Mortgages | Sound Money Institute

Weak Lending Threatens U.K. Recovery

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Bank lending to business and home buyers remains critically weak, according to the latest data from the Bank of England, endangering the revival in the housing market and the wider economic recovery.

Bank lending to “real economy” firms rose by just £100m in February – 0.3 per cent – and mortgage approvals fell back again.

The news comes as the revised figures for GDP growth in the fourth quarter of last year are due today. An upgrade from 0.3 per cent to 0.4 per cent is expected, but economists are more concerned about a setback in the early months of this year.

Some of the fallback in mortgages can be attributed to the depressing effects of the rush to borrow before the stamp duty holiday ended on 31 December, but analysts point out that the underlying trend remains feeble.

Read More: – By Sean O’Grady, the Independent

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: Mortgages, the Bank of England, the gross domestic product (GDP), the United Kingdom, weak lending

Gov’t mortgage plan aids 7 percent of borrowers

by F. Peter Brown Leave a Comment

The Obama administration’s mortgage relief plan provided help to only 7 percent of borrowers who signed up last year, another black mark for the struggling program.

About 900,000 borrowers have enrolled in the $75 billion program since it launched in March, the Treasury Department said Friday. But as of last month, only about 66,500 homeowners had received permanent relief. Another 46,000 have been approved and should be finalized soon.

The plan aims to make borrowers’ mortgages more affordable by reducing the mortgage interest rate to as low as 2 percent. They receive temporary modifications, which are supposed to become permanent after borrowers make three payments on time and complete necessary paperwork, including proof of income and a letter explaining the reason for their financial hardship.

The Treasury Department is pressing the 102 mortgage companies that are participating in the program to do a better job.

Serious U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies up 20 Percent

by F. Peter Brown Leave a Comment

Serious delinquencies among U.S. prime mortgages rose nearly 20 percent in the third quarter from the prior quarter, as the percentage of current and performing mortgages fell for the sixth consecutive quarter, banking regulators said on Monday.

The report by the Office of Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision, which are part of the Treasury Department, covered about two-thirds of all U.S. mortgages.

It found 3.6 percent of prime mortgages — those made to the most credit-worthy borrowers — were seriously delinquent in the third quarter. That was more than double the year-ago quarter and up nearly 20 percent from the 2009 second quarter.

The report defined “serious delinquencies” as those loans 60 days or more past due and loans to delinquent bankrupt borrowers.

Weak Lending Threatens U.K. Recovery

Gov’t mortgage plan aids 7 percent of borrowers

Serious U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies up 20 Percent

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