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Beleaguered consumer bank Wachovia Corp. said Monday it will quit offering a mortgage payment option that allows borrowers to pay less each month than the bank charges in interest.

The choice to pay less was one of the options of Wachovia’s controversial Pick-A-Payment mortgages, which offer customers four different payment options each month. Wachovia said it will no longer offer the less-than-full interest payment option on all new home loans.

Wachovia also said it is waiving all prepayment fees associated with its Pick-A-Payment mortgages. Read more
Courtesy: www.washingtonpost.com

Cagamas HKMC Bhd hopes to tap into existing mortgage loans in financial institutions as well as new loans for its newly launched mortgage guarantee programme.

Executive director Steven Choy said: “We intend to capture a proportion of the banks’ existing outstanding loans of RM150bil and an additional RM50bil in new loans every year.”

Cagamas HKMC Bhd, a newly formed joint venture between national mortgage corporation Cagamas Holdings Bhd and Hong Kong Mortgage Corp Ltd (HKMC), has a start-up capital of RM100mil. Read more
Courtesy: biz.thestar.com.my

Allahabad Bank on Wednesday tied up with private life insurance company Tata AIG for providing mortgage term insurance facilities to housing loan customers of the bank.

Mr Joydeep Roy, Chief Distribution Officer, Tata AIG said that customers would be offered reducing term life insurance designed to cover mortgage loan obligation of the insured member against death during the term of the coverage. Read more
Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com

Increasing numbers of hard-pressed homeowners and tenants are turning to personal loans and credit cards to fund their housing costs.

More than 4 million households have taken out a personal loan or credit card to cover their mortgage or rental costs in the past year, according to a survey by comparison service Moneysupermarket.com.

Tim Moss, head of loans and debt at Moneysupermarket.com, said: “It’s a very serious situation when you have people turning to a short-term solution to fund a long-term product. Read more
Courtesy: business.timesonline.co.uk

The issue of special mortgage loans to public officials came back to hound Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) on Wednesday after the Washington Post reported that he had received a loan for his $1.65 million mansion in Chicago below current market rates.

Obama received a $1.32 million loan from Northern Trust shortly after he became a senator, the Post said. The 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage had a 5.62% interest rate, below the current 6% at the time in Chicago. Read more
Courtesy: www.allheadlinenews.com

Rising mortgage and rental costs have forced 1.8 million to take out a personal loan in the past year, a report has found.

According to the personal finance website MoneySupermarket.com, 7 per cent of households – equating to 1.8 million families – have been forced to take out a loan to fund mounting mortgage and rental payments.

The website warns that this is a dangerous tactic, because the average cost of a loan, according to the Bank of England, is now more than 8.4 per cent, and the average rate on a credit card is 17.5 per cent – far in excess of the average mortgage rate, which is still less than 6 per cent for existing mortgage holders. Read more
Courtesy: www.telegraph.co.uk

Every day, potential home buyers are flooded with news items about the difficulties of securing a mortgage loan in the aftermath of the subprime fallout. Streets filled with “For Sale” signs, the emergence of foreclosure tours and talk of real estate agents taking on second jobs fuel the perception that the real estate market is in trouble. In fact, this is an ideal time to purchase a home and plenty of money is available, even for borrowers who may not meet the standard underwriting guidelines. Read more
Courtesy: www.fwbusinesspress.com

In recent years many economists have recognized that price growth on real estate can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth are not able to purchase real estate on cash.

“Increased interest rates on credits in Georgia were conditioned by the growth tendency obvious in the global market. Since international resources became more expensive the local commercial banks were forced to increase interest rates. Read more
Courtesy: finchannel.com

Owning a home is a central part of the American Dream. Our society believes so strongly that home ownership is good for Americans that we have built it into our national policies and tax code. Interest on a home mortgage is deductible from your taxes, and the government backs a number of mortgages to make home ownership possible for many people. There are a number of loan options available that can be customized to your specific situation including FHA, VA and loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read more
Courtesy: www.jacksonsun.com

Countrywide Financial Corp., the mortgage lender that lost $2.5 billion amid rising defaults and foreclosures, was sued by California and Illinois for allegedly luring borrowers into risky loans they couldn’t afford.

Countrywide and Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo were named in suits, filed today, claiming the biggest U.S. home lender used deceptive practices such as low “teaser” rates to entice thousands of borrowers into adjustable-rate loans without adequately informing them that payments would balloon in later months. Read more
Courtesy: www.bloomberg.com