Builder Magazine: Loans

Lending Remains Key for New-Home Sales

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:16:22 EST

Cash-only purchases of new homes appear to be declining.

From Start to Finish: Keeping the Active House on Budget

Tue, 5 Feb 2013 12:55:53 EST

An energy-efficiency loan is key to the success of the Active House USA project.

Public Builders Vs. Private Builders

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:59:00 EST

The plumbing line for capital is wide for publics, narrow for privates.

The Future of Mortgage Finance Might Not Look Too Different From the Present

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:22:30 EST

Builders insist a government backstop remains critical to the continued flow of home buyer credit.

FHA Will Keep Funding Flips

Tue, 3 Jan 2012 12:28:36 EST

The waiver for 90-day resales has been extended through 2012.

Starts: November/December 2011

Fri, 3 Feb 2012 02:23:19 EST

David Weekley Homes reenters the Phoenix market with the acquisition of the bulk of local builder T.W. Lewis' lots. Plus, a look at the markets where the biggest builders' volume and share might not add up to good operating leverage.

New Bill Factors Efficiency into Home Values

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 01:07:35 EST

The Sensible Accounting to Value Energy Act, to be introduced tomorrow, would include a home's energy savings in loans and appraisals.

Difficult Credit Conditions Are the Biggest Stumbling Block to Recovery

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 04:47:04 EST

Without traditional financing, new-home construction cannot begin to recover.

In Pursuit of the All-Cash Transaction

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:08:08 EST

I've been thinking more about my blog post from last week on the continued tightness in the mortgage markets and how those constraints have been driving a steady increase in all-cash purchases of homes since 2007. In fact, in February and March 2011, those transactions, as a percentage of all known closings, hit a six-plus year high of 43%, according to data from Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI).

Mortgage Applications Rise, Purchases Up

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:46:47 EST

Applications for home mortgages rose sharply last week, with the Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index jumping 9.3%, seasonally adjusted, from a week earlier, the MBA said Wednesday. The gain was driven primarily by refinancings, with the Refinance Index up 11.2% from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.6%; unadjusted, it was up 2.2% and up 0.1% from the same week a year ago.

The Wild, Wild World of Mortgage Financing

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:15:18 EST

Little more than a week and change remains before the loan limits on mortgages eligible to be purchased by the GSEs or insured by the FHA reset Oct. 1. Despite a clarion call from the NAHB and other industry groups like the NAR to lobby for an extension of the current higher limits, the efforts may be too little too late to avoid a reset in the immediate. In the words of one public home builder CEO during a recent earnings call, an extension is "not hopeless, but it is a long shot."

Fed Adopts 'Operation Twist,' Markets Sink

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:24:38 EST

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee on Wednesday voted 7 to 3 in favor of 'Operation Twist' in an attempt to "put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates and help make broader financial conditions more accommodative," according to the committee's statement. Stock markets, which had been mixed prior to the announcement, promptly tanked. The Dow ended the session with a 2.5% drop; the NASDAQ shed slightly more than 2% and the S&P sank almost 3%.

Mortgage Applications Edge Upward

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:46:50 EST

Applications for mortgage loans increased 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis last week from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Associations weekly report on its Market Composite Index, MBA said Wednesday. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 25.2% compared with the previous week, which included Labor Day. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.7%; unadjusted it was up 17.1%.

On the Call: Lennar Corp.

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:12:25 EST

With the release of its third quarter results, Lennar closed on its sixth consecutive quarter of profit. All three of the company's operating units--home building, financial services, and its distressed asset division Rialto--contributed positively to the bottom line, each working in synergy with the others to offer good returns to the balance sheet at every step of the delivery process from the sourcing land deals through the closing of homes. However, continuing reductions in mortgage liquidity remain a constant threat to the company's ability to execute efficiently on all levels.

Toll CFO Proposes Underwater Mortgage Split

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:18:41 EST

Marty Connor, chief financial officer at Toll Brothers, appearing Friday morning on CNBC, said the company proposes a splitting of underwater mortgages into two loans refinanced at a lower rate, one a primary mortgage covering up to 100% of the value of the property, the other a "soft second mortgage" that would be paid at a later date from equity or value appreciation.

Mortgage Applications Increase, Rates at Record Lows

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:22:56 EST

Mortgage activity as measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite index increased 6.3% last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, which included an adjustment for Labor Day, from a week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 15.4%. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 7.0% from the prior week but fell 16.2% unadjusted and was 7.2% below the same week a year earlier.

Mortgage Activity Mixed Despite Record Low Rates

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:23:48 EST

Mortgage applications fell 4.9% last week from the week before, but purchase only applications eked out a 0.2% gain on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. The MBA's Market Composite Index was down 5.3% on an unadjusted basis; the unadjusted reading on the Purchase Index also was down by 2.1% from a week earlier and down 13.5% from the comparable week last year.

Cover Story: Rent

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:26:23 EST

It can mean a new source of revenue, but it also can distract builders from their primary mission building and selling the American dream

Bernanke Offers No New Fed Action

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:11:41 EST

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday proposed no new Fed action to boost the slowing economy in a speech many investors were hoping would include a plan for a third program of quantitative easing. "Although important problems certainly exist, the growth fundamentals of the United States do not appear to have been permanently altered by the shocks of the past four years," read the text of Bernanke's speech to a Kansas City Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wy., which was released at 10 a.m. Eastern time. "It may take some time, but we can reasonably expect to see a return to growth rates and employment levels consistent with those underlying fundamentals."

Despite Low Rates, Mortgage Applications Sag

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:24:58 EST

The financial turmoil of August trumped near-record low rates last week as mortgage application volume slipped for both refinancings and home purchases, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. The MBA's Market Composite Index, which measures mortgage application volume, fell 2.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis and 2.9% unadjusted from a week. The Refinance Index dropped 1.7% and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5.7% and landed at the lowest level in the survey since December 1996.