US Refinance Fix Viewed as Unlikely to 'Shock and Awe' Economy BusinessWeek
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Barack Obama, who tours foreclosure-ravaged Nevada and California this week, may face homeowners demanding bolder action as regulators prepare to release details of new housing proposals as early as this week.
Lawmakers and analysts briefed on plans by the independent Federal Housing Finance Agency estimate they will help less than 1 million borrowers -- and perhaps as few as 600,000 -- of the 11 million whose mortgages are higher than the value of their homes.
Edward J. DeMarco, acting director of the FHFA, is preparing to unveil changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program, a three-year-old effort that allows borrowers to take new loans for as much as 125 percent of their home value. DeMarco has said his fix will be more of a tune-up than an overhaul, with reduced “frictions” and “enhancements.”
“To have true shock and awe that would jump-start the economy you need a lot more than 600,000 additional refis,” said Jaret Seiberg, a Washington-based financial policy analyst with MF Global Holdings Ltd.
The Fuzzy Math of Home Values
SmartMoney Magazine: The calculations behind online estimates are adding confusion to an already tricky housing market.
Jason Gonsalves worked hard to turn his 6,500-square-foot stucco-and-stone home in the suburbs of Sacramento into the ultimate grown-up party pad. Inside are the game room, home theater and custom wine cellar. Outside, there's the recently added piece de resistance -- a wood-burning pizza oven, kegerator and searing station, all flanking an infinity-edge pool that overlooks the lapping waters of Folsom Lake. A spread like that doesn't come cheap, of course, so when interest rates fell recently, Gonsalves, who runs a lobbying firm, looked into refinancing his $750,000 mortgage. That's when he got some startling news -- even as he was putting the finishing touches on his home, it had dropped more than $200,000 in value over a seven-month stretch.
Or at least, that's what one popular real estate website told him. Another valued Gonsalves's pad at a jaw-droppingly low $640,500. And these online estimates left him all the more confused when a real-life appraiser, assessing the house for the refi loan, pinned its value at $1.5 million. "I have no idea how those numbers could be so different," Gonsalves says.
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