Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Option ARM Disaster Arrival:$134 Billion Recasting in Next Two Years


Option ARMs, the dubious name for a mortgage product of financial destruction, are back in the limelight showing that they have not gone away. Everyone by now has heard about option ARMs. These toxic mortgages allowed borrowers a buffet of payment options. However, in recent data released this week we are told that things are much worse than we had initially thought. Option ARMs have now become an oxymoron. In fact, they should be called minimum payment mortgages because 94 percent of those who took on these mortgages elected to go with the minimum payment.

These loans are having default rates comparable to subprime loans. In states like California with a decade long housing bubble, option ARMs were a lucrative and inviting mortgage for quick talking mortgage brokers chasing big yields. But one thing is certain and that is these mortgages are here for the next few years and will cause additional problems. (more)

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