NEWS ABOUT: adjustable-rate mortgages
adjustable-rate mortgages stories: 6 news briefs
But plunging house values make refinancing impossible for many homeowners
MarketWatch Jan 16, 09 2:12 AM CST
(Newser Summary) -
The benchmark 30-year mortgage interest rate has fallen below 5% for the first time ever as the collapsing economy continues to force interest rates down. Adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 5.25%, reports MarketWatch. But many homeowners can't take advantage of the new low rates to refinance because the value of their homes have dropped below their mortgage debt.
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One woman's story helps us understand today's financial mess
Sacramento Bee Oct 26, 08 6:42 PM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
When a California woman bought a home 3 years ago, she had little idea that her mortgage would help drag down the nation's economy—and the world's, the Sacramento Bee reports. Erin O'Hagan and two family members pooled incomes to buy a $475,000 Sacramento home, and planned to refinance before their adjustable rate rose to 12.75%. "The first year was the best," she said.
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OPINION
In 10 years, you'll be back in the black
Los Angeles Times Aug 17, 08 7:59 PM CDT
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Bought an expensive house right before the subprime crash? Fret not, writes Chris Ayres in the Los Angeles Times . With 5% inflation, lower interest rates, and a mortgage tax deduction, buyers of pricey houses will be smiling in 10 years. "If you're a boom-time buyer who can still pay the mortgage, you have more than you think to feel happy about," writes Ayres.
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ARM holders will see payments soar as their mortgages reset
BusinessWeek Jun 7, 08 10:44 AM CDT
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America’s subprime victims may have grudgingly accepted their fate, but there’s a new class of borrowers primed to suffer, BusinessWeek reports. Homeowners who took out ARMs, or adjustable rate mortgages, will soon face skyrocketing payments as their loans reset. About a million people have the mortgages, but only a small number have already fallen due. “It's a ticking time bomb inside your house that you can't get rid of,” one insider said.
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It's taken longer for ballooning loans to hit the wealthy, now facing the music
Washington Post May 15, 08 10:11 AM CDT
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Luxury homes—once seemingly immune from the mortgage crisis—are starting to hit foreclosure lists across the nation, the Washington Post reports. And, real-estate agents predict, it’s just the beginning of a trend likely to grow as more buyers who bought beyond their means with adjustable-rate and interest-only mortgages are hit by the economic slowdown.
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He warns of cascading crisis
Los Angeles Times May 6, 08 2:35 AM CDT
(Newser Summary) -
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke yesterday called for government intervention to halt home foreclosures, warning that to do nothing could "destabilize communities, reduce property values of nearby homes, and lower tax revenues." Bernanke said in a speech in New York that a million Americans were already three months behind in mortgage payments at the beginning of this year, threatening dire consequences for the future of the economy, reports the Los Angeles Times .
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