Foreclosure Tsunami. Proof of the Coming Real Estate Collapse.

Interview with foreclosure tracker Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac on whats the chance that what he calls a tsunami of missed mortgage payments will abate anytime soon.

Bulk of bank-owned homes aren’t even on the market yet “Banks to unleash flood of REOs” at Inman News looks at the effect of foreclosures on the housing market this year:

Inventories of unsold homes are likely to swell in coming months as lenders begin to push a growing backlog of repossessed homes up for sale — often in communities already awash in distressed properties…. Read the rest »

Alt-A

An Alt-A mortgage, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage that, for various reasons, is considered riskier than A-paper, or “prime”, and less risky than “subprime,” the riskiest category.

Alt-A interest rates, which are determined by credit risk, therefore tend to be between those of prime and subprime home loans.

Within the U.S. mortgage industry, different mortgage products are generally defined by how they differ from the types of “conforming” or “agency” mortgages, ones guaranteed by the Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read the rest »

Australian house prices down at the end of 08

Demand for houses fell dramatically in the final quarter of last year, predictiong an  interest rate cut tomorrow more likely, experts say.

The official index of capital city house prices fell 0.8 per cent in the December quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said.

There were falls across all capital cities except Adelaide, Canberra and Darwin.

In the year to December, the official index decreased 3.3 per cent.

The drop in house prices makes a 100 basis point interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at its meeting tomorrow a strong possibility, the ABC’s business editor, Peter Ryan, says.

“The market is now tipping a one percentage point cut, which would take the official rate to 3.25 per cent,” he told The World Today.

“That would make a 45-year low, when rates were at 3.18 per cent in 1964.” Read the rest »