In the Case-Schiller report data released this morning, US home prices continue to show improvement in August. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller index showed a seasonally-adjusted 1 percent improvement in August over the previous month. 16 of the 20 cities in the index saw their prices rise. Only four–Cleveland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Seattle–saw their home prices decline.
While the numbers are still down compared to last year, the continued upward trend is a nice change from last winter, when all cities saw their prices decline for several months on end. Many believe that the housing market is now turning around. However, the prices are down significantly. The average price today is equivalent to 2003 levels. In Detroit, they are at the same levels they were at in 1995. Compared to last August, prices are down 11.3 percent. As a result, many of the problems we have seen recently in regards to underwater homeowners and foreclosures seem likely to continue in the near future. As the New York Times said, in many places, it’s as if the housing boom never happened.
This week’s reverse mortgage rates are below. These rates are effective for the week beginning October 27, 2009.
APR:
HECM LIBOR 225: 2.494
HECM LIBOR 250: 2.744
HECM LIBOR 275: 2.994
HECM LIBOR 300: 3.244
Expected Rates:
HECM LIBOR 225: 5.83
HECM LIBOR 250: 6.08
HECM LIBOR 275: 6.33
HECM LIBOR 300: 6.58
The HECM LIBOR APR remained almost unchanged for the fifth consecutive week. Meanwhile, the expected rates continued to rise, though they only rose by three hundredths of a point. One wonders when the APR will finally change, and, when it does, in which direction it will go.
In the past, we have explained reverse mortgage terms. Today, we will explain some home mortgage terms:
Some Important Home Mortgage Terms Explained
Banks and other lenders offer mortgages to borrowers who want to buy homes and don’t have the required cash to make upfront payment for them. The lenders utilize the homes as collateral or security for their loans. If the borrower defaults on the contracted payments, then they can lose their homes to foreclosure. There are various forms of mortgage loans and various mortgage terms used in mortgage related discussions. You can also refer to a dictionary for home mortgage terms to have a better understanding. Following are some important mortgage terms that you would frequently come across in mortgage deals.
Adjustable Rate Mortgage
ARMs or adjustable rate mortgages usually have a fixed rate of interest at the beginning of the loan term and subsequently, they get reset to the market average. For instance, a 5/1 ARM would carry a fixed rate of interest for the initial five years and subsequently, it would get reset to the market rate every year. These loans are beneficial for those people who secure a mortgage when interest rates are escalating.
FixedRate Mortgage
Fixed rate mortgages come with a predetermined rate for the whole tenure of the loan. These loans are advantageous for locking in an affordable rate and for borrowers who need the security to understand that they would have a uniform monthly payment.
Annual Percentage Rate
APR or Annual Percentage Rate represents the real borrowing costs of a mortgage loan. Individuals with good credit scores typically qualify for lower APRs.
Down Payment
This is a portion of the home value that you have to pay at the beginning of the loan. A bigger down payment would lead to improved terms for the loan since it guarantees the lender that they would receive the payments.
Loan Term
The loan term is the length of time throughout which the loan has to be paid off. The higher the loan term, the less would be your monthly payments. However, if the tenure is extensive, then you would land up paying a huge amount of interest throughout the whole term of the loan.
Mortgage Points
Mortgage points or discount points are charges that you pay at the beginning of the loan. Every mortgage point is equal to 1% of the loan amount. Hence, if you are asked to pay 3 points on a $200,000 loan, you would pay $6,000. Lenders permit you to pay points or prepaid interest to lessen your interest rate.
The government’s $8,000 tax credit to new homebuyers has been under a lot of scrutiny in recent months. The tax credit was designed to help stimulate the housing market and lead to increased home ownership. To that end, it has been extremely successful. However, abuses within the system appear to have also been quite high. While the reverse mortgage industry found itself under scrutiny for what appear to be under about a dozen complaints, the federal government has started 167 criminal investigations and 107,000 civil investigations into possible fraud. Of the 1.4 million people who claimed the over 10 billion dollars in tax credits in 2008-2009, 60% had incomes under $50,000– leading to questions as to whether they could even afford a home.
The new homebuyer tax credit has certainly had many positive effects. Of the 1.4 million home sales, 350,000 to 400,000 were estimated to be a direct result of the credit’s availability. That accounts for 25-30% of the eligible home sales. In some areas, real estate agents have reported that up to 70% of their clients were considering buying a home as a direct result of the tax credit. With sales of existing homes at their highest level in two years, many are attributing the strong numbers to the tax credit, which expires November 30. Sales increased 9.4% in September according to the National Association of Realtors.
So which is it? It seems that the tax credit likely has had a positive effect on the market. However, the rock-bottom prices and increased inventory have also likely contributed to many first-time buyers choosing to enter the market. The increase in first-time homebuyers is a good sign for the real estate industry, but it is still a disconcerting one. If 60% of the 1.4 million people who claimed the tax credit from 2008-2009 had incomes of under $50,000, could they really afford to own a home? Will we see another foreclosure crisis within the mortgage industry down the line as these homebuyers are faced with rising rates or declining incomes? The answer to these questions remains to be seen.
While the pros of the tax credit may outweigh the cons, with the damage to the real estate industry wiping out the savings of many throughout the country, if the credit is extended, it should be done so with caution. While the image of every American owning a home is a promising one, the government has an obligation to ensure that those owning homes can actually afford to do so. Otherwise, history is at risk of repeating itself.
HUD released the long awaited new RESPA FAQs this morning. The document contains many common questions and answers about complying with RESPA.
RESPA, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act first passed in 1974, is the source of many of the basic federal reverse mortgage required disclosures, including the HUD-1 statement and the Good Faith Estimate (GFE). Most of the questions in the RESPA FAQs released this morning address the HUD-1 and GFE. There is also a specific section on reverse mortgages.
After already announcing a delay of the implementation of Mortgagee Letter 2009-19 to case numbers assigned on or after November 2, 2009, the Reverse Review reported today that HUD has delayed the implementation further. Guidance is expected from HUD in the next two weeks clarifying Mortgagee Letter 2009-19 and offering additional leniencies to address the difficult current market conditions. The changes will then go into effect on December 7, 2009.
For those who forgot, Mortgagee Letter 2009-19 changed the condominium approval process and condo unit eligibility for reverse mortgages. The Mortgagee Letter can be found at Mortgagee Letter 2009-19.
Today’s Wall Street Journal featured a very interesting article on how Bank of America is using reverse mortgages to save senior borrowers. The cases include situations where Bank of America has taken a significant write down to allow the borrowers to stay in their homes. But not all borrowers may receive the same treatment as the borrowers highlighted in the article. As the story notes, most borrowers who received the modified reverse mortgage had taken out option ARMs.
Option ARMs (Option Adjustable Rate Mortgages) have become “the new subprime mortgages,” leading many borrowers into foreclosure. 32% of option ARM borrowers were delinquent or in foreclosure last month, compared with 48% of subprime mortgage borrowers. Unlike subprime mortgages, option ARM mortgages generally went to borrowers with good credit, including seniors with significant equity in their homes looking to refinance. The option ARMs have also proved difficult to modify, since the low interest rates on the loan often cannot be lowered any further. Lawsuits have been filed by borrowers claiming they were misinformed of the loan’s complicated structure, which in many cases can lead payments to balloon after a few years.
As a result of the lawsuits, as well as the settlement of a suit against Countrywide, which was since acquired by Bank of America, Bank of America has agreed to modify option ARMs and subprime mortgages where possible. While it appears that Bank of America has so far only issued about 20 reverse mortgages to borrowers with option ARMs, it looks like a good start to fixing a significant problem. Borrowers with option ARMs from Bank of America may want to talk to their servicer or the bank about a modification, perhaps with a reverse mortgage.
Bank of America announced this morning that it is resuming offering fixed-rate reverse mortgage loans in Illinois. The decision comes after Bank of America has reviewed its policies relative to Illinois’ High Risk Home Loan Act (HRHLA) and determined that the loans can be offered as long as they meet the following criteria:
– Closing costs, defined as all costs paid by the borrower directly or indirectly, do not exceed 5% of the total loan amount.
– Bank of America’s high cost worksheet must be completed.
– Bank of America’s high cost worksheet must be submitted to fulfillment and indicate that the loan has “passed” the high cost test.
Says the letter, “Bank of America stands behind its commitment to provide clarity and transparency to home lending. To that end, we have chosen not to engage in the production of high cost loans.” Bank of America also announced that loans declined when the product was suspended September 16th can now be re-submitted for approval. The decision should come as welcome news to reverse mortgage lenders in Illinois.
This week’s reverse mortgage rates are below. These rates are effective for the week beginning October 20, 2009.
APR:
HECM LIBOR 225: 2.495
HECM LIBOR 250: 2.745
HECM LIBOR 275: 2.995
HECM LIBOR 300: 3.245
Expected Rates:
HECM LIBOR 225: 5.89
HECM LIBOR 250: 6.05
HECM LIBOR 275: 6.30
HECM LIBOR 300: 6.55
The HECM LIBOR APR remained almost unchanged for the fourth consecutive week. However, expected rates rose significantly. The expected rates are up .15 this week. One hopes this is not the beginning of an upward trend. After a short week last week, these rates will be good for a full seven days.
A report by a bipartisan Congressional oversight panel ruled today that the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) is not doing enough to help the current drivers of the foreclosure crisis – borrowers with good credit who have lost their jobs and those with complex mortgages. While the administration has lauded HAMP as it reached the crucial mark of 500,000 mortgages given trial modifications, the report counters. Many of those with modified mortgages will see their payments rise significantly after 5 years, leading some to argue that foreclosure is being postponed, not avoided.
It is true that the problem in the foreclosure crisis now is no longer sub-prime mortgages. Alt-A mortgages, and other products with ballooning rates, have hit many hard. Many borrowers with good credit have also been hit, especially those that have lost their jobs or have seen their home values plummet in recent months. Finally, as we have reported, foreclosures in high value areas have increased as well. As a result, modifying sub-prime mortgages or mortgages with high interest rates will not help many of the borrowers at risk or already in foreclosure. A new solution will be necessary to allay the losses of the recession.
In the Case-Schiller report data released this morning, US home prices continue to show improvement in August. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller index showed a seasonally-adjusted 1 percent improvement in August over the previous month. 16 of the 20 cities in the index saw their prices rise. Only four–Cleveland, Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Seattle–saw their home prices decline.
