Worthy Nods

This week's Worthy Nods from the news and from around the blogs ...

The Washington Post: Multiple Applications for Mortgages - For five weeks straight, 30-year rates have been at the lowest level since Freddie Mac started tracking the data in 1971. As mortgage interest rates fall, a growing number of borrowers are applying to more than one lender to increase their chances of getting approved for refinancing. Evidence suggests that only about half of the borrowers trying to refinance are getting approved, down from 60 to 70 percent during previous refinancing booms, mostly due to poor credit or inadequate equity.

The Wall Street Journal: Rates Fall, but Refinancings are Limited - While the low rates haven't caused a stampede of people seeking loans to purchase homes, they have set off a wave of refinancing applications. Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, another mortgage lender, says that less than half of refinance applications are now leading to completed loans, compared with about 70% two years ago.

The Big Picture: The Bailout Game - Really. It's a virtual board game for the Bailout. We’ve reached the point where things are so bad we can only laugh at it — and that means its time for amusing and silly, time-killing web games. Your mission if you choose to accept it: "The US Economy is failing. Your job is to save it from economic ruin by choosing which companies live and which can be let go bankrupt. Interactive flash, looks like Monopoly. If you get stuck, you can always 'Ask A Greenspan.' " Try your hand at saving the world economy. This can keep you busy for Monday at least.

MSNBC - Bankruptcy System Takes On the Mortgage Mess - The “Debtors Counsel Loss Mitigation Web Portal” is intended to keep troubled borrowers out of foreclosure and bankruptcy court, but critics say it will accomplish little, apart from making millions of dollars for its creator.

The Washington Post - An Appraisal Upheaval - The "home valuation code of conduct," issued by Fannie & Freddie's federal regulator late in December, is under attack by the industry it purports to protect, professional real estate appraisers. It's almost certain to turn into a political issue in the new Congress and may be the subject of a federal lawsuit. At the forefront - management companies, whose appraisal quality is called into question by many industry leaders.

The Wall Street Journal: Price Drops to Continue - "Home prices are likely to be lower in two years in more than one-quarter of the nation's housing markets, according to a new study by mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. The study 'tells us ... that we are far from a rebound in prices,' says PMI chief economist David Berson. The risk that home prices will be lower in the third quarter of 2010 increased in 97% of 381 metro areas, according to the PMI analysis, though in many markets that risk remains relatively low." Consider the source and their natural aversion to risk.

Real Central VA: The Slums of Tomorrow May be Here Today - Great discussion from several sources questioning whether the fringe communities - the suburbs - will become the next slums.

The Ground Floor/ULI - Charter Schools: A Worthy Tenant for Empty Department Stores? - A very interesting concept and possible use for the vacated big box spaces in malls and shopping centers. "It will take vision to adjust and change traditional retail models and reassess lease agreements, hours of operation, maintenance, adjacencies, and security. But the future will be better if it works." We are about to get plenty of empty retail boxes with which to test the theory.

Housing Wire Blog: Application Volume Rises, Favoring Refi - The refi share of raw mortgage activity increased to 85.3 percent of total activity from 79.8 percent the previous week, emphasizing a continued influx of refi popularity. A separate application survey conducted by Mortgage Maxx LLC, which adjusts raw data to count multiple applications submitted by a single household as a single entry, found that household activity on the application level increased 2.2 percent for the week ending Jan. 9.

The Washington Post: The Growing Foreclosure Crisis - In depth look at the foreclosure crisis that is spreading from subprime loans into every income level. Many borrowers ensnared in the evolving mortgage mess do not fit neatly into the stereotypes that surfaced by early 2007 when delinquency rates shot up. In October, for the first time, the number of prime mortgages in delinquency exceeded the subprime loans in danger of default, according to The Post's analysis.

BusinessWeek: Economy Brings Down Russian Oligarchs - Russia's once-mighty oligarchs have been brought low by the global financial crisis. How low? They're begging the Kremlin for loans. So much for the buyers for the world's most expensive real estate.