mortgages

Remember how Congress and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan refused to regulate subprime loans, and joined the mortgage industry in defending them as a way to extend the benefits of homeownership to all? Turns out it was all for nothing, really. New Census figures out today show home ownership rates returning to their levels [...]

One of the long-held beliefs about subprime mortgages is that they had a positive side, extending credit to non-traditional buyers and increasing minority homeownership rates. But in a new research paper (pdf),  the Boston Federal Reserve takes a closer look at foreclosures in Massachusetts. In a remarkable finding, researchers say that widely-held assumption simply isn’t [...]

Did foreclosures play a direct role in the election results? At the Orange County Register, real-estate blogger Jon Lansner thinks so. He matched up states with high foreclosures to voting patterns, and came up with this:
States that President-elect Barack Obama won had housing markets in far worse shape than states won by his rival, Sen. [...]

When Congress passed the mortgage rescue bill in July, politicians touted help for homeowners as a big part of the legislation. By Oct. 1, the Federal Housing Admin. was to set up a program that would back, with $300 billion in guarantees, the refinanced loans of homeowners in trouble. Lenders who wanted to participate would [...]

So far it seems those banks and financial institutions fortunate enough to receive billions of dollars from the government are showing their gratitude by hoarding the money for their own purposes, spending it on parties and, now, using it to cover up for major accounting “irregularities,” as they say.
Makes you proud to be a capitalist, [...]

Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture has an astounding followup to Matthew Blake’s coverage of Congress tearing into the rating agencies on Wednesday. As Matthew pointed out, lawmakers got into some unusually tough questioning of the CEOs of the agencies, which have come under heavy criticism for giving their stamps of approval to risky subprime [...]

A troubled investment banker writes to Dear Lucy at the Financial Times to tell her about a disturbing experience recently at a dinner party. The investment banker was asked what he did for a living, and when he supplied the answer, everyone at the party turned on him. The reaction, he said, would be akin [...]

With the economic landscape radically altered by government intervention in the financial system and partial nationalization of the largest banks, the ‘deregulation’ phase of financial services is over. It’s time to consider how to protect the consumer.

PHILADELPHIA — Following several days of indecision on whether to announce a new set of economic proposals, Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee, may have been forced into a more proactive role when Sen. Barack Obama unveiled a new economic plan of his own yesterday.
The McCain campaign offered a preview of the $52.5 billion [...]

MarketWatch takes a hard look at Republican nominee John McCain’s surprise proposal in last night’s debate to have the government buy up bad mortgages and renegotiate them.
If that idea sounded a little familiar, MarketWatch pointed out, that’s because the $700-billion rescue package already includes authority for the Treasury Dept. to do just that, if it [...]