The Mortgage Manifesto!

Record Level Foreclosures!

Real Estate and Mortgage analysts predict the numbers have yet to reach their highs.

The first quarter of 2007 has proven to be a new record for foreclosures. The previous record was, unfortunately the last quarter 2006. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the stress and concerns of the housing markets are continuing.

What is even more concerning is that most analysts believe we will see this trend continue into 2008? Delinquencies and foreclosures are rising as borrowers are having more and more difficulty making their payments. The majority of these problems are tied to the adjustable rate, exotic option ARM’s and the interest-only loans as these loans reach their first payment adjustments and the resulting house payments jump often as much as 50%.

Housing in the sunshine states is turned upside down!

Housing investors that were speculating on the hot sun-belt state’s real estate markets are finding that they have been burned. Many are walking away from their investment properties and are a big part of what has driven the foreclosure rate on prime mortgage loans to a record high in the first quarter of 2007. The problem is most obvious in California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada.

The trend in these and some other states as well, that had just a short time ago, very overheated housing markets, are possibly just a glimpse of the problems coming in other areas across the country that many analysts think also experienced a hot market and housing bubble led by strong speculative buying. This was especially visible in condominiums, during the housing boom between 2000 and 2005.

Foreclosure is a last resort! There may be help…

As home foreclosures mount, mortgage companies are knocking on doors, sending letters and making phone calls with a simple message for struggling homeowners: They'd rather modify your loan than foreclose.

EMC Mortgage Corp., specialist with a $78 billion portfolio of subprime loans — for homeowners with weak credit — this week launched a 50-person team it calls "the Mod Squad." Members will spend an unlimited time on the phone with troubled borrowers, sifting through their bills to compute a workable monthly payment. In an industry that often rewards workers for getting off the phone quickly, the team is preparing to speak to just three people a day.