St Louis Finance News: The Double Dip Syndrome  May Be Right Around the Corner for 22 Cities
News Press Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

The country may be heading for its new swan song financially speaking.  Moody’s Economy.com just released statistics singling out 22 cities that are at real risk of slipping back into a recession in as early as three months.

To come to this conclusion, the economists considered dwindling progress in employment, housing starts, home prices and industrial production.

These cities that are at risk are spread across the country, ranging from Missoula Montana to Mobile Alabama.  More than half of the cities are in the southern portion of the United States with five concentrated in the Midwest.

“With chances of a national double-dip recession now estimated at about one in four, several metro areas will probably experience their own downturns in the first half of 2011,” said economist Andrew Gledhill, author of the report.

Private sector hiring has been tapering off in recent months compared to the start of the year, triggering Moody’s to boost its forecast for a national double-dip from a 20 percent chance to 25 percent chance.

Thus, it only makes sense that the private sector hiring is particularly sluggish in these 22 identified metro areas which highly increases the possibilities of a major economic slowdown.

Without any type of significant turn around regarding hiring, Gledhill said the number of cities in danger of a double-dip recession could grow, possibly reaching the triple-digits.

Gledhill goes on to say that “there was a time when all 384 metro areas were in a recession. We probably won’t get to that point again, but given the growing risk of another national recession, we’re on the lookout for more metro areas that will be weakening substantially on several levels over the next six months to a year.”

He added that a handful of metro areas, particularly those that are industrial economies, are also suffering from a recent falloff in manufacturing.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

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Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Commercial Financing News: Large Banks Loaning to Small Business Again
News Press Hot Line: 877-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

According to the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of senior bank loan officers, the demand for St Louis small business loans was unchanged.

However, large banks whose assets are greater than $20 billion are easing their stringent lending conditions.

This small business sector had been hit hard during this recession.  But the July survey showed promising signs that credit was again being extended to small business owners.

Smaller companies whose sales were less than $50 million a year were finding over the last 90 days to their surprise that commercial loan standards were relaxing for the first time since 2006.

Lending requirements generally eased for consumers with the exception of credit card loans according to the Federal Reserve report.

But there has not been a lending movement that every bank seems to agree upon.  The changes in standards for credit card loans have varied widely.

For example, big banks along with a few other card issuers have generally eased up, while others said they have tightened their conditions.

In addition, there are many banks who have said that they had reduced the size of credit lines for existing customers.

Still, the report said, “that fraction has decreased noticeably over the past few surveys.”

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Finance News: HAHB Index Is Slightly Higher?
News Press Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

Is there goods news from the HAHB for the housing industry?

The National Association of Home Builders’ housing market index for the month of August was expected to tick up to 15, according to the consensus forecast of economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Although this number would be considered a modest improvement from July, when the monthly index reading sank to 14 which was the lowest since March 2009.

The index is setup so that any readings that are below 50 indicate a negative sentiment about the housing market.

The stagnant economy along with Capitol Hill’s failed bailouts has made potential new buyers skittish about shopping for homes at this present time.

Economists were hoping that the increase in sales of new homes for the month of June would set a optimistic standard going forward although it was still the second-weakest month on record.

Only May takes the dubious honor of sales being the worst on records dating back to 1963.

The industry received a long awaited boost in the first half of the year when the government offered the home buyer tax credits to potential homeowners.

But this seemingly successful program was short-lived when it expired in April which in turn saw the number of people looking to buy a home miserably dropping to new record lows.

What is truly remarkable is the fact that this has happened even though buyers were able to take advantage of the lowest St Louis mortgage rates in decades with no change in sight.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Finance News: Sales Are Reportedly Up In the Retail Industry
News Press Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

Recent news from the Commerce Department states that total retail sales rose 0.4 percent to $362.7 billion compared with June’s 0.3 percent decrease. The June drop was revised from the originally reported 0.5 percent.

The overall sales percentage gain was slightly lower than anticipated. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected sales would rise by 0.5 percent during the month.

Since consumer spending accounts for nearly two-thirds of the United States economic activity, it only makes sense that retail sales and related reports are closely monitored to gauge the health of the economy.

Sales excluding autos and auto parts rose 0.2 percent last month, in line with economists’ forecasts. In June, sales on the same basis were down 0.1 percent.

Motor vehicle and parts sales also rose 1.6 percent in the month, and gasoline store sales rose 2.3 percent.  Overall, retail sales are up 5.5 percent over July last year.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Finance News: Large Homes Benefiting From Lower Jumbo Rates
News Press Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

These historically low interest rates may not be helping out the smaller mortgages throughout the nation.

But it seems to be making a difference with the higher end housing market which is getting a tremendous boost from lower jumbo rates.  Specifically, this is for mortgages that are $417,000 and higher.

Unlike conventional mortgages, jumbo loans by definition exceed the conforming loan limit of $417,000 set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Jumbo rates are normally tied to long term treasuries but in most years are traditionally higher because of the inherent risk involved for banks making these types of larger loans.

“Sales volume for homes worth more than $1 million across the country are up more than 35% from last year at this time,” says Walter Maloney, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Maloney goes on to say that “homes between $700,000 and a million are also on the rise by some 29% over last year. There’s no question that’s because of the historic low jumbo rates.”

So, how low are the current jumbo rates?  Well, last year at this time, a 30-year fixed jumbo rate was averaging more than 6%.

But now it is inching around an all time low of 5.07 percent.  And the St Louis refinancing loan rate for a 30-year jumbo loan is hovering at 5.30 percent.  A fifteen year jumbo is also at a historical low of 4.68 percent.

Experts are now saying that the reason for the rate decline is that banks, which have a part in setting jumbo rates, have money to lend and see the benefits in doing so at these lower rates.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Finance News: Home Equity Loan Defaults On the Rise
News Press Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

Just recently, news surfaced that lenders nationwide had written off approximately $11.2 billion in home equity loans in 2009.

Additional losses included $19.8 billion in home equity lines of credit which was more than was written off in the primary mortgage industry according to the American Bankers Association (ABA) and government data.

Nothing has really changed in 2010.  The trend seems to be the same as combined write-offs of $7.88 billion occurred in the first quarter of this year.

Although lenders are using litigation to force the borrower to settle on these defaulted debts, these banks will be happy to receive 10 cents on the dollar if that much.

“People got 90 cents for free,” says Christopher A. Combs, a real estate lawyer.  He continues: “It rewards immorality, to some extent.”

The amount of bad home equity loan business during the boom is incalculable and in retrospect inexplicable, housing experts say.

The majority of these debts are still on the banks’ ledgers which include Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

“No one had ever seen a national real estate bubble,” said Keith Leggett, a senior economist with the American Bankers Association.

Leggett goes on to say that “we would love to change history so more conservative underwriting practices were put in place.”

If there’s any good news it would be that the delinquency rate on home equity loans was 4.12 percent in the first quarter of 2010 which was down slightly from the fourth quarter of 2009, when it was the highest in 26 years of the industry record keeping.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Finance News: The Short Refinance Program From the FHA Is Not Very Effective

News Press Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

In a surprise announcement, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Short Refinance program would now provide additional St Louis refinancing options to homeowners who are underwater beginning September 7, 2010.

But according to Amherst Securities Group, the actual number of mortgage loans that will qualify for this new program will be “relatively few” due to the given debt-to-income restraints and on top of that, it being a volunteer program.

What are the enrollment qualifications?  First, to be eligible for the new loan, the homeowner must be underwater but still current on the mortgage.  Strategic defaulters or those who walked away do not qualify.

The consumer must have a credit score of 500 or better and once they are refinanced and insured by the FHA, the new refinanced loan must have a loan-to-value ratio of 97.75 percent or lower.

And although the FHA will be insuring this new loan, the prior or existing refinanced loan cannot be an FHA-insured one.  Go figure.

The list continues with the borrower’s existing first-lien holder must agree to write-off at least 10 percent of the unpaid principal balance which must bring the borrower’s combined loan-to-value ratio to no more than 115 percent.

But here’s the real kicker.  In order for the mortgage servicer to avoid possible litigation from investors for the write-down or to achieve safe harbor, they must prove that the current home loan is in imminent default.

That should be easy to do, right?  Not so fast.  You see, few servicers if any would be willing to label a consistently current borrower who has paid their St Louis home mortgage loan on time as in danger of default which in turn does not show the immediate need to have the principal written down, so says Amherst.

They go on to say that “the true use of this program will be for loans that were once delinquent, and have (now) been modified.”

This seems to show that another Federal program that may have had good intentions will once again prove unhelpful to the needed mass and will probably be thrown to the way side.  How sad.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Finance News: Small Business Owners Fearful of Political Climate
News Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

The optimism index fell to the .09 point to 88.1 in July according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

“We don’t have any confidence that the economy is going to get fixed, that it’s going to improve,” William Dunkleberg, the group’s chief economist, told CNBC.

He goes on to say that “we really crashed when it came to expectations for business conditions. Not good.”

Of the business owners surveyed, St Louis mortgage analysts noticed that only 2 percent of respondents said they had plans to create new jobs.

However low that may seem, this number actually doubled thus representing an improvement from June’s 1 percent reading.

The data went on to say that just 12 percent of small business owners reported raising average selling prices, while 24 percent said they were cutting prices.

“With no pricing power and real sales volume weak, profits are not able to recover,” the report said. “Inflation is clearly not a problem.”

The problem lies directly with the fact that owners are fearful of the political climate as regards taxation issues as well as increased costs for national health care and financial reform.

“The index is pretty much full of forward-looking components, and looking forward, not too good,” Dunkleberg said.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Finance News: With 20 Percent of Home Loan Owners Underwater, Will Obama Cancel These Debts?
News Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

The national statistic for mortgage owners owing more than their house is worth is approaching 20 percent according to the real estate experts Zillow.com.

Although the overall number has gone down some due to the rise in homeowners going into foreclosure (if that is any comfort), the negative equity epidemic is being closely watched because it is still a prime predictor of foreclosures second to loss of income.

There were some markets where residents were actually helped by improving home prices even if it was a slight increase.

As these prices rose, it narrowed the gap between what these consumers owed and what they could sell the home for.

Metro areas such as Merced, California and Orlando, Florida who were hard hit recorded huge declines in the number of underwater borrowers.

Merced was down to 40 percent while Orlando fell to 64.6 percent.  Still large numbers but going down none-the-less.

The city that continues to lead the nation in the underwater category is Las Vegas.  They have 74 percent of all mortgage borrowers owing more than their properties are worth.

Following Las Vegas would be Phoenix at 67 percent, Orlando at 65 percent and Reno 62 percent.

But is there anything being done about stopping this menacing problem and can anything really be done about it?

That seems to be the outcry that is currently going on in Washington D.C., as the economy slows and with November’s mid-term elections quickly approaching.

One of the boldest solutions that is being talked about on Capitol Hill would have Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), the mortgage giants operating under Treasury conservatorship to forgive portion of loans that exceed the now-deflated value of the properties to which they have been attached.

The other possible solution would be for Fannie and Freddie to retract their stringent borrowing criteria and loosen the standards for current mortgage borrowers to start refinancing their homes.

Would either of these potential solutions put a dent in this fiscal nightmare?  Well, let’s take a look at these numbers.

As the Wall Street Journal put it, “a mortgage-forgiveness ‘Hail Mary’ pass could put hundreds of dollars a month into pockets of some of the 15 million underwater homeowners with negative equity totaling $800 billion.”

With Obama’s approval ratings being at an all time low, this would certainly come as better news approximately 100 days before November’s election in which Democrats are facing even bigger than usual midterm losses.

And less we not forget that this idea would accomplish the above without adding any more stress to this economy as far as “stimulus” funds that would continue to expand the federal deficit.  Many are calling this a win-win for everybody.

Of course, the Federal Treasury is not confirming or denying this possible course of action.

But it is worth mentioning that any sudden changes either through principal forgiveness or lowering lending standards for Fannie and Freddie would most likely cause chaos in the mortgage-backed securities market.

This would cause losses to the Federal government, Fannie and Freddie which would ultimately mean the American taxpayer especially those investors with stakes in mutual funds.

Even economists are saying that a plunge in mortgage securities prices could push up mortgage rates which on one hand would actually benefit this economy in the long run but on the other hand hurt the first time home buyer.

But with politics, you can never please everyone all the time.  In this case, it definitely means that this action could actually backfire on this administration.  How?

There will be those who are angered over the fact that they did not get this “special deal” that seems to be rewarding or bailing out those who bought more home than they knew they could afford in the first place.

We anxiously await what Washington has to say and if they are ready to tackle this growing problem head-on.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.

St Louis Finance News: More Bleak News Facing America As Predicted Depression Strikes
News Hot Line: 314-334-0210 | Floyd Tapia

The St Louis Refinancing Group news team has held the views of Financier and Hedge Fund Specialist Richard Geller as a welcome depiction of how our economy is actually performing compared to the unbridled fiction that permeates from Capitol Hill.

The idea that this country has been sinking for three years into a multi-generational economic crisis is no stretch of the financial imagination. In fact, as Richard put it: “There is no other way to describe it.”

Many are convinced that we are in a Depression and that this fiscal nightmare may last several, painful years.

What led up to this not-so-deceiving collapse was certainly the unsurpassed creation of money from the United States treasury which has helped spur the vast levels of debt.

And it is certainly not getting any better. These debt levels are still incredibly high. Take for example the hard truth that people still owe but the value of the “assets” in particular homes that have been securing these debts have plummeted big time.

It can actually takes years for this type of economical situation to adjust itself. But it is becoming obvious that the Federal Reserve and “big brother” the United States government does not want it to adjust.

That’s simply ludicrous you say? Well, it gets worse. They also don’t want you to realize what is going on and that they hope they get you to feel that inflation is DEAD.

In reality, they want you to be afraid so that they can pull the proverbial wool over your eyes and proceed with the status quo of Bank Bailout number 3, 4 or is it 5?

No matter what the opinion, the facts show that bank bailouts have helped big banks and of course the money interests in this country but in no way has it aided the homeowner.

What is appalling is that these continued bailouts hurt the economy by causing huge inflation. The infused cash goes into the pockets of Wall Street raiders and is never seen by the small business man of America.

And what is feeding this monetary frenzy has been the disgraceful use of lower interest rates. The Federal Reserve uses this inexcusable financial maneuver to reward the banks.

Yet, the banks are relentless and hypocritical when they charge 15 to 29 percent or more for credit card interest rates and these ones are not this nation’s elite or rich.  They are everyday people living on fixed incomes and sadly losing their life savings on investments seeing no returns or losing value.

What about taxes?  They too are sky high and seem to be heading higher in two forms. Taxes you and I pay and inflation tax. Both are very, very high hovering around 45 percent and the return is very little.

So, where is this inevitable train wreck heading?

1. Higher inflation which is temporarily hidden so we most people don’t see it;

2. The “insiders”, yes, the banks, are the only ones getting the benefit of the TRILLIONS of dollars being printed;

3. The game of ‘bail me out if you can’ that is preventing this country from recovering from this huge financial crisis;

4. Experts are fearful that this will ultimately mean harsh inflation which equates to rising food and fuel costs while employment wages continue to drop and jobs being lost in space.

So, what can you do for yourself and your family?  Richard’s answer is quite clear.  Consumers should be building their own business even if it is at home. Do it full time; do it part time.  Just do something to bring in extra funds.

And whenever possible, save money.  Start your emergency cash fund today for this will be critical in the days ahead.

You cannot be hiding your head in the sand as the broke ostrich relentlessly does.  Whatever the business is is not as important as what it can and should do for you and your family financially while saving this money before we enter the desperate years.

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When applying for any type of St Louis mortgage, call Liberty Lending Consultants, the recognized St Louis home loan and refinancing experts, at 877-334-0210 and ask for Steve Swan or Doug Stahlschmidt.

For business owners looking for small business loans and alternative financing that works, call Floyd Tapia, host of the St. Louis “Mortgage Minute” at 314-334-0210. He is a successful hedge fund originator assisting local and national business owners in getting private and public St Louis finance and commercial lending with no upfront fees.

Sponsored by:

Check back daily for more financial news.