Sunday, July 7, 2013

Monday July 8 Housing and Economic stories


Spanish Banks Risk Loan-Book Losses as Economy Shrinks, IMF Says - (www.bloomberg.com) The International Monetary Fund said Spain’s recession is putting the country’s lenders at risk of a further deterioration on their loans. “The macro downsides could trigger a negative feedback loop between credit and the economy, with deteriorating loan books and pressure on profits,” the IMF said in a report today. Banks should continue to “reinforce the quality and quantity of capital, including by being very prudent on cash dividends.” Spanish banks’ bad loans rose in April to 10.9 percent of their total lending from 10.5 percent a month earlier as companies and individuals are buffeted by a contraction that pushed unemployment to 27 percent. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said yesterday lenders will need 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of capital to offset losses related to new rules that demand higher provisions for refinancing and restructured loans.

China cash crunch deepens as PBOC withholds funding  - (www.ft.com) China’s cash crunch deepened yesterday/WEDNESDAY after the central bank withheld funding from the financial system, putting pressure on overextended lenders. Short-term interbank rates jumped more than 200 basis points to a record high of nearly 8 per cent for loans of one month or less, in the latest indication of how tight credit has become in China. The main reason for the lack of liquidity has been the central bank’s reluctance to pump liquidity into the money market, wrongfooting banks that had expected Beijing would continue to support them with large cash injections. Signalling that the cash crunch could persist for a while, the China Securities Journal, a major state-run newspaper, ran a front-page commentary saying China was at a turning point in monetary policy. “We cannot use as fast money supply growth as in the past, or even faster, to promote economic growth,” the newspaper said. “This means that authorities must control the pace of money supply growth.”

CMBS Sales Face $15 Billion Drop on Interest-Rate Jump, S&P Says - (www.bloomberg.com) Rising interest rates may trim issuance of commercial-mortgage bonds by $15 billion this year, according to Standard & Poor’s.
An increase of 55 basis points on 10-year Treasury yields coupled with a rise of 30 basis points on relative yields on top-ranked securities linked to property loans will put a damper on the resurgent market, S&P analysts led by Howard Esaki said yesterday in a note to clients. The analysts estimate 2013 sales of $65 billion after adjusting for the rising rates. Commercial-mortgage bond sales that Credit Suisse Group AG says are poised to climb as much as 50 percent to $70 billion are being checked by investor concern that the Federal Reserve will soon pare $85 billion of monthly bond purchases. The unprecedented stimulus has suppressed interest rates and pushed investors into higher-yielding assets.

Bernanke Exit Signaled by Obama Means Tapering, Feldstein Says - (www.bloomberg.com) President Barack Obama clearly signaled this week that Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernanke will be leaving the central bank when his term ends in January and that looming departure means Bernanke will want to begin tapering asset purchases this year, said Harvard University economics professor Martin Feldstein. The Fed has been making $85 billion in monthly bond purchases in an effort to spur job growth and galvanize faster U.S. economic expansion. The policy making Federal Open Market Committee is meeting today in Washington, with four more FOMC meetings scheduled before the end of the year.

6 Indicted for Scam Involving Inflated Appraisals and Kickbacks - (www.mortgagefraudblog.com) According to the 21 count indictment, Tibakweitira was a real estate agent forCentury 21 Advantage Realty and its successor, Elite Real Estate Group. Tibakweitira recruited his wife Makundi, and others, including Wambura, Mwihava and Boas, to act as straw purchasers of homes. Johnson owned CJ Lending and Able Estate & Company which provided credit repair services. The indictment alleges that from March 2007 to November 2008, the defendants sought mortgages for properties at values in excess of the properties’ actual market values. Tibakweitira allegedly procured inflated appraisals and created false addendums to the sales contracts requiring large amounts of loan proceeds to be disbursed for renovations or repairs. The defendants allegedly used stolen or false identities, false documents – including W-2 forms, earnings statements, and bank statements – and false credit information to induce lenders to provide residential mortgage loans to the straw buyers. Large amounts of the proceeds of the fraudulently obtained loans were allegedly disbursed from escrow accounts to Destiny Property Management, LLC andDestiny Property Management Company, which were shell companies owned byTibakweitira, for repairs and renovations that were never made. 







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