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The Fed announced today it will purchase up to $600 billion in mortgage backed securities issued by Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie Mae.

As a result, 30 year fixed rates drop to 5.50%. This is great news!  What isn’t such great news is that those in need of a “hand up” are NOT going to get it.

Image by robertodevido via Flickr

There are millions of American Tax Payers that given a few months time, forebearance of arrears, or other economic relief, could make good on their financial obligations.  I have spoken with two such people in the past month.  Unfortunately, they will each probably end up losing their home.  And, after the foreclosure, will have a long road ahead before being able to purchase another one.

This Foreclosure Epidemic is not what the lawmakers are striving to solve. Instead, the solution is to prop up the financial institutions, add liquidity to the lending markets, and make sure that those wanting to make purchases, or business investment in the future, will be able to do so.

This is great for our economy, and I believe that it will get the economic wheels put back into motion.

Unfortunately, I think our law makers have fallen shamefully short! There certainly could have been a way to allocate a portion of the $$Billions, potentially $$Trillions to help those most in need, and at the center of this crisis.  The homeowner that is behind on their payments, and facing foreclosure has no relief in sight.  The most damaged from this crisis are the only ones not getting a piece of the action.  They will not get help today, or most likely ever.  And, for years to come, the tightened lending criteria will prevent them from entering the real estate market again.

I think it’s a shame!

Here is some more information for those of you wanting to get your read on.  This is pretty long, but I wanted to re-publish it in it’s entirety:

By Scott Lanman and Dawn Kopecki

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve took two new steps to unfreeze credit for homebuyers, consumers and small businesses, committing up to $800 billion.

The central bank will purchase as much as $600 billion in debt issued or backed by government-chartered housing-finance companies. It will also set up a $200 billion program to support consumer and small-business loans, the Fed said in statements today in Washington.

With today’s announcement, the central bank is starting to use some of the unorthodox policy tools that Chairman Ben S. Bernanke outlined as a Fed governor six years ago. Policy makers are aiming to prevent a financial collapse and stamp out the threat of deflation.

“They’re trying to put funds into the system, trying to unfreeze these markets,” said William Poole, the former St. Louis Fed president, in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Clearly, the Fed and the Treasury are beginning to take a large amount of credit risk.”

The Fed will purchase up to $100 billion in direct debt of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks and up to $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities backed by Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie Mae, the statement said.

Help for Housing

“This action is being taken to reduce the cost and increase the availability of credit for the purchase of houses, which in turn should support housing markets and foster improved conditions in financial markets more generally,” the Fed said.  Fannie and Freddie bonds rallied. The yield premium on Fannie Mae’s five-year debt over similar-maturity Treasuries tumbled 21.5 basis points to 114.7 basis points as of 8:35 a.m. in New York, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

“The cheaper that they could issue their debt, the more aggressively they should be able to buy mortgages in the secondary market,” said Alan Bosworth, director of agency trading at Vining Sparks in Memphis, Tennessee.

Separately, under the new Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, the Fed will lend up to $200 billion on a non-recourse basis to holders of AAA rated asset-backed securities backed by “newly and recently originated” loans, such as for education, automobiles, credit cards and loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, the Fed said.

Commercial Paper

The ABS program is similar to the Fed’s effort to bring down the cost of financing for commercial paper, the short-term debt companies issue to finance payrolls and other expenses, because it goes beyond banks.

“What the Fed has been trying to do is get a sense of what works and what doesn’t work,” said Derrick Wulf, who helps manage $70 billion in mostly fixed-income assets at Dwight Asset Management Co. in Burlington, Vermont. “One of the things that has worked is the commercial paper facility.”

Wulf added that “it can certainly improve credit conditions for consumers.”  The Treasury will provide $20 billion of “credit protection” to the Fed in the lending program, using funds from the $700 billion financial-rescue package. The Treasury said in a statement that the facility may expand over time and cover other assets, such as commercial and private residential mortgage-backed debt.

‘Continued Disruption’

On the ABS facility, the Fed is trying to avoid having “continued disruption of these markets” that would limit lending and “thereby contribute to further weakening of U.S. economic activity,” the central bank said.

Under the new lending program, known as the TALF, the New York Fed will auction a fixed amount of loans each month for a one-year term. Assets will be held in a special-purpose vehicle to be created by the Fed. The program will stop making new loans on Dec. 31, 2009, unless the Fed Board of Governors extends it.

Lenders providing credit under the TALF “must have agreed to comply with, or already be subject to,” executive-compensation restrictions in the October bailout law, the statement said.  The Fed will start buying the direct debt of government-sponsored enterprises — Fannie, Freddie and a dozen federal home loan banks — through primary dealers in government debt from next week. The purchases of mortgage-backed securities will be done through asset managers, and officials aim to begin the effort by year-end.

Purchases of both types of debt “are expected to take place over several quarters,” the Fed said.

Image via Wikipedia

The First Time Buyer….

• They have an opportunity to buy homes today that don’t have inflated values…
• They don’t have to wait for their home to sell…
• They have sellers willing to pay their closing costs and buy-down already low interest rates….
• They are in the first “Buyers” Market in nearly 8 years….
• They have the largest selection of homes in 15 years…..
• The current down turn in pricing will allow them to buy homes in neighborhoods that were out of their reach 2 years ago…
• They can get that extra bedroom or bath or garage…
• They can still buy a home with 3% down, a job, and reasonable (not perfect) credit through FHA..
• If rates go dramatically lower …FHA has a streamlined refinance program that doesn’t require re-qualification of the buyer…..
• If they buy before July 9, 2009 they are eligible for a $7500 tax credit
• If they buy before Dec 31 2008 they will get that back with their 2008 return

This is a life changing opportunity……

Major Points

• Fannie and Freddie have been placed in conservatorship. (Federal government has taken 79.9 percent of common stock and all dividends in return for buying $1 billion of preferred shares.)  Top Fannie/Freddie executives have been replaced.)  In return, the Treasury will receive new senior preferred stock and warrants on the GSE’s (Government Sponsored Entitites) common stock.
• Treasury Department says both are open for business with no major changes in operations.
• Fannie/Freddie can grow their guaranteed mortgage book with no limits and grow their retained portfolios with limits. Ultimately, the government plans to shrink their portfolios (10% per year starting in 2010).
• The federal government will provide capital to keep Fannie/Freddie’s net worth positive (up to $100 billion)
• The federal government will begin buying Fannie/Freddie mortgage-backed securities (MBS) on the open market.
• Treasury Department will create a Secured Lending Credit Facility, a liquidity backstop for GSEs

• World markets respond positively to news: stocks up on Monday, September 8, 2008.

• Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke: “These necessary steps will help to strengthen the U.S. housing market and promote stability in our financial markets.”
• Investor Warren Buffett: “Secretary Paulson has made exactly the right decision for the country.  He is minimizing the problem of moral hazard and maximizing the benefits for the housing market and for the smooth functioning of financial markets.”