When Wachovia bought Golden West Financial two years ago, executives at the Charlotte-based bank gushed about how they could take the “Pick-A-Pay” mortgage that was Golden West’s signature product and expand it to the rest of its customer base nationwide. The product was a mortgage that gave borrowers several choices each month on how much […]
Check out this week’s BusinessWeek cover story, The Home Price Abyss: Why the threat of a free fall is growing. I and Mara Der Hovanesian wrote the story with help from a bunch of other BW staffers. nOur core argument is that price declines could potentially feed on themselves. Big price declines make people unable […]
Beleaguered consumer bank Wachovia Corp. will quit offering a mortgage payment option that allows borrowers to pay less each month than the bank charges in interest. Read More…
With an eye toward resale, Bill Tooker spent $37,000 renovating the kitchen in his 800-square-foot one-bedroom apartment on the 11th floor of 10 West 15th Street. n Read More…
Very belated correction: A year ago I pointed out a New York Times article that warned real estate agents against describing an apartment building as “family friendly.” The reason, supposedly, was that you might be perceived as discriminating against childless couples. What I failed to notice was that an official of the Department of Housing […]
…He cites as examples appraisers, “fee hungry” mortgage brokers, and nreal estate agents who participated in putting home buyers into subprime nmortgages they could not afford. There may also be, as Lenckus nputs it, an unknown number of “widget manufacturers” nwhich bought various mortgage- backed financial instruments as ninvestments that must now be devalued. This will […]
Speaking to journalists en route to Berlin, Treasury Secretary nHenry Paulson said that his speech on July 2 will focus non the Federal Reserve’s role as a macro stability regulator. nn Paulson said that speech will focus on the Federal Reserve’s process nfor intervening in financial affairs and that any nintervention by the Fed must be paired […]
Texas business activity declined further in June naccording to the Dallas Fed’s manufacturing report on Monday, whose nbusiness activity index fell to -24.1 from May’s -10.3. nn “Several indicators for current conditions declined from May levels nand turned negative,” read the report. “Despite June’s slowdown, more nthan a third of manufacturers responding to the survey expect increases […]
The ISM-Chicago business barometer remained below 50 for the fifth nconsecutive month in June, yet improved more than expected, coming in at n49.6, against expectations that it would fall to 48.0 from 49.1 in nMay. nn “The threat of an economic recession spreading from the nhousing and credit sectors has yet to materialize, but neconomic growth remains […]
Homeowners with mortgage troubles get similar advice wherever they turn: contact your lender. But, for many, that’s not as easy as it sounds. Read More…