Real Estate News
Obama attacks McCain mortgage bailout plan (Reuters)
Reuters - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama accused Republican John McCain on Thursday of backing a mortgage bailout plan that would reward banks responsible for the U.S. housing crisis, as he sought to press a perceived advantage on economic issues. More »
Economy - Wednesday (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - Home loan demand rose 2.2% in the week ended Oct. 3, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's index. Mortgage applications for buying a home rose 3.2% -- from the prior week's 6-year low -- with the Federal Housing Administration continuing to gain market share. Refinancing activity edged up 0.9%. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell to 5.99% from 6.07%. The rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage decreased to 5.71%, the lowest in three weeks. A one-year ARM dipped to 6.6%. More »
Obama rejects McCain's plan to buy mortgages (AP)
AP - Democrat Barack Obama's campaign criticized John McCain's mortgage bailout plan Wednesday, saying it would cause the government to lose money by paying too much for bad loans. More »
McCain mortgage buyout too expensive : Obama (AFP)
AFP - Barack Obama's campaign on Wednesday rejected John McCain's plan to buy up 300 billion dollars of bad home loans clogging the US economy as too expensive and an example of "erratic" leadership. More »
McCain pushes $300 billion mortgage plan (Reuters)
Reuters - White House hopeful John McCain pitched a $300 billion plan to help struggling homeowners on Wednesday as he tried to erode an advantage held by Democratic rival Barack Obama on economic issues. More »
Obama rejects McCain's plan to buy mortgages (AP)
AP - Democrat Barack Obama 's campaign criticized John McCain's mortgage bailout plan Wednesday, saying it would cause the government to lose money by paying too much for bad loans. More »
Chicago's Cook County won't evict in foreclosures (AP)
AP - The sheriff here said Wednesday that he's ordering his deputies to stop evicting people from foreclosed properties because many people his office has helped throw out on the street are renters who did nothing wrong. More »
McCain housing proposal: Easier said than done (AP)
AP - Ordering the government to buy up bad mortgages to cut homeowners' monthly payments might sound good, but experts are skeptical. They say the plan John McCain is promoting is unlikely to solve the housing crisis that's pushing the economy toward recession. More »
Citi shrinks U.S. mortgage broker business (Reuters)
Reuters - Citigroup Inc will cut 500 mortgage-related jobs and slash by 90 percent the number of independent mortgage brokers it works with, the company said, as the U.S. mortgage industry broadly shrinks amid the housing crisis. More »
UBS pulls plug on Mortgage Strategist, ABS trading (Reuters)
Reuters - UBS AG is halting its widely read weekly mortgage strategy report after more than 15 years of publication as the bank broadly scales down in the home loan business, including the closure of its asset-backed securities group, sources said. More »