Breaking: Treasury Depart Warns Today That "6 Million More Americans To Lose Homes"

Discussion in 'Wall St. News' started by ByLoSellHi, Sep 9, 2009.

  1. Treasury Says Millions More Foreclosures Coming

    http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/09/09/business/business-us-usa-housing.html

    By REUTERS
    Published: September 9, 2009

    Filed at 11:02 a.m. ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
    Only 12 percent of U.S. homeowners eligible for loan modifications under the Obama administration's housing rescue plan have had their mortgages reworked, and millions more foreclosures are coming, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

    A Treasury report showed 360,165 people had their monthly payments reduced through August, up from 235,247 through July, but a senior Treasury official conceded much more must be done to soften the impact of a severe and prolonged housing crisis.

    Treasury has begun releasing monthly reports on the loan modification program, called the Home Affordable Modification Program or HAMP.

    In July, it said that just 9 percent of the estimated number of homeowners eligible had had their loans modified, so Treasury's assistant secretary for financial institutions, Michael Barr, was able to claim modest progress in August.

    He told a House Financial Services subcommittee that the program launched in February, which brings banks and loan servicers together with at-risk homeowners, was on target to help a half million Americans homeowners by November 1.

    But that is a small start on a huge problem at the heart of U.S. economic woes.

    Barr said that "even if HAMP is a total success, we should still expect millions of foreclosures" as administration and industry efforts continue to stabilize a crisis-stricken housing sector.

    Barr said a strong housing market was "crucial" to a sustained U.S. economic recovery and described the slump in prices and demand in the housing sector as being "at the center of our financial crisis and economic downturn."

    He noted that analysts anticipate more than six million Americans could lose their homes in the next three years.

    "Much more remains to be done and we will continue to work with other agencies, regulators and the private sector to reach as many families as possible," Barr said.

    The Treasury report showed that some lenders had not helped any of their borrowers who were eligible for loan modifications. Others had helped varying numbers of those who were 60 or more days delinquent on their mortgages, ranging up to 100 percent for one bank that only had one eligible borrower.

    (Reporting by Glenn Somerville; Additional reporting by Tim Ahmann; Editing by James Dalgleish)
     
  2. Lethn

    Lethn

    So much for the federal reserve 'Maintaining a healthy economy and currency'
     
  3. S2007S

    S2007S

    Seems like investors don't care about foreclosures, as long as trillions are being printed, from here its 100% safe to be long and strong. 6 million foreclosures should be a drop in the bucket for the banking system, nearly 90% of the talking heads believe that the bottom in housing has occurred and that dipping into the real estate market is the way to go.
     
  4. ...as the market EXPLODES to the upside

     
  5. Mvic

    Mvic

    Only 6 million, thank goodness, relief rally on the news :)

    Seriously though, all it means is that there will be more intervention from the gov and Fed which are seen as positives for the market or bad for the $, take your pick, either way good for equities.
     
  6. Market will love it, it's a love fest.
     
  7. Goldman just came out and advised investors to buy "industrial shares."

    :D
     

  8. Buy energy, and health care, they have not run up that much, DUK,CHK
     
  9. BREAKING: Market ripping to new highs. Ignoring doom and gloom articles. Only cares about the trillions printed and used to prop up U.S. markets.
     
  10. Stick with your longs till month end, then I don't know. I don't think companies will be able to grow there bottom line with consumers pulling back. Consumer credit is at an all time low.

    I like health care right now,and energy. With a tiny bit of tech
     
    #10     Sep 9, 2009