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 Des Moines, IA

Latitude: 41.590939 -- Longitude: -93.620866

Other Area Cities: Ankeny Urbandale West Des Moines Des Moines Indianola

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Des Moines (French for 'City of monks') is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Iowa. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, until it was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857.[1] It is also the county seat of Polk County. Des Moines is the headquarters for the Principal Financial Group, the Meredith Corporation, and Ruan Transportation. The city of Des Moines bills itself as the third-largest insurance center in the world, behind London, United Kingdom, and Hartford, Connecticut. [2] Other major corporations such as Wells Fargo, ING Group, and John Deere have large operations in or near the metro area. Forbes Magazine ranked Des Moines as the 11th "Best Place for Business" in 2006. Des Moines was founded in May 1843 when Captain James Allen built a fort on the site where the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers merge. Allen wanted to use the name Fort Raccoon, but the American War Department told him to name it Fort Des Moines. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Iowa 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Des Moines	Iowa	United States
Population	198,682	2,926,324	281,421,906
Median age	33.8	36.6	35.3
Median age for Male	32.6	35.2	34
Median age for Female	35.1	38	36.5
Households	80,504	1,149,276	105,480,101
Household population	192,145	2,822,155	273,643,273
Average household size	2.39	2.46	2.59
Families	48,710	769,684	71,787,347
Average family size	3.04	3	3.14
Housing units	85,067	1,232,511	115,904,641
Occupied units	80,504	1,149,276	105,480,101
Vacant units	4,563	83,235	10,424,540

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