mortgage

Mary Kane and the American News Project investigate the spread of foreclosures across Prince William County, Va.

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Freezing foreclosures has become a favorite tactic to slow the housing meltdown — a way to show that something’s being done to help people stay in their homes. But there’s no solid evidence these reprieves do anything more than postpone the day of reckoning.

The honeymoon period that most new presidents enjoy has probably been voided this time around. President Barack Obama will face a financial crisis that only threatens to become more severe at the start of 2009. And there are no simple fixes.

Treasury and the FDIC put together a plan to offer as many as 3 million homeowners lower loan payments for at least five years. Homeowners, at the center of the economic crisis, may get their turn at a helping hand from government. But can they get the help they really need?

With the mortgage crisis dragging on and no quick fix in sight, lots of new ideas to help people stay in their homes are floating around. Maybe one upside to the lack of action on stopping foreclosures is an opening for some innovation — for ways to break through the complications that seem to be [...]

It’s not clear whether foreclosed homes selling at fire-sale prices are an encouraging sign — or just a false hope of a rebound that’s still nowhere on the horizon.

Congress and the president rushed to rescue the financial system with a $700-billion bailout. Now they need to turn their attention to the housing front, where foreclosures continue to mount. One proposed solution: modify the terms of existing mortgages.

At Economist’s View, Mark Thoma brings up a subject no one seems to want to talk about anymore – helping people with modest incomes buy homes.
In the housing crisis, poor people — of all the likely suspects — are playing the role of scapegoats. Conservatives support the idea that the Community Reinvestment Act, an [...]

As the economy sinks toward recession and increased regulation gains support, lawmakers aim to tackle the elusive, unregulated derivatives market, with a focus on credit default swaps.

With all the news about partially nationalizing banks, and with the candidates rolling out new economic proposals and facing off in a debate tonight over their prescriptions for the credit crunch, it’s easy to forget that the whole mess still comes down to simple things: A homeowner, and a home.
That’s why you should expect to [...]