Help for Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

November 20, 2008

Everyone seems to agree that flooding the market with empty, foreclosed homes does not help neighborhoods maintain stability – either as a way of living, or regarding the value of homes. Empty homes do nothing for a neighborhood.

Recently some organizations are taking tentative steps to allow homeowners who are defaulting on their mortgage to remain in their homes –at least for the time being.

Fannie and Freddie Mac have announced that they are freezing foreclosure sales until after the new year while they review strategies and the future of their organizations. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. recently announced foreclosure-prevention programs that aim to reduce interest rates, extend repayment schedules and, in the case of Citigroup, reduce loan amounts, to help borrowers keep their homes. But the programs have focused primarily on loans wholly owned by those companies because they feel they have more authority to rework those mortgages.

HSBC is also making more options available to more people. For example, it is contacting customers before their adjustable-rate loans reset to higher rates and freezing the current rate or allowing the borrower to pay a rate below what the new rate would be. The bank also is lowering fixed rates for selected borrowers. All this in an effort to stave of foreclosures.

One way of stabilizing markets where supply exceeds demand is to regulate supply. That way the people who can buy homes can buy from sellers who can’t afford to stay in their current home. But, amazingly enough, new home construction is still going on – even in saturated markets. Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg suggests, only half-jokingly, that the Treasury should impose a moratorium on home building. "It sounds like lunacy, but we have to destroy the housing capital stock to help put a floor under the market," he said.

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Local Information for Honolulu, HI

Latitude: 21.30895 -- Longitude: -157.826182

Other Area Cities: Honolulu Makakilo City Aiea Halawa Heights Kailua Waipahu Kaneohe Pearl City Mililani

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Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U.S. State of Hawai?i. In the Hawaiian language, honolulu means "sheltered bay" or "place of shelter." The census-designated place (CDP) is located along the southeast coast of the island of O?ahu. The term also refers to the District of Honolulu (see Geography below). As of July 1, 2004, the United States Census Bureau estimate for Honolulu puts the population at 377,260 and that of the city and county (essentially, the Island of O?ahu) at 900,000. In Hawai?i, local governments operate only at the county level, and the City & County of Honolulu encompasses all of the Island of O?ahu (approximately 600 square miles). -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Hawaii 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Honolulu	Hawaii	United States
Population	371,657	1,211,537	281,421,906
Median age	39.7	36.2	35.3
Median age for Male	38.4	35.1	34
Median age for Female	41.1	37.4	36.5
Households	140,337	403,240	105,480,101
Household population	360,371	1,175,755	273,643,273
Average household size	2.57	2.92	2.59
Families	87,374	287,068	71,787,347
Average family size	3.23	3.42	3.14
Housing units	158,663	460,542	115,904,641
Occupied units	140,337	403,240	105,480,101
Vacant units	18,326	57,302	10,424,540

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