Fannie Mae Predicts Continued Fall in Housing Prices

Fannie Mae’s CEO recently stated that home prices are predicted to fall as much as 25% more before the crisis is over. Despite the struggling market, Fannie Mae will be able to hold its own to wait out the storm, and even expand business in the meantime. Recently, regulators enabled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to play a larger role in supporting the housing market, by expanded both of their capital requirements.

To read the complete story, please visit:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/20/real_estate/fannie_home_prices.ap/index.htm?section=money_realestate

Helping the Housing Market, without the Risk

This past Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee approved legislation to aid homeowners who need to refinance expensive loans. According to a New York Times article, this will be done without placing taxpayers at risk or increased financial strain. Over the years, the government has required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to designate hundreds of millions of dollars annually that could then be used to refinance loans in hard times such as these. The plan that was recently passed will allow the FHA to insure risky loans, thereby keeping hundreds of thousands of homeowners from declaring foreclosure, and thus stabilizing the market.

For more on this story, please visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/business/21fannie.html?_r=1&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=print

This Quarter, a Record Decline in Home Prices

According to a report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, the first quarter of 2008 saw a record decline in housing prices. Since the first quarter of 2007, home prices fell 3.1% excluding those that have been refinanced. Also, prices dropped 1.7% from the fourth quarter to the first. The effect took place on a wide scale, affecting 43 states total.

For the complete details on the decline, please visit:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/22/real_estate/ofheo_report/index.htm?section=money_realestate