‘Desperation Breeds Innovation’ In The Mortgage Business
The Sacramento Bee reports on the new 40 year loan. “Today, first-time buyers trying to stretch financially to purchase that house with a 40-year mortgage, instead of the standard 30-year loan, must turn to the private sector. Not to be outdone by the private mortgage market, the California Housing Finance Agency says it plans to offer its own 40-year home loan this spring with a fixed, below-market interest rate.”
“Residents won’t even need a down payment, though they will have to qualify as first-time buyers and meet CalHFA’s income requirements and other criteria.”
“An example: A household using a zero-down, 30-year CalHFA mortgage would need to earn about $72,500 a year to buy a $355,000 house. The same family using a 40-year loan could qualify with an income of about $68,400.”
“Though they’re new for CalHFA, 40-year loans are old news among private lenders, who last pushed them in a big way during the height of the previous real estate cycle in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And many lenders are simply searching for something different to attract borrowers amid the recent slowdown in refinancing and home purchases.”
“‘It’s safe to say that in mortgage originations..desperation breeds innovation,’ said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of a mortgage research firm in New Jersey.”
“Someone buying a $355,000 home with no down payment could shave about $150 a month off the mortgage payment by using the CalHFA 40-year loan, compared with a 30-year loan, agency figures show.”
“But CalHFA’s 40-year loan does have real drawbacks. Borrowers won’t pay down the principal nearly as fast when compared with a traditional 30-year mortgage. Someone paying the full $355,000 asking price with no money down and using the 40-year mortgage would pay about $168,000 more in interest over the life of that loan, compared with the agency’s 30-year mortgage.”
“Leslie Gordon has been trying to sell her house since August. She started at $393,000, dropped it to $375,000 within about six weeks, then took it off the market in early December. She put it up for sale again three weeks ago at $355,000.”
“Gordon is rooting for today’s first-time buyers. Several have shown interest in her home, but none has made an offer. ‘It wasn’t because the people weren’t interested, or because of the price,’ Gordon said, ‘it was qualifying’ for the loan that held them back.”
Thanks to the reader who posted this link in the comments.
Just another way to keep the bubble from explodeing. I am back here in sacramento and the prices are absurd. People still seem to be buying around here. I saw a 1 br condo coversion for 225k that would run around 2k /month. Rent the same thing for 1k. It is really ridiculous here folks.
can anyone put me in touch with some of those desparate brokers? i need some money and would like to talk to some motivated bankers …;->…btw, this is a serious offer.
Gordon is rooting for today’s first-time buyers.
Any Aussie or ex-Aussie reading that quickly is going to do a double-take, and then smile. I know I did :).
HousingBubbleCasualty recently covered the absurdity of a 40 year mortgage:
http://housingbubblecasualty.com/?p=31
No, no, no. We are way beyond the 40-year loan here in the Sacramento/Central “Bubble” Valley. Any comments on the absurdity of a 50-year mortgage?
50-Year Mortgage a Penny Saver?
Lander
Sacramento Land(ing) blog
I covered that about 2 weeks ago on my blog as well. Insane, simply insane. Save a few dollars now to add 25% or more in total interest due. What a concept.
If people insist on committing financial suicide, no one can help them. But in this case, it’s government-assisted. LOL.
Assisted suicide — where is the moral outrage among our Republican leadership!
And on another thread you’re calling out johndicht on oxymorons? Pot, meet Kettle :D.
“‘It wasn’t because the people weren’t interested, or because of the price,’ Gordon said, ‘it was qualifying’ for the loan that held them back.”
That is the price, you moron!
If you have no money, you cannot buy a home. It’s actually pretty simple. Let’s go back to this old school rule.
I have always found it financial prudent to pre-qualify for financing before expressing interest in any property!
It is actually the monthly payment… people don’t care about the overall price of a home anymore… just matters if they can fit the nut into their monthly take home pay…
so it is not only price… it is also interest rates and hopefully tighter lending standards…
yes, and people’s nuts change during 40 years.
Imagine…actually supplying information that would accurately show a lender you could AFFORD a property based on your income and cash available….WHAT A NOVEL IDEA!!!!
And it IS the price! Jeez.
No kidding. I’d like to pay $2M for your stucco crapbox, unfortunately I don’t qualify.
That’s classic. This weekend, I’m going to go house-hunting for multi-million dollar homes and tell the seller, “I like your home and even think the price is right! It’s just….I can’t qualify for a loan for that amount. Keep your fingers crossed for me!” Human stupidity truly is infinite.
The “Loon Officers” (Loan) are starting to pitch these in the Santa Barbara paid advertising section of the newspaper.
Someone on this blog recently pointed out that the mortgage payment is NOT that much cheaper than a 30 year fixed…
Fast Forward a couple of years from now and these tactics are going to be looked at as a JOKE.
Propping up over-inflated housing prices by preying on the ignorant BUYER who thinks they can now afford a home because there is a 40 year loan out there for them is truely a travesty.
40 years is precariously close to interest-only. I can’t think of a better way for our gubmint to help lenders separate low income buyers from their limited wealth, just before taking them to bankruptcy court in an attempt to squeeze blood out of a turnip.
America is all about the monthly payment. That’s been instilled in their head for years. Similar to car shopping, the car salesman always asked about what monthly payment range are you thinking? not the price nor the interest rate nor the loan length.
America is not about net worth, as evidenced by our negative national savings rate…
“Gordon is rooting for today’s first-time buyers. Several have shown interest in her home, but none has made an offer. ‘It wasn’t because the people weren’t interested, or because of the price,’ Gordon said, ‘it was qualifying’ for the loan that held them back.”
This has got to be one of the stupidest statements I have ever heard. If people were looking and didn’t make an offer, it was because people weren’t interested at that price, plain and simple.
How many people go to look at houses in the $350K range that they cannot afford? I don’t even think that in any of the crappiest flyover states, that price range would invite aspirational looky-loos! Denial, ahhh……
It’s seller denial.
“Gordon is rooting for today’s first-time buyers.”
>> more like
“Gordon is rooting for today’s bigger fool.”
Lets do some math
400,000 financed on a 30 year fixed at 6.5% monthly payment=2,528
400,000 financed on a 40 year fixed at 6.5% monthly payment=2,342
Sure the monthly payment is lower than a 30 yr, but the cats already out of the bag.
Interest Only @ 6.5%- $2,167
Option ARM w/1.25% teaser $1,333 (30 yr amortization)
In hotter markets, home prices have been set using these more exotic mortgages. I don’t see this as having any impact on sustaining the housing bubble.
Yup.
Just slightly OT, but FNM’s stock just took a really hard bounce off that $54 floor. Do you think it will require a trip to the intensive care ward?
http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/intchart.asp?symb=fnm&sid=1899&freq=9&time=1dy&siteid=mktw
Forget about the bounce — time to pick a new PPF (plunge protection floor)…
Fannie Mae to sell $4.5 bln bills on Wednesday
Mon Mar 20, 2006 8:46 AM ET
Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. home funding company, said on Monday it plans to sell $3.0 billion of three-month benchmark bills due June 21, 2006, and $1.5 billion of six-month bills due Sept. 20, 2006, on Wednesday in a Dutch auction.
In such uniform price auctions, successful bidders pay only the price of the lowest accepted bid rather than the actual price as in a conventional multiple-price auction.
————————————————————————
Is it normal for Fannie to sell via Dutch auction?
I hear it is a good way to move overvalued tulip bulbs…
Almost all debt offerings are done via that modified dutch auction (the treasury has done them for years). If you don’t like treasury direct you can pick up a bidding slip at your local bank. A real dutch auction (for tulips and such) counts down from a high price and lets the first bidder take all they want. It’s a very well designed mechanism for extracting the most money from the greatest number of fools.
it is probably called a Dutch auction because they know that the Dutch pension funds will buy massively with their eyes closed
“Though they’re new for CalHFA, 40-year loans are old news among private lenders, who last pushed them in a big way during the height of the previous real estate cycle in the late 1980s and early 1990s.”
They are also old news among Japanese lenders, who pushed them in the late 1980s just before the onset of a 15-year slide in Japanese housing prices…
Well Said Get Stucco…
Been tuned in to CNBC “Street Signs” television this morning…
SEVERAL financial commentators have already talked about the SLOWDOWN in Residential Housing Market this morning. The last guy just mentioned that there will be some new numbers on Mortgage lending coming out next week.
Is this DATA something the industry has been waiting for? Does anyone know anything about this???
What CalHFA fails to recognize is that programs like this hurt first-time buyers by making homes less affordable. If CalHFA simply gave every first time homebuyer a check for $100,000, prices would immediately go up by…
anyone?
anyone?
One hundred thousand dollars.
In this case, the extra money that’s made available to home buyers for purchasing actually has to actually be paid back, so first-time buyers are getting a really bad deal — higher home prices plus a ton of additional interest that will be paid over the life of the loan.
Do-gooder goverment types never get it — you can’t make something affordable to people who couldn’t otherwise afford it without all kinds of adverse consequences. Increasing the pool of buyers at any given price point only increases competition for a limited number of goods or assets and causes prices to rise.
I agree with you to a point John. Current attempts to make housing affordable are obviously failing, ie interest deductions, special rates for FHA, veterans, no down payment programs. There are things gov could do to make housing more affordable. 1)create tight regulatory standards that require 20% downpayment
2)zone for more building
3)encourage construction through development bonuses to increase supply
4)help create a massive housing bubble and then allow it to collapse under its own weight.
Good point, Northern VA. Making something more affordable requires that you either a) increase supply or b) reduce demand. If they want to make homes more affordable without reducing the number of eligible buyers, then they need to focus on a).
On the other hand, they could focus on encouraging speculators to leave the buying pool and thus reduce the competition that first-time home buyers face. This could be done with tax policy, such as eliminating the 1031 exchange. While they’re at it, they should also eliminate the tax deduction for interest on second mortgages and HELOCs. That would shut down the housing ATM in a hurry.
“If CalHFA simply gave every first time homebuyer a check for $100,000, prices would immediately go up by…”
I hate to be disagreeable, but your analysis is overly simplified. In fact, if someone handed me $100,000, I am 99% certain that I would not blow it on purchasing an overpriced home.
It’s hypothetical. Let’s say they gave every 1st time homebuyer a $100K gift certificate that could only be spent on a house…
Same thing with anything. If everyone in America got a $5 coupon each week that could only be spent on milk, the price of milk would go up accordingly. If people think a gallon of milk is worth $4, they’d toss in the coupon (which was free to them) and then “bid” $4 on top of that for the milk. Milk price: $9.
John,
You are exactly right, and this is why the prices rose like they did. It’s not the “lower interest rates” which bulls tout. It is the lax lending standards and suicide loans.
As an example:
If you figure a $100,000 at 7% (common around 1998), the house would have a monthly cost (P&I only) of $665.30. At 5%, your monthly payment would be $536.82. If you wanted to keep the same monthly payment ($665), which would show more “buying power” due to the lower rate, the total price would have gone from $100,000 to $124,000 (a 25% increase). As you know, we have seen increases in the 300%+ range. This is obviously NOT due to lower interest rates.
In other words, it was the surge of money going into new loans (to make housing more “affordable”) which caused the prices to rise. Simple inflation.
Not everyone will be able to buy a house. In particular, not everyone will be able to buy a “dream house” right **now**. By removing barriers to entry, lenders caused a rush of new buyers to enter the housing market, and they used Monopoly money to bid up the prices.
We need to wait for the consequences of the free money to work its way through the system. That is why I think this will take many years, not months, to completely unfold.
Well, they have the next best thing here in San Diego, a silent second of over 100 grand with no interest or payments for 30 years and a 15 thousand dollar grant for downpayment or closing costs.
[url]http://www.10news.com/money/7264580/detail.html#[url]
we have a similar program in the Netherlands (currently a tryout in some regions, probably used nationwide after the next elections).
‘Starters’ can get a +/- 50.000 euro free loan from local government (on top of a normal mortgage) when they buy their first home. They need this because the maximum (insured) mortgage that they can get is not enough for the cheapest homes.
If they have to sell the home after some years because they cannot afford the mortgage, they don’t need to pay back the loan. If they stay in the home longer, after some time (e.g. 5 years) they have to start paying interest at subdued rate.
By that time they should have higher income or additional equity, so no problem. If they sell the home at a profit they can keep all the gains. Easy money if you ask me …
The problem is: many people (e.g. those over 35 years) do NOT qualify as ’starter’, and for them the homes simply get 50.000 euro more expensive. The only winners in this stupid game are the owners of the starter homes (usually the same local politicians who arrange the free loans); other homeowners end up paying for their fat profits.
OT, but the new inventory numbers are out…look at Phoenix…and it’s not even hot yet!
http://www.benengebreth.org/housingtracker/
Catherine
The prices have been flat now in Phoenix even though the inventory just keeps going up. I think the actual sales prices are down from the asking price, but how do you get that information?
I e-mailed one of the realators that had multiple houses in Queen Creek for sales and got three very nasty e-mails back. Are some of the RE professionals still in denial?
you should check out what some of the flipper boards are saying about AZ. they have just now realized they are caught holding the bag- prices haven’t dropped, but developments are loaded with for sale signs, nothing is selling and even if they find tenants they will still be cash flow negative. only a matter of time before there are real issues.
try a site that is linked to local MLS and they typically have a “recent sales” search available.
You can’t see that information, because of how the “closed” MLS systems work. Once a property officially closes, you can hopefully view the closed listing and if you have someone friendly enough (not in Queen Creek, evidently!), they can send you the agent’s version of the MLS listing sheet, which will show the list price vs. the closing price. But good luck! Most agents are unwilling to do that.
But just assume that everyone is selling below list. In fact, bet on it.
Catherine
I have an agent that I was working with here in Phoenix. She has been sending me the MLS info on houses in my neighborhood. She knows that I am not going to buy anything for at least 18 months but, she is trying to maintain contact with me for when the day comes.
I do own a house in Peoria. I bought it in 1993 and am planning on keeping it as a rental. It will cash flow and will be paid for in about 10 years, so I will not have a house to sell when the market is ready for me to buy.
Another house just came on the market in my neighborhood and it looks like it backs to Cactus. Very noisy. It should be interesting to see if it will sell.
“Someone buying a $355,000 home with no down payment could shave about $150 a month off the mortgage payment by using the CalHFA 40-year loan, compared with a 30-year loan, agency figures show.”
How stupid can you get? Pay on a loan for 10 more years to pay a $150 less a month? A lousy $150, you got to be kidding me! Tell me I have this all wrong!
You have this all wrong!!! Just kidding, this product will do nothing to help the current situation. The ONLY way to improve affordability is to have lower home prices……PERIOD!!!
How about lose the cell phone, the crackberry, the wi-fi internet, 400+ tv channels etc. and get 10yrs of $2000+/mo. back! Sounds like a nice trade to me…
Dude, you do have it wrong. That extra $150 a month is what the borrower needs to buy some rice and beans! The 40 year mortgage lets him buy a house AND still eat. Obviously I’m joking, but it’s also obvious how close to the margin some people are if they are willing to take such an idiotic loan.
Well said OoSD,
Another “funny” someone will suggest… “that extra $150 a month savings, if properly invested in the stock market, blah, blah, blah”.
It’s all Bull$h_t, and we all know it.
Next week, bah! For you my friend, I pull a few strings, yes? You come back tomorrow, I give you Weekly Mortgage Applications. Thursday, I have Feb Existing Home Sales. Friday, Feb New Home Sales.
http://www.thestreet.com/_tscrss/markets/databank/10273965.html
read the community banking law- the whole thing is taxpayer subsidised
.25% adjustment for miner-ority status
When 40-year loans arrive on the scene its time to cue Ethel Merman.
“Everything’s coming up roses!”
Slightly Off Topic
This in from News Service Reports:
Pamela Anderson buys Las Vegas Condo. Laurence Hallier, chairman of Hallier Properties LLC is reporting that the former BayWatch star has purchased a 2 bedroom penthouse unit with more than 2,000 sq ft. and views of the Las Vegas Strip. Similar units sell for more than $2mil.
THINGS THAT MAKE YA GO HHmmmmmmmmmm…
Yes, Yes, SEX SELLS… but this guy has decided to bring in the “big guns” and pull out all stops!
Nothing like reporting that a gorgeous BLONDE bombshell with a huge _________, er ah, I mean bank account is purchasing in the overbuilt Las Vegas Condo market at a time when the market there is crumbling…
So is it because she is BLONDE??
No, it’s because she’s an idiot.
this phenom, the LV celebrity condo owner, was a thread on this blog some months back. virtually every major upscale LV condo project had one or more. no one knew what the financial arrangement was, but it was clearly some sort of marketing twist.
celebs always seem to do okay in the housing market, except maybe when Kim Basinger bought that whole town in GA and later had to file for bankruptcy
sure, even condo’s in Amsterdam (NL) have advertised with new owners like Brad Pitt. I guess prices have come down a little since then
It wouldn’t surprise me if she paid only $1 for the place: the discount would be payment for advertising rights.
They may as well let her have it for a buck if it’s just going to sit empty anyway.
I posted yesterday in the “Financial Markets Wise-Up To The Housing Bubble” topic that here in South Florida you can still get the “Smart Loan from the Smart Guy” at 1% with no points and no origination fees, free appraisal, etc. What I forgot to mention is that the so-called smart guy is pushing a 40 year interest only option ARM. He goes on to say that FICO as low as 580 is OK and that stated income is OK… He does, however, require 20% down. Another broker offers the same thing with 90% LTV. Their target market is homeowners who have enough equity to meet the “down payment” requirements.
You can listen to the so-called smart guy’s schtick on http://www.wsbrradio.com every weekday at about 6:10 p.m. eastern. Good for a few good laughs…
Tarragon, the “smart guy” cracks me up. He still uses PT Barnum-like catch-phrases, like, “You can use the smart loan to get out of debt” and “interest-only payments save you money”.
A few weeks ago, I heard him give an on-air retraction for some stupid remark he made the day before; however, I never caught the original stupid remark. Did you happen to hear it?
Greg, I heard some of that discussion and I think it had something to do with Smart Guy sidekick April Love’s “credit card plastic surgery”. (She is introduced at the beginning of the show as “The Most Sensual Sexual Queen of Real Estate, Miss April Love”… LOLOL!!!) The retraction was of their blanket recommendation to “do plastic surgery - just cut up those darn credit cards!!!” Now they’re careful to say that you should leave some lines of credit open.
I have heard this moron as well. WSBR records every show so I hope he has a good attorney. And it is promounced ’smaaat loan.”
May as well rent.
People have been conditioned to this thanks to creative auto financing. Too many people look at buying an auto as “how much do I pay a month?” rather than “how much will this cost me overall?” A guy I work with bought a used truck and is paying for it over 6 years. He only focussed on the monthly payment. I asked him what the interest rate was and after running the numbers I told him he was paying an extra $4,000. It never occured to him.
This is what too many homebuyers are doing. They fail to look at the big picture. If people cannot afford a house with a standard 15 or 30-year fixed rate mortgage, the local market is too expensive and they should not buy. Period.
Wow… when I hear the term, “big picture” I’m thinking macro-economics. Central banks. The Federal Reserve. Currency and commodities markets. Call me crazy, but to me, thinking about what you will pay overall vs. temporary low monthly payments is so fundamentally basic, I would hardly use the term “big picture”. Perhaps we need to offer university/CC classes like “common sense 101″ or publish a “Getting a Mortgage for Dummies” book. Hehe… I feel so cynical
These poor shnooks are already being “educated” in an informal way to accept the idea that nobody pays off their mortgages anymore, that they’re likely to sell/move in a few years anyway, and the “rent” (that is, interest) they’re paying to the lender is tax-deductible, so who cares about the principle balance anyway?
I’ve been thinking lately about how a mortgage used to be regarded as a commitment. Now it’s being sold as “convenient as renting, without the downsides of having a landlord”. It defies common sense, but J6P has been eating it up with a spoon for years now….
I remember an article about this guys’ treehouse. He is assuring everyone that there’s no (tree)house bubble.
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/capeboom21.htm
Who wants a mortage anyway? Its like being a slave . The whole idea is to have zero balance on mortgage by the time you retire . I know this is a old fashion idea . 40 and 50 year notes suck for the serious long term home owner .
Wizard, you hit the nail on the head. Here in NY we pay off our mortgages asap. All that’s left is $1000-$1500/mo property tax (and heating, lighting, insurance, maint. etc…)
I am sure these buyers are planning to move in 5 years and sell at a profit…
aahhh yeaaghhhhh,
then Get Stucco woke them from their nap…. it was just a dream. Crap!!
Japan had a 100-year loan at the height of their housing bubble…I guess we must be a few steps away from the top!
Markmax,
Call me crazy, but, IMO this global credit/housing bubble has been orchestrated from the beginning. It is the only way to deal with the vast amounts of excess global liquidity. They loan out 10x more money than there is money in the world (which most won’t be repaid of course). This pumps up housing prices. When the money isn’t repaid this causes world-wide bank failures. Then comes a recession. Then you get a new world banking system and economic system. The wildcard is war. In this scenario you could actually see falling commodity and stock prices. You can call me crazy, but don’t call me late for dinner. BTW, no, I don’t know how to prepare for it other than head for the hills.
Mort;
You have partially uncovered the premis of “THE NEW WORLD ORDER” keep digging!
It’s safe to say that in mortgage originations..desperation breeds innovation,’ said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of a mortgage research firm in New Jersey.”
And you can be bet these guys in their “desperation” will use the sleaziest, scum-bag, appraisers they can find to do their deals.
The fix is in. The game goes on….LMFAO.
Pamela Anderson probably signed a discounted note with her pair of XXXX. tdon’t want ANY car payment, ever again. I will be satisfied with driving a used car with much lower costs for insurance, registration, and of course costs. I will assume maintenance will be the same. I want a paid off house too.
to: MsTerra
“These poor shnooks are already being “educated” in an informal way to accept the idea that nobody pays off their mortgages anymore, that they’re likely to sell/move in a few years anyway, and the “rent” (that is, interest) they’re paying to the lender is tax-deductible, so who cares about the principle balance anyway?”
That is the ugly truth of the situation. However, the Fed’s have wrapped it quite differently; i.e. home ownership has never been higher. This makes for exciting reporting. Low income voters have now gotten their part of the American dream, home ownership. WAKE UP AMERICA, YOU DON’T OWN, YOU RENT FROM THE LENDER JUST LIKE THE MINER WHO OWED HIS SOUL TO THE COMPANY STORE YOU OWE YOURS TO LENDING STORE. Low income earner, I gotcha beat again. I can leave tomorrow and follow the job market, can you? If the neighborhood becomes a ghetto, I can leave, can you? NO MY FRIENDS, YOU WHO WANT THE 40 yr LOAN SHALL BE FOREVER TIED TO THE GOVERNMENT PLANTATION; YOU JUST HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHO’S YOUR OVERSEER.
Exactly why renting is looking better and better all the time. I actually like the fact that, should some kind of emergency arise, my family can just leave at a moment’s notice. We can upsize, downsize,move inland or out-of-country, go more expensive or cheaper. All for less money than “owning” a maintenance money pit. Cash in hand, no debt, no house to sell.
Renting…it’s the new “in” thing.
FANNIE AND GINNIE MAE
You get a 60 year ARM, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the banking ho’
It’s safe to say that in mortgage originations..desperation breeds innovation,
The big innovation in the mortgage industry is FRAUD. Yesterday, the British BBC TV had an interesting undercover report about the real estate and mortgage industry in London. They have been reporting about this for years (e.g. about the fact that in some areas 90% of home buyers get mortages that are 10x their income or even more - while officially the limit is 3.25-3.5x - this explains much of the sky high London prices).
Well, it’s even better now - you can even get a big mortgage if you have no income at all, or if you don’t officially exist (they will make a passport with work history etc. for your mortgage at an extra fee).
And if you are willing to pay cash below the table, RE experts are more than willing to organise all kinds of illegal activities.
The report had fraud, lying and cheating written all over it. The most stunning part was the reactions of the ‘very respectable’ brokers that apparently were busy most of the day with criminal activities. Just like with the previous TV reports about widespread illegal activities, they talk about ‘isolated incidents’ or simply deny everything. I’m sure all those wealthy criminals in the RE industry can continue doing what they have been doing for years
The UK is probably not an exception. Similar stories are being reported from the Netherlands, where there are also more and more examples of people without income who buy million dollar houses etc. Up to now no one has been convicted for these ‘white collar crimes’. The banks prefer to keep quiet and eat their losses (and probably pass the loss in some way to their other customers or the tax payer).
We don’t need 40 or 50 year mortgages; a little ‘innovation’ is enough to push home prices higher. As long as authorities choose to look the other way this can continue forever.
This is a great story and is posted on the Patrick.net/housing/crash site today (22 Mar). I am positive that similar acts are routinely being committed in the U.S. as well.
thanks for the link, recommended for other readers!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4826444.stm
yes, without a doubt this happens in the US as well - especially now that the market is getting into more troubled waters like in the UK and Netherlands.
POKER ONLINE http://pokeronlinenow.lookscool.com/