What We're Hearing

It's been an ugly week and it's only Wednesday afternoon. But first, let's pick out some good news and shove aside, for now, the depressing thoughts about record new loan delinquencies, falling application volumes, and the sell off in stocks. According to calculations we did using National Mortgage News' Quarterly Data Report spreadsheet product, we now have $1 trillion in mortgages that are officially in arrears. Now, most of you might be thinking this is horrible. But wait, maybe it's really a great opportunity for investors and specialty servicers that play in the nonperforming loan (NPL) market. A $1 trillion market and plenty of desperate sellers? What more could an investor want? That's the best I can come up with today, but I firmly believe (sadly) that home prices, in general, will slide further before recovering in five years. I'm not predicting a 20% decline but a slow, continual, mild decline. Even if employment improves I don't see much change. Now let's put our hands together and be thankful for low interest rates...