Lot's of little stuff to talk about today. 24% of home sales are distressed according to a recent report. I would argue the number is much higher, and with the recent history of revising sales figures, I personally never take the first number anymore. I will wait until the first revision generally guaranteed by the release of the next quater results. One thing is for sure, we are seeing some signs of like with the HARP 2 refinance coming online and purchase activity creeping up. Mortgage applications have popped and lenders are still scrambling to hire more sales people, including the 1400 announce by Quicken today.
There was also some news about the federal moratorium program for homeowners who have or will short sold/sell or received the dreaded 1099 from their lenders. The program is set to expire end of this year, so Realtors are pushing homeowners who need to short sell to do it now rather than later. Since a short sale can easily take six months start to finish, it is an important consideration...But Congress could certainly vote to extend such a moratorium since it has little impact on our economy. But does the program encourage people to strategically default - of course it will.
FHA is raising it's premiums on mortgage insurance front and back kids...get your guides updated!
Rates have held nicely over the last few weeks with Freddie reporting a 5 bps drop in averages - which brings in calls everytime.
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