The Mercury News
Paying off a mortgage might sound like an ambitious plan, especially for those who have recently refinanced into a 30-year term. But it’s still smart for homeowners to give some serious thought as to how they’ll pay off their loan; if not in 2012, then sometime.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_19731356
The Wall Street Journal
Consumer expectations for U.S. home prices perked up in December, according to a monthly survey from mortgage market firm Fannie Mae.
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http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/01/09/survey-mood-improves-on-home-prices/?mod=WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_Real Estate_BLOGSDEVELOPMENTSFEED
Homeowners who had a mortgage loan on a primary residence and who believe were financially harmed during the mortgage foreclosure process by GMAC Mortgage, HSBC Finance Corporation, SunTrust Mortgage, or EMC Mortgage in 2009 or 2010 can request an independent review and potentially receive compensation.
The review is intended to determine if borrowers suffered financial harm directly resulting from errors, misrepresentations, or other deficiencies that may have occurred during the foreclosure process. The servicers are required to compensate borrowers for financial injury resulting from deficiencies in their foreclosure processes.
A number of servicers supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are also required to conduct independent reviews.
Borrowers are eligible for an independent foreclosure review if
There are no costs associated with being included in the review; the review is a free program. Borrowers should beware of anyone who wants payment to assist with the independent foreclosure review or any other foreclosure assistance program.
Requests for review by the servicers’ independent consultants must be received by April 30, 2012. Borrowers are encouraged to carefully consider the information about the review program to determine if they are eligible to participate.
CoreLogic recently released its November Home Price Index report, which shows that home prices in the U.S. decreased 1.4 percent on a month-over-month basis, the fourth consecutive monthly decline. According to the Index, national home prices, including distressed sales, also declined by 4.3 percent on a year-over-year basis in November 2011 compared with November 2010. Excluding distressed sales, year-over-year prices declined by 0.6 percent in November 2011 compared with November 2010 and by 1.6 percent in October 2011 compared with October 2010. Distressed sales include short sales and REO transactions.
Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to November 2011) was -32.8 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -23.1 percent.
Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, 77 are showing year-over-year declines in November, three fewer than in October.
Americans’ attitudes on a variety of issues are marginally better than one month ago, according to results from Fannie Mae’s December National Housing Survey. Despite overall low levels of optimism among Americans, consumer sentiment trended in a positive direction in the final months of 2011.
Americans who say the economy is on the right track rose by 6 percentage points since November, while the percentage who say the economy is on the wrong track dropped by 6 percentage points. When asked about housing, more Americans expect home prices to to increase compared to November and, on average, Americans expect home prices to increase by 0.8 percent over the next year, up from an expected 0.2 percent increase last month.
Highlights of the survey include:
