Interest Only Mortgage Time Bomb: $71 billion in Loans will Reset in next 12 Months. Total Loans Outstanding at $908 Billion. Average Balance of $324,000. Median U.S. Home Price $178,000.
Interest only (IO) loans seemed like a viable mortgage option when home prices were appreciating on a double-digit basis every year. The interest only loan allowed borrowers the option of making no principal payments for 5, 7, or even 10 years. Now why would someone not make any principal payment for such a long time? […]
Commercial Real Estate, Construction and Finance Employment: How Commercial Real Estate will drag the California Economy Deeper into Recession. 32 Percent of California Construction Jobs Gone.
California is heavily dependent on real estate. That should be of little surprise to you but many have a hard time understanding how devastating the housing crash is to employment in various sectors. California for 30 years relied on housing even though in many years, it was in a bubble. That is why in 2009 […]
Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan: California and Florida you are Financially on Your Own.
I was cautious about the details in the new Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan which was announced on Wednesday. It is going to use $75 billion from the additional $350 billion in TARP funds while accessing the $200 billion in backstops to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Yet one key point, and probably a reason […]
Suburb Cat Thousandaire: How Americans Lost a Decade of Wealth through Debt and Listening to the Banking and Housing Industry.
Not all that glitters is gold. And not everyone touting to be a financial expert should be regarded as such. Americans have lived in what could be considered a decade built on a debt façade. As many Americans strolled their neighborhoods, possibly taking the dog out for a walk, many suddenly would come across a […]