Key Factors Affecting The Foreclosure Crisis

The mortgage crisis of 2007 marked catastrophe for millions of homeowners who suffered from foreclosure and short sales. Most of the problems involving the foreclosing of families’ homes could boil down to risky borrowing and lending. Lenders were pushed to ensure families would be eligible for a loan, when in previous years the same families would have been deemed too high-risk to obtain any kind of loan. With the increase in high-risk families obtaining loans, there was a huge increase in home buyers and subsequently a rapid increase in home prices. As a result, prices peaked and then began falling just as fast as they rose. Soon after families began to default on their mortgages forcing them either into foreclosure or short sales. Who was to blame for the risky lending and borrowing that caused the mortgage meltdown? Many might blame the company Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but in reality the entire system of buying and selling and free market failed home owners and the housing economy.

In order to encourage people to buy more houses and boost the real estate market, the homebuilders, financial lenders, and the government created new financial instruments of calculation that were not researched properly. Lenders sold mortgages to investors that allowed the risk of default to be covered even though the mortgage was in a financial stretch for the borrower. Borrowers did not read the fine print and made decisions that they could not afford. The major banks Federal and otherwise, kept the interest rates low causing investors to take risks to get high returns in the short term, disregarding the long terms security of the whole process.

The housing crisis of the late 2000s rocked the economy and changed the landscape of the real estate business for years to come. Decades of people purchasing houses unfordable houses and properties with lenient loans policies led to a collective housing bubble. When the banking system faltered and the economy wilted, interest rates were raised, mortgages increased, and people lost their jobs amidst the chaos. This all culminated in tens of thousands of American losing their houses to foreclosures and short sales, as they could no longer afford the mortgage payments on their homes. The United States entered a recession and homeownership no longer appeared to be a feasible goal as many questioned whether the country could continue to support a middle-class. Former home owners became renters and in some cases homeless as the American Dream was delayed with no foreseeable return. While the future of the economy looked bleak, conditions gradually improved. American citizens regained their jobs, the United States government bailed out the banking industry, and regulations were put in place to deter such events as the mortgage crash from ever taking place again. The path to homeowner ship has been forever altered, as loans in general are now more difficult to acquire and can be accompanied by a substantial down payment.

During this time period, homeownership typically required a 20 percent down payment (Melicher & Norton, 2014, 168). Lending institutions were very careful about whom they lent money to, and credit standards were high (Melicher & Norton, 2014, 168). Melicher & Norton (2014) called this the “save now, spend later” philosophy, and it would change in the coming years (p. 168).

The insolvency seen in the Housing Market manifested in the large number of stagnant foreclosures caused a dramatic decline in housing prices, which resulted in many homeowners owing more money on their houses than they are worth. Market-level insolvency is caused by capital flight in a specific market in response to a scare during a decrease in solvency. During the scope of this recession, the initial, progressive decrease in solvency was caused by a negative Net Capital Outflow in conjunction with the cash-vacuum produced by the US Budget Deficit, and the scare was caused primarily by the failure of several significantly-sized corporations and a rapid increase in foreclosures caused by the loss of a large number of jobs.

The past decades have dictated our economic policies; the housing market was fed by the politicians instilling the thought that every person should be a homeowner. According to a speech by President William Clinton in 1995, he boasted about making homeownership a reality, “The goal of this strategy, to boost homeownership to 67.5 percent by the year 2000, which would take us to an all-time high”(Wooley). As a result of political ploys like this, banks and lending institutions came up with products such as the 107% financing, interest only loans, negative amortization programs which allowed loans to start at a 1% interest rate, sub-prime credit packages for those homeowners only 1 day out of bankruptcy, and the no document qualifier

A few years later the market took a turn for the worse, where interest rates were on the rise, and homes were losing their value quickly. Now borrowers that were in these interest only ARM’s needed to refinance these loans because the rates were going up, to a point where the homeowner was not be able to afford the payment. The Federal Reserve tried to stimulate the economy by lowering interest rates during the recession in early 2001, from over 6% in 2000, to a rate just above 1.25% in 2002. These low rates encouraged many Americans to apply for loans for homes that a few years ago they would have not been able to. To encourage the homeownership boom, the Bush administration urged Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to allot more money for low-income borrowers so they could buy their own homes. This resulted in the subprime mortgage

During 2007 through 2010 there existed what we commonly refer to as the subprime mortgage crisis. Through deduction of readings by those considered esteemed in the realm of finance - such as Ben Bernanke - the crisis arose out of an earlier expansion of mortgage credit. This included extending mortgages to borrowers who previously would have had difficulty getting mortgages; this both contributed to and was facilitated by rapidly rising home prices. Pre-subprime mortgages, those looking to buy homes found it difficult to obtain mortgages if they had below average credit histories, provided small down payments or sought high-payment loans without the collateral, income, and/or credit history to match with their mortgage request. Indeed some high-risk families could obtain small-sized mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), otherwise, those facing limited credit options, rented. Because of these processes, home ownership fluctuated around 65 percent, mortgage foreclosure rates were low, and home construction and house prices mainly reflected swings in mortgage interest rates and income.

After the bursting of the United States housing bubble, many homeowners found themselves in a dire situation. Following the dot-com bubble burst, the Federal Reserve slashed interest rates, meaning credit was cheap. Lower lending standards also meant that consumers with not-so-great credit were suddenly able to attain adjustable rate mortgages with a minimum of money down and easy initial terms. In 2004, approaching the pinnacle of the housing market’s climb, former Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, actually encouraged Americans to take out adjustable rate mortgages. Then, as 2006 came, Americans saw the housing market reach its peak and subsequently plummet downward. As a result, it became difficult to impossible forthe borrowers

FDR’s affordable housing initiative was responsible for the rapid expansion of home ownership throughout the United States (Allen and Barth, 2012). This was accomplished in part through the creation of The Federal National Mortgage Association, which provided affordable low down payment mortgages extended over a 30-year period of time. Over the past several decades the United States economic policy has been to encourage home ownership (Bluhm, Overbeck and Wagner, 2010).

There was misbelief over future market rates and home values by those looking to buy or sell their home. Banks were lending money irresponsibility, which allowed more people the ability to purchase homes who normally could not afford to enter the market. This increased demand in the market for homes, bidding up the overall price of homes. The value of these homes, however, remained the same. In addition to purchasing homes beyond the means of the consumer, existing home owners applied for equity on the false notion that their homes had increased in value. With far more money in the hand of the consumer, families began splurging and purchasing. To offset this increased demand for goods, firms raised prices. When the economy crashed, homeowners and those who had borrowed or took out equity against their homes were left with a massive amount to pay off. From the raised prices, there was inflation which burdened consumers even more. Instantly, households were left with massive amounts of debt that banks were demanding repayment for. When borrowers’ jobs could no longer support the payments for these debts, many households filed for bankruptcy. Many banks couldn’t cover their costs because payments were not being made, which led to the shutdown and take-over of many well-known banks overnight. This also impacted the auto industry, to some degree. Because auto manufactures rely on consumers purchasing the current year’s car model, auto manufacturers could not cover their costs and ultimately had to lay-off many workers, many of which also had massive amounts of debt to pay off. The economic crisis was not caused by any one entity, rather it was a combined problem of uncalculated risks, an overly optimistic market, household greed, and poor regulation of banks. The only solution to this problem is putting more regulation on banks (increase reserve

In 2001, the United States endured a short unexpected decline in the economy. With the terrorist attack at 9/11 and accounting scandals, a decline in the U.S economy was an obsession in the minds of the American people. However, in order to keep things at peace, the Federal Reserve determined that they will lower the Federal funds 11 times. The rate was then lowered from 6.5% to 1.75% in a matter of one year. This allowed bankers the power to award more borrowers with loans even if they had no job, income, or even assets. Even with no way of obtaining any income the dream of buying a home became a reality. It wasn’t long before everything became way cheaper.

Brooklyn, NY – December 30, 2009 Foreclosures continue to rise drastically across the United States due to the recession, and have effected, and continue to affect thousands of families and individuals every day. One aspect we must take into consideration is that most people are not informed of what foreclosure means, or the process, even those who are homeowners. I believe that one step to preventing foreclosure is to educate first-time homebuyers. In addition, first-time homebuyer programs should not only assist potential buyers with financially preparing them to buy a home, but to keep the home once

In the period between the years 2005 to 2009 the demand for housing changed drastically. Financial institutions were involved in some more deceitful lending practices. They began offering what are known as adjustable-rate subprime mortgages, which is when an institution gives out a loan to someone with a lower credit score and are thus a higher risk. With the low-interest rates being offered, an ever increasing amount of people took out loans in hopes to purchase a home to make a profit. This caused the demand for houses to skyrocket, which in turn increased the prices. With prices increasing, more and more people were speculating that the costs of houses would increase indefinitely, and with ease of access to these mortgage loans

The problem was everyone who qualified for a mortgage already had one. Lenders knew if they sold a mortgage to a person that defaults the lender gets the house, and houses were always increasing in value in that market, that would be a valuable asset to sell. To keep up with the demand from investors, lenders started selling mortgages to borrowers who wouldn’t have qualified before because of the risk for default. These mortgages are called sub-prime mortgages and lenders started creating tons of them. In the unregulated market, lenders employed predatory tactics to get more borrowers with attractive offers such as no money down, no credit history required, even no proof of income. People never would have qualified before were now buying large houses, and the lenders sold their mortgages to Investment bankers. The investors packed subprime mortgages in with prime mortgages so credit agencies would still give a AAA rating. The rating Agencies who had a conflict of interest by receiving payments from the investment banks, had no liability if their credit ratings were correct or not. They turned a blind eye to the risky CDOs and kept giving AAA ratings. This worked for a while and everyone was happy including the new homeowners. The housing market became hyper inflated with more homeowners than ever. Wall Street continued to sell their CDO’s which were ticking time bombs. The subprime mortgages began