, we insist on seeing the world with clarity - including the reality of Washington's aggressive involvement in every facet of our business, from mortgage lending to real estate sales license; from loan modification regulations to appraisal requirements... every piece of our business is profoundly impacted by politics. So rather than stick our heads in the sand and ignore reality, readers of the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter choose to be informed and prepared.
Mortgage Industry News
Few things change more rapidly than the mortgage market, and with the increasing dominance of GSE's Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the mortgage business, it's more important than ever to keep up. Here are a few recent mortgage news updates:
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Mortgage News
- HAMP Success Tally Slowly Growing
- Western States Working Through Foreclosure Backlog Quicker than Eastern
- Biggest Down Payments in the Country Found in New Jersey
- President Bypasses Congress, Appoints Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau
- Federal Reserve Recommends Expanding GSEs to Turn Housing Market Around
- Mortgage Rates Likely to Remain Low for a While Longer
- Top Former FDIC, Wells Fargo Execs Say Fannie and Freddie Must Go
- FHA Continues to Extend Anti-Flipping Waiver
- More Homeowners Using Delaying Tactics to Slow Down Foreclosures
- Now that It’s Passed: The True Cost of the Payroll Tax Cut
About Bryan Ellis
Bryan Ellis is an Atlanta-based real estate analyst and publisher of the widely read newsletter "The Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter". With over 200,000 subscribers - including real estate investors, agents, brokers, appraisers and other real estate professionals - the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter is among America's largest sources of unbiased coverage of politics and public policy for the real estate industry.
Bryan Ellis serves as editor in chief for the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter and is assisted by an extraordinary staff of writers, researchers and editors who are each real estate experts in their own right and who assure that the news we report is well researched, factual, and highly relevant to today's real estate industry.
Bryan is very happily married and has two wonderful daughters. He makes his home in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. You can contact the team at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter here.