Fannie Mae, banks halt foreclosures for the holidays

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and a few large mortgage lenders have declared to postpone foreclosures on delinquent borrowers during the Christmas season. For homeowners with loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the moratorium will run from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2, 2012. During this time, legal and administrative proceedings for evictions may continue, but families will be allowed to stay in their homes, Fannie said in a statement.

Among some of the major banks that offer mortgage loans, Chase   Mortgage said it will not evict anyone between Dec. 22 and Jan. 2. Wells Fargo  will also suspend evictions during that period, but will not shut down its eviction process entirely.  Start of the New Year, it will be business as usual.

Source: CNNMoney

Fannie, Freddie could stop losing money by 2014

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could start returning bailout money to taxpayers by 2014. Both are required to pay 10 percent dividends on the government money they receive and things are looking up. More

Most consumers still pessimistic, according to Fannie Survey

 Fannie Mae’s September National Housing Survey finds most consumers still pessimistic about the economy, home prices and household finances. Here are a few highlights:

• Seventy-seven percent say the economy is on the wrong track (down only 1 percentage point from last month), while only 16 percent think the economy is on the right track (the same as in August). (note: I actually think this statistic is not that bad!)

• Forty-three percent report significantly higher expenses compared to one year ago. This number has increased for five consecutive months, but the majority of respondents still say their household income has remained the same.

• The number of Americans who expect their personal financial situation to worsen over the next year has decreased for the first time in four months (down from 22 percent in August to 19 percent in September). (note: I think this is good news).

• Only 33 percent of Americans say that mortgage rates will go up in the next 12 months (down 12 percentage points since August – the lowest number recorded in Fannie Mae’s monthly tracking). This translates into no urgency to buy.

• For the fourth month in a row, Americans expect home prices to decline over the next year. On average, Americans expect home prices to go down by 1.1 percent, the highest expected decline to date.

• Only 18 percent of respondents expect home prices to increase over the next 12 months, the lowest reported number to date in the National Housing Survey, while 25 percent say they expect home prices to decline (down by 2 percentage points since August).

• While 68 percent of Americans say it is a good time to buy a home (down 1 percentage point since last month), only 10 percent of those polled say it is a good time to sell one’s home (up by 1 percentage point since August).

• On average, Americans expect home rental prices to go up by 3.3 percent over the next year, down slightly from the expected increase of 3.5 percent observed in August.

• Despite continued consumer caution about taking on a large financial obligation to buy a home, 63 percent say they would buy their next home if they were going to move (up by 1 percentage point since August), while 32 percent of Americans say they would rent their next home (down 2 percentage points since last month).  
Source: Florida Realtors®