Tag: market predictions
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Can the Housing Upswing Predict a Downturn?
Is the housing market glass half full – or half empty? As home prices rise and the inventory of available houses falls, many experts in and out of the industry see more encouraging signs of a long term recovery that provides a firm foundation for other areas of the economy, too. But a growing number…
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QM Rule Changes Avert a Housing Recovery Slowdown
It’s a rare circumstance that benefits both lenders and borrowers. But changes to the upcoming Qualified Mortgage Rule, aimed at preventing the kind of subprime mortgage crisis that created the great housing collapse, might do just that – and head off a potential roadblock to the emerging housing recovery. The Qualified Mortgage, or QM Rule,…
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Prosecutors Race the Clock in Bank Fraud Cases
By last count, the nation’s big banks have spent $66 billion in the last three years to fight an array of civil and criminal charges for misconduct ranging from foreclosure fraud to bribery. But there’s more to come. Although the US Department of Justice, aided by the attorneys general of all 50 states, has been…
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Septaper’s Coming: Are You Ready?
After months of mixed messages, the Federal Reserve now says it plans to taper off its massive buyou of mortgage-backed securities starting in September 2013. But although those plans could change again, the financial world is bracing for the effects of a process the media have given the awful moniker of “Sptaper.” Just a year…
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Eminent Domain Seizures Threaten Mortgage Lending
Every state has the right of eminent domain – the legal right to seize private property for the public good. Cities generally exercise those rights for things like building roads or schools. But one California city is using its eminent domain rights to seize homes in danger of foreclosure –with potential repercussions for the mortgage…
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Is Retirement Hazardous To Your Health?
The conventional picture of retirement – a time when there’s no clock to punch and the days are filled with hobbies and family – has been the holy grail of the American workplace for decades. But a slumping economy and changing workplace realities are forcing many would be retirees to keep working, or start new…
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Short Term Renters Try Communities Before They Buy
The new wave of American retirees is challenging traditional thinking about housing in retirement. The stereotype of the old folks serenely sitting on the porch of the house they’ve owed for forty years has given way to a new kind of retiree – restless, peripatetic and often inclined to abandon the old homestead for a…
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Bank Fraud Investigations Keep On Coming
The housing market is finally back on track after the catastrophic collapse of a few years ago. But the damage done by the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders continues to unfold, Bank of America has been grabbing headlines for its ongoing and unapologetic bad behavior, but now JP Morgan Chase, another of the megabanks responsible for…
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Protection Pays: Making the Most of Insurance
Dancers insure their legs and singers insure their vocal cords. Almost anything can be insured against loss, to the point of absurdity – and the insurance industry is happy to make money off people’s greatest fears. But the right insurance can save money – even it it’s never used. And for investors looking to make…
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More Lawsuits Reveal Lending Industry Fraud
Second verse, same as the first. Since the housing collapse of 2008 brought to light misleading, fraudulent and downright illegal tactics by the country’s major lenders, lawsuit after lawsuit has been filed by both government and private entities against these megabanks. But in spite of all efforts to clean up the dirty side of mortgage…