Home | Newsletter | Advertise
loading...

Obama Expands Foreclosure Program

  • July 2nd 2009

by Mark Wellborn

Obama Expands Foreclosure Program: Figure 1

In a move that is sure to elicit criticism, the Obama administration announced yesterday that borrowers with mortgages worth up to 125 percent of their home’s value will be able to refinance under the administration’s program to aid foreclosure victims. The one hitch is that the homeowner cannot be behind on their mortgage payments.

The goal of this change is to help homeowners who have not been able to take advantage of the low interest rates that have been available in recent weeks due to the fact that the value of their property has dropped significantly. The program currently caps eligibility for the program to homeowners that have a loan-to-home value ratio of 105 percent. Many homeowners in the country are unfortunately well above that ratio.

The change will certainly draw the ire of people who believe that policies like this are the reason that we got into the housing mess in the first place. However, rising interest rates could be the real issue. The days of 4.8 percent interest rates are in the past, and refinancing has noticeably decreased in recent weeks. 30-year fixed rate mortgages are now back at 5.4 percent.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/obama_expands_foreclosure_program/1093.

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Visit guides.urbanturf.com or start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse