Archive for April, 2009
Same story, different month: delinquent mortgages continued to accumulate in February, which according to a top credit bureau executive, is an indication that the housing market has not yet seen its bottom.
"I'm trying to find optimism in these numbers, but I'm pretty hard pressed to do that," said Dan Adams, president of U.S. Information Systems for Equifax Inc.
Adams told Reuters that seven percent of homeowners with mortgages were at least 30 days late on their loans in February, up 50 percent from a year ago. If you break down the numbers, Adams said a whopping 39.8 percent of subprime borrowers were at least 30 days behind on their mortgage, which is a 23.7 percent jump from last year. And projections indicate that 30-day mortgage delinquencies will likely result in even more 60- and 90-day delinquencies.
“The wheels just fell off the economy in the fourth quarter of 2008,” said James Chessen with the American Bankers Association last week. “The amount of job losses dealt the economy a severe shock, and that continues to be the biggest driver for delinquencies.”
The U.S. economy lost nearly three million jobs in 2008, with nearly two million of them occurring in the fourth quarter. “As the economy continues to shed jobs, it is unlikely that delinquencies will see any improvements this year,” Chessen suggested. The Labor Department said Friday that employers cut 663,000 jobs in March, bringing the national unemployment rate to 8.5 percent.
A glimmer of positive news, however, has recently sparked hope that the nation's housing market might be heading in the right direction. The Commerce Department reported last month that sales of new single-family homes climbed to an annual pace of 337,000 — the highest in 10 months. In turn, homebuilder shares have increased about 45 percent since March 6, according to the Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction Index.
But Adams told Reuters the continued increase in mortgage delinquencies revealed in his data foreshadows more foreclosures, short sales and home price declines as homeowners default and banks then repossess the homes to sell them at steep discounts.
Write to Kelly Curran at kelly.curran@housingwire.com.
Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.
Fannie Mae's (FNM: 0.00 N/A) refinancing volume jumped to $77 billion in March, nearly twice the refinancing volume it experienced during the month of February and its largest refinance month since 2003, the company said Tuesday.
"The volumes we are seeing are very encouraging," said Tom Lund, executive vice president, Single-Family Mortgage Business. "A majority of our business volume in March was in refinanced loans, and we anticipate that volumes will increase even more as millions of additional homeowners become eligible to refinance under the President's Making Home Affordable plan."
The Making Home Affordable program is made up of two levels of aid — one being a refinance program effective for an estimated 4 to 5 million homeowners. And Given the recent historically low mortgage rates, homeowners have a strong incentive to try and refinance. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week that refinance applications rose 3.7 percent, with refinance interest rising to 79.1 percent of total applications, from an already high 78.5 percent the prior week.
Fannie Mae launched a Home Affordable Refinance initiative last month as part of the President's Making Home Affordable plan. "Providing broader access to affordable, sustainable mortgages through expanded refinancing opportunities is a critical part of preventing future foreclosures and hastening recovery," Lund said. The company reported Tuesday that over 500,000 borrowers have accessed its online assistance, thus far, to inquire about their eligibility for refinancing under Obama's plan, and more than 80,000 callers have contacted Fannie Mae's national hotline since the plan was announced.
Fannie Mae also said, as of April 4, the 1,600 lenders and 29,000 mortgage brokers using its Desktop Underwriter platform can efficiently process an application to refinance an existing Fannie Mae loan. "This will allowing for greater lender origination capacity and easier refinancing for borrowers," — as the volume has clearly climbed.
Write to Kelly Curran at kelly.curran@housingwire.com.
Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade
(Update 1: corrects auction amount attributed to BigBidder.com)
Early entrants are rushing into the business of facilitating the trade of distressed residential real-estate debt, as the number of troubled real estate loans continues to grow. While the space remains largely in its infancy, the firms trying to build a market for note trading say they hope the current crisis can help spur a more transparent marketplace for buying and selling whole loans.
One such outfit, Irvine, Calif.-based LoanMarket.NET, said Tuesday that it had launched its online marketplace for buying and selling real estate-secured note investments.
"The market for buying individual mortgage notes from originating lenders has traditionally been available only to investors such as Wall Street investment banks, large hedge funds, and regional banks," said LoanMarket.NET founder and president Jeff Freud, a 20-year real estate and mortgage industry veteran.
"Now small institutions and sophisticated individual investors, such as those who have traditionally invested in other debt instruments, can gain access to these income-generating notes, collecting principal and interest payments just as the former lender did for the remaining term of the loan or until a refinance or sale occurs."
The new website uses slick technology to help investors understand what they're purchasing, including providing a current market value (CMV) estimate and a photo of the underlying property pulled within 14 days of posting, the company says. Any real estate notes listed for sale on the site also include all vital loan documentation such as the Note, the Deed of Trust, the Title Policy and evidence of homeowner's insurance, the company said.
It's a potentially huge market for the firms that can figure out how to properly tap into it. Of course, the challenge is enticing sellers to consistently place their notes on the platform for sale, something that as of yet remains a large unknown for anyone looking to build a marketplace for distressed notes.
"I get calls all day long from people claiming to have something to sell me," said one fund manager that specializes in distressed whole loan purchases. "Most of the time, it's hot air, a guy that's brokering some tape he doesn't own. I'd love to see an online marketplace that bring viable assets to market, but my first question will be how that firm is vetting potential sellers."
Another firm, Newport Beach, Calif.-based The LFC Group of Companies, rolled out an online note auctioning platform called BigBidder.com in mid-March; the company's website says that the platform offers $39.8 million in available notes up for auction, but it's unclear who the sellers are.
That's not to say establishing an online marketplace for debt can't be done — Boston-based DebtX, Inc. has a well-established platform for distressed debt exchange in commercial real estate notes, and holds multi-year contracts to sell distressed debt for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The exchange has managed the sale of well over $1 billion in CRE debt over the past 12 months, because of its relationships with viable sellers.
While the DebtX platform has traditionally focused on a wide range of performing and non-performing loans secured by multifamily real estate, retail, office, industrial, assisted living and business assets, the company has recently managed transactions involving residential notes as well.
Visit LoanMarket.NET on the web, as well as BigBidder.com and DebtX.
Write to Paul Jackson at paul.jackson@housingwire.com.
Steep home price declines in key real estate markets have brought housing affordability back into reach for many Americans, the National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday. The group said that 55 million families, equal to half of all U.S. households, can now afford a median-priced new home at $200,000.
"That's an increase of 17 million households from conditions just two years ago, and the best housing affordability number we have seen in years," said NAHB chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. "We are now seeing the first signs that buyers are returning to the marketplace."
Robson's optimism is borne less from hard data than from anecdotal evidence, however — and builders, of course, have a vested interest in talking up a housing recovery wherever possible. He said reports from "builders in the field indicate that foot traffic in new homes is one the rise, and consumer interest is increasing with each passing day."
The NAHB and home builders are also pinning their hopes on an $8,000 first-time home buyer tax to stimulate demand among new home sales, as well. The NAHB said that during Feb. and March, 1.5 million consumers visited a website developed by the organization to explain the tax credit, which expires at the end of November.
In terms of hard numbers, there have been at least some reasons for guarded optimism recently. Single-family permits were up 11 percent in February, while both new and existing home sales have also posted gains as well — although such monthly gains may largely reflect seasonal trending, and annual numbers remain largely negative. Likewise, the inventory of new homes remains historically high, well above 12 months supply; most economists suggest a normal range of supply should be in the 5 to 6 month range.
Nonetheless, Robson said he expect buyers to begin to return to markets.
"With home values in many markets at the lowest level since 2003, an $8,000 tax credit available to first-time home buyers, fixed-rate mortgages under 5 percent, and an outstanding selection of homes to choose from, buyers are starting to recognize that this has the makings for a one-time opportunity to break into the market," said Robson.
Of course, builders also told buyers during the boom that they faced a one-time opportunity to buy before the market ran too far ahead of them — meaning that while there are some cautious signs of a spring thaw in some housing markets, that evidence is countered by other evidence suggesting the housing correction yet has further to run.
The May 2009 issue of HousingWire Magazine, hitting subscriber's mailboxes in a few short weeks, will take a look at the five key metrics critical to watch for a bottom in housing. No spin-tastic analysis from home builders, realtors, or mortgage bankers allowed. Don't subscribe? Click here.
Write to Paul Jackson at paul.jackson@housingwire.com.
Industry veterans from Saxon Mortgage Services, now a unit of New York-based Morgan Stanley (MS: 18.56 +2.26%), and Fannie Mae (FNM: 0.00 N/A) have formed a new REO outsourcer and default services provider, partnering with a Houston-based bank to take a distinct tack on the default business.
Fort Worth, Tex.-based Canvas Realty Partners, an REO brokerage, said Monday it had partnered with Unity National Bank, NA to launch Unity Financial Services, a full-service REO and default management firm; Houston-based Unity National is one of three African-American controlled banks in the U.S., and the only such bank in Texas. Unity National owns a majority interest in Unity Financial Services, according to a press statement put out by the firm.
Unity Financial Services will focus on three main activities: loss mitigation, recovery services on large portfolios of unsecured loans and REO asset management services. Troy Austin, a founder of Canvas Realty Partners and former general counsel for Saxon Mortgage Services’ loan servicing operation, will serve as the president of Unity Financial Services.
“As we watched the economy continue to dive and Washington continue to try to respond, my partner at Canvas, Matt Faris, and I felt we could make a positive impact in helping to resolve this enormous problem facing our nation,” Austin explains. “The question was, ‘how do we get in front of the decision makers quickly enough to be able to help?’ The answer was in aligning with a group who already knew the decision makers and had political advantage, a group with vision, like Unity National Bank.”
In other words, the new firm will look to leverage its status as a minority-owned business to grow a presence in a marketplace that is largely becoming influenced by government programs, which traditionally place value on performance-based diversity. Unity National is a certified member of the Treasury's Minority Banking Deposit Program, and has been designated both as a Minority Business Enterprise and as a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) — such designations allow Unity National Bank to partner with numerous governmental organizations, corporations, non-profits, Austin said.
The new company is actively seeking contracts with Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and will soon be seeking contracts from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac as well.
Canvas' Austin isn't the only long-time industry exec managing the new venture. Effie Booker will serve as executive vice president of sales and marketing for Unity Financial Services, the company said; she formerly served as regional director for Fannie Mae, senior vice president for Wells Fargo Bank, receiver for FSLIC, and asset manager for FDIC.
“Unity Financial Services is actively seeking partners who can help us expand our service offering,” Austin said. “We have already entered into a formal relationship with one of the nation’s leading title and real estate service providers.”
Write to Paul Jackson at paul.jackson@housingwire.com.
Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments.
LenderLive Network Inc., a Denver-based provider of business process outsourcing and technology to the financial industry, said Monday that it has successfully launched what it called ' the first large-scale Home Affordable Modification Program (HMP) campaign' with one of the nation's top four servicers. The company would not identify the servicer, but will manage all inbound and outgoing documents required under the Obama adminstration's bulk modification program, as well as certain fulfillment processes, it said in a statement.
HMP is part of the recently passed Making Home Affordable program — which includes a refinancing initiative, in addition to a modification program — which government officials have estimated will allow nine million Americans to refinance or modify their home loans.
Origination tech providers have increasingly focused on reinventing themselves as loan modification service providers amid the nation's housing crisis, and with good reason; most originators say the loan modification proposals put forth by legislators — including the Making Home Affordable loan modification guidelines — essentially require re-underwriting and processing of a loan.
"At launch, we anticipate processing nearly 2,000 transactions per day, where success is measured in terms of seconds per transaction," said Rick Seehausen, CEO of LenderLive Network. "HMP is a document preparation- and document management-intensive campaign and also requires thorough customer contact efforts as well as disciplined underwriting practices."
Seehausen said that servicers have been calling his firm to ensure "they can be in full compliance with the new guidelines." He says that in addition to the top four servicer already signed up with the firm, LenderLive is in final negotiations with another five servicers for modification processing.
The company says it can provide servicers with customer contact services, underwriting review of loans and document preparation through its Guardian Mortgage Documents division.
For more information, visit http://www.lenderlive.com.
Write to Paul Jackson at paul.jackson@housingwire.com.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services warned Tuesday morning of a coming slide in commercial mortgage-backed securities, as the economic recession appears set to take a bite out of one of the few remaining real estate asset classes to survive much of the turmoil in financial markets worldwide. The rating agency said it had recently performed a loan-by-loan, deal-by-deal summary of CMBS it had rated, factoring in current and expected economic conditions; the analysis found a "high downgrade risk" for recent-vintage CMBS, the firm said.
"Since September/October 2008, Standard & Poor's has witnessed significant deterioration in the credit performance of the CMBS transactions it rates," said credit analyst James Manzi. "The economic recession combined with the absence of readily accessible financing in the capital markets has, in our opinion, skewed the credit risks related to the performance of CMBS sharply to the downside, and in excess of what we expected at origination or in our prior scenario analysis."
Pundits have long predicted a crash in commercial real estate as the U.S. housing and mortgage mess has continued onward; it now appears as if those pundits may have been correct.
The scenario analysis performed by S&P generated hypothetical term and maturity defaults on individual CMBS conduit/fusion loans based in part on expectations of future commercial real estate performance, the agency said in a press statement. It also estimated potential losses on loans that defaulted in the analysis, which produced projected lifetime losses on individual transactions.
"Recent-vintage CMBS fared the worst in the analysis, with the 2005-2007 vintages posting PLLS in the double digits," said Harris Trifon, a credit analyst with S&P.
"We're examining our entire CMBS portfolio to determine which transactions will be most susceptible to increasing defaults and losses through their terms. This examination considers property financial performance, specially serviced and delinquent loans, and relative credit enhancement levels. We plan to publish the results of this examination shortly," said Eric Thompson, analytical manager for U.S. CMBS surveillance.
I wouldn't expect the results here to be positive, given what the initial analysis is showing over at S&P; the agency also suggested that new CMBS deal might face a tougher set of criteria in coming to market, as well.
"Standard & Poor's will also consider the results of the scenario analysis in the rating assignment process, in particular the credit characteristics of loans that contributed to the higher PLLs we observed in more recent vintages," said Barbara Duka, analytical manager for U.S. CMBS new issuance.
Write to Paul Jackson at paul.jackson@housingwire.com.
Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, along with other agency leaders, announced Monday morning in a press conference a multi-agency crackdown on bad actors in foreclosure scams.
The new effort aligns responses from federal law enforcement agencies, state investigators and prosecutors, civil enforcement authorities, and the private sector to protect homeowners seeking assistance under the Administration's Making Home Affordable program from criminal actors looking to perpetrate predatory schemes.
The new initiative is two tier. The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) will marshal information about possible fraudulent actors, drawing upon a variety of data available to law enforcement, regulatory agencies and the consumer protection community, in order to help financial institutions spot questionable loan modification schemes and proactively report that information to law enforcement authorities.
Through FinCEN, the Treasury will also issue an advisory alerting financial institutions to the risks of emerging schemes related to loan modifications. The advisory will identify certain "red flags" that may indicate a loan modification or foreclosure rescue scam and warrant the filing of a SAR by a financial institution.
"The Department of Justice's message is simple: if you discriminate against borrowers or prey on vulnerable homeowners with fraudulent mortgage schemes, we will find you, and we will punish you," said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
And with the collaborative efforts of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Attorney General Lisa Madigan said it's no longer a matter of if those perpetrators will be caught, but when they will be caught.
The FTC announced today five law enforcement actions and sent 71 warning letters to operations using deceptive tactics to market their mortgage loan modification and home foreclosure relief services, said Jon Leibowitz, Chairman of the FTC. "We're enforcing the law against these scam artists who are deceiving consumers while they're down."
And as for homeowners, Attorney General Lisa Madigan reminds them to "stay away" from anyone who promises to save their home for money upfront. "These are almost always scams," she said.
It’s a burgeoning space, and here at HousingWire we regularly receive press statements — which we never run — from firms that claim to be in the business of helping troubled homeowners. Some firms have even been touting the availability “loss mitigation kits” for troubled homeowners for fees ranging from $99 to $1,200.
The Federal Reserve has gone so far as to begin placing advertisements in movie theatres in some of the nation’s hardest hit housing markets, warning consumers of these foreclosure aid scams. “The purpose…is to reach out to an audience that the Fed has possibly not reached before, to try and get people’s attention about mortgage scams and direct them to our website where we have tips for people to avoid these scams,” Sandra Braunstein, director of the Fed’s Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, told Reuters. The movie ads will begin their run in mid-April.
Write to Kelly Curran at kelly.curran@housingwire.com.
Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced Wednesday it had expanded its anti-fraud solutions to securities firms. Previously offered only to banking institutions, the tools will help securities firms with various anti-fraud and regulatory compliance challenges, including identity verification operations, high-risk customer detection, employee and account fraud detection.
"With the current turmoil in the financial services industry, one of the best ways securities firms can help ensure stability is by employing comprehensive compliance and operational risk programs," said Mark Coronna, Wolters Kluwer executive vice president of securities and insurance. "This not only helps reduce risk within their organizations, but it also helps build trust with clients and regulators." For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com.
Integrated point-of-sale targets online interaction
Mequon, Wis.-based Mortgagebot LLC announced Monday the launch of a point-of-sale (POS) platform that integrates mortgage applications, pricing, and can be accessed across every mortgage POS channel, from consumer-direct Web interaction, to the lending branch or call center and professional loan officers. The technology, called the integrated point-of-sale (IPOS), is unique to Mortgagebot and is available only to banks and credit unions that license the Mortgagebot PowerSite solution.
"We have watched as the mortgage industry has increasingly embraced online lending," said president and CEO Scott Happ. "We've now reached an historic turning point: The Internet has become the preferred starting point for mortgage shoppers…. But today's borrowers are expecting that same application convenience over the phone, in the branch, and when they sit down with a loan officer." For more information, visit www.Mortgagebot.com.
Loan auditors pave the way for cram-downs
Walnut Creek, Calif.-based National Loan Auditors announced Friday it had formed a partnership with electronic document preparation and quality control management service provider SigniaDocs. The alliance links National Loan Auditors' US Court Audit, a third-party analysis of loan files for the bankruptcy process and intended to identify lender violations as well as buyer "improprieties", with SigniaDoc's Web-based eMortgage paperless processing platform. The result is a seamless, Web-based service that allows attorneys, their clients and bankruptcy trustees to negotiate loan revision documents and paperwork and send everything electronically to the bankruptcy judge.
Regardless of whether the so-called "cram-down" legislation — which would allow bankruptcy judges to write off a portion of the principle loan amount — is eventually enacted, "lenders/servicers and buyers will be dueling over loan modifications, and the independent, 100 percent factual analysis provided by US Court Audit will be an essential negotiating tool for both sides," said August Blass, founder and CEO of National Loan Auditors. For more information, visit www.nlaudit.com.
Flagstar picks another preffered appraiser
StreetLinks National Appraisal Services on Tuesday touted its selection as preferred national appraisal vendor by Flagstar Bancorp (FSB: 0.00 N/A). The Indianapolis-based real estate valuation services provider said it will join a select few appraisal vendors that offer Home Valuation Code of Conduct-compliant property valuations to Flagstar. For more information, visit www.streetlinks.com.
Tenants to track foreclosure activity
Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties with data covering default, auction and bank-owned properties across the U.S., announced Wednesday the launch of the new RealtyTrac Renter Alerts. The service, launched at $24.95 per year, tracks the 1.8 million foreclosure and bank-owned properties in RealtyTrac's database and sends e-mail alerts to subscribers with foreclosure activity updates on any specified property. The company announced the product as a way to alert tenants in advance of foreclosure proceedings on the property they rent.
"Some landlords aren't paying their mortgages — even while their tenants are paying their rent faithfully — causing the tenants to be evicted without warning," said senior vice president Rick Sharga. "Our new Renter Alerts give tenants a good early warning system and avoid this unpleasant and unfair scenario." For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com.
Partnership allows for easy access to compliance documents
Idaho Falls-based DocuTech, a mortgage compliance services and documentation technology provider, announced Monday the integration of its Web-based document solution, ConformX, with Spectrum, a Web-based loan origination software from Irivine, Calif.-based Commerce Velocity. The integration enables lenders using Commerce Velocity to access and generate compliant loan documents via the Internet through Spectrum, a technology platform designed to mitigate risk throughout the loan life cycle. For more information, visit www.docutechcorp.com.
Whole loan notes available to small investors
Irvine, Calif.-based LoanMarket.NET announced Monday the launch of its online marketplace for buying and selling real estate-secured note investments. The web site empowers both buyers and sellers of real estate-secured notes by creating a neutral, open marketplace that brings efficiency and full pricing transparency to the traditionally opaque secondary market for real estate-secured investments.
"The market for buying individual mortgage notes from originating lenders has traditionally been available only to investors such as Wall Street investment banks, large hedge funds, and regional banks," said LoanMarket.NET founder and president Jeff Freud. "Now small institutions and sophisticated individual investors, such as those who have traditionally invested in other debt instruments, can gain access to these income-generating notes, collecting principal and interest payments just as the former lender did for the remaining term of the loan or until a refinance or sale occurs." For more information, visit www.LoanMarket.NET.
Internet tool puts consumers in the know about modifications
LoanModExposed.com announced Thursday the launch of its newest Internet-based consumer tool, LoanModACHIEVER. The Chandler, Ariz.-based service provider said the new service will help homeowners determine if they qualify for a modification and also help them construct a modification proposal to the lender based on updated federal and lender guidelines.
"There is much talk about loan modifications in today's markets, and most consumers do not realize that only less than 2 percent qualify," said LoanModExposed owner and founder Eduardo Delgado. "Our software simply gives families the break they deserve by helping them prepare a loan modification proposal to the bank that is real, accurate and smart." For more information, visit www.loanmodexposed.com.
Write to Diana Golobay at diana.golobay@housingwire.com.
Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.
Shares of major U.S. banks were sent diving Monday morning after an obviously influential bank analyst predicted loan losses this sector will likely exceed Great Depression-era levels, as he believes the industry has fallen to "seven deadly sins."
"The seven deadly sins of banking include greedy loan growth, gluttony of real estate, lust for high yields, sloth-like risk management, pride of low capital, envy of exotic fees and anger of regulators," said Mike Mayo, a former Deutsche Bank analyst now with Calyon Securities.
"We are initiating on U.S. banks with an underweight sector rating given the ongoing consequences of increased risk-taking by banks," in accordance to seven key areas, Mayo wrote in a note to investors, according to a Market Watch report. Mayo said loan losses to total loans should jump to levels that top the 1930s. And while certain mortgage problems are farther along, other areas are likely to accelerate, reflecting a rolling recession by asset class.
The analyst predicted shares of Bank of America (BAC: 7.29 -0.14%), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: 37.21 -0.75%), Citigroup (C: 30.87 +1.61%), PNC Financial Services (PNC: 59.08 +0.31%), Wells Fargo (WFC: 29.60 +1.89%) and Comerica (CMA: 28.02 +0.47%) will underperform.
He suggested investors sell shares of BB&T (BBT: 26.95 -0.33%), US Bancorp (USB: 27.86 +0.25%), SunTrust (STI: 20.61 +0.54%), Fifth Third (FITB: 13.23 +1.15%) and KeyCorp (KEY: 8.01 +1.65%).
Mayo also estimated loan losses to loans will likely increase from two percent to 3.5 percent by the end of 2010, and he warned government intervention might not provide the boost the market needs — considering loans have been marked down to just 98 cents on the dollar, he said.
Write to Kelly Curran at kelly.curran@housingwire.com.
Disclosure: The author held no relevant investment positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.
