Home  |  Mortgage News Archives  |  July 07, 2006

A former Haitian paramilitary leader, convicted of leading the massacre of hundreds in his home country, did not leave behind his life of crime when he moved to New York 11 years ago, state prosecutors said in a Suffolk courtroom Friday.  Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, 49, was arraigned before acting State Supreme Court Justice Michael Mullen on charges that he helped steal $1.3 million...

Mortgage fraudster sentence cut
BBC News, UK

A businessman who admitted building a property empire by using fraudulent mortgages has left jail £900,000 richer after his sentence was cut on appeal.  David Edward Dale, 49, from Dyffryn, Neath, was jailed for two years and ordered to pay a £4.2m confiscation order at Swansea Crown Court last year.  The appeal court said this was "too high" and also suspended the jail term.  The judge...

30-Year Mortgage Rates Edge Up to 6.79%
Washington Post, United States

Interest rates on 30-year mortgages edged up slightly last week as fears about the Federal Reserve's next rate moves lessened a bit.  Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to a nationwide average of 6.79 percent this week, from 6.78 percent last week. It was the fourth straight weekly increase, and it put rates at the highest...
 

Billions wasted by failure to shop for best mortgage deals
Scotsman, United Kingdom

HOMEOWNERS are paying billions of pounds in extra mortgage interest charges because they are too busy to shop around for better deals, according to a new report. Instead of switching mortgages when special fixed rate deals end, more people than ever before are staying put and paying back bumper rates to their lenders.  Professor Richard Taffler, Martin Currie Professor of Finance...

Life saver - or a life sentence?
Guardian Unlimited, UK

Growing numbers of first-time buyers desperate to get on the housing ladder but struggling to afford sky-high house prices are being encouraged to tie themselves into mortgages lasting 35, 40 or even 45 years.  With today's buyers requiring ever-larger home loans, some banks and building societies have come up with a clever trick for bringing the dream of home ownership within their...

Real estate investor pleads guilty to mortgage fraud
Bizjournals.com, NC

A Kansas City real estate investor pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to a $17.5 million mortgage fraud scheme that involved 280 residential properties, U.S. Attorney Bradley Schlozman said.  Jeffrey Tyler Wine, 28, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Dean Whipple to a federal information that charges him with mortgage fraud conspiracy and...

Home loans soar as good times roll
The Age, Australia

A DECADE of low interest rates has led Australians to engage in an extraordinary mortgage binge that has helped to more than double Melbourne house prices in the same period.  Figures compiled by The Age show that the value of home loan approvals has more than tripled since 1996, in a decade also marked by increased competition between lenders, and strong economic growth.  In 1996...

Fannie, Freddie should keep portfolios

What is the inverted yield curve, and why should you care?  No, don't quit reading. This is economics, but it's important. Sometimes you have to slog through the dull stuff for your own good. Every time the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, as it did last week, we're told that we'll pay more for home mortgages and the like. But that's shorthand. The longer explanation isn't that simple...

Central Bank Freezes Interest Rates Over Missile Launch
Chosun Ilbo, South Korea

The Bank of Korea’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to freeze the key interest rate at 4.25 percent at a meeting on Friday. The central bank made the decision taking North Korea’s unexpected missile launches into account but did not rule out further interest hikes in the future. The central bank has hiked interest rates since last October.  BOK Governor Lee Seong-tae told reporters the...

Fixed interest rates up, lenders nervous
The Age, Australia

Dozens of lenders have upped their fixed home loan interest rates within the past week, as fears increase of a central bank rate hike next month.  The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left interest rates on hold at 5.75 per cent after a board meeting this week.  But increased expectations of a hike as soon as next month has led to a sudden rush of institutions lifting their fixed rates...
 

BUY TO LET, THE TABLE NEVER LIES
Firstrung, UK

To assume that terraced properties have increased by 5.39% in a month is quite simply fanciful. Not withstanding that fact the assumed annual increase quoted by Paragon is wildly optimistic, terraces and apartments have not increased by approx. 18% over the last twelve months. Recalculating, using the universally accepted 9% inflation figures, plays absolute havoc with the figures returned given...

On the house? Don’t fall for it
Times Online, UK

When did houses stop being our homes and become the panacea for all financial ills? No longer is it enough to view your home as a place to eat, sleep and live. Now it is a pension, a means of cheap credit, a sort of personal bank, which just happens to have beds in it.  Figures released this week by the Bank of England show that we are again turning to our houses for financial succour. We ...

Selangor upbeat on property market
Business Times - Malaysia, Malaysia

SELANGOR is upbeat about its property market this year, as consumer confidence grows with the implementation of projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP) (2006-2010).  ... "In the first half of this year, the activities in the property market had declined due to low consumer confidence following the rise in prices of essential items.  "However, the volume and value of property transactions...