| Home loans the new stocking filler
Christmas stockings are usually hung in houses, but the reverse it seems is becoming increasingly popular. The chief executive of mortgage broker X Inc Finance, Jennifer Nielsen, said parents were increasingly using major gift-giving occasions such as Christmas or birthdays to help their children break into the tight Australian housing market. "Unfortunately the cost of real estate is now beyond the reach of many young Australians," Nielsen said. She said that rather than putting a more traditional gift under the Christmas tree, some people ere giving loved ones home loan-related presents such as direct equity, cash pledges or co-signing a loan as guarantor. "Parents are recognising that rather than splashing out on the more traditional material items, the best gift they can give their children is the opportunity to get a foothold in the property market." Nielsen said home loan gift giving was becoming more common and was likely to increase in popularity as more young people were forced to the sidelines of the property market by rising house prices.
Reverse mortgage workshop informs public about the pros and cons
Local residents gathered at the Kernville Chamber of Commerce Jan. 16 to learn more about reverse mortgages. The Prince Financial Corporation representative, Barbara Prince, Bankers First representative Rylan Rozell and Patty Nash of McKenzie and Nielsen provided those in attendance with large packets of information on the ins and outs of reverse mortgages including the negative aspects of entering into a reverse mortgage. The purpose of the presentation was to educate as well as provide financial opportunities for seniors. According to the Reverse Mortgage Page website over 50,000 Americans applied for reverse mortgages in 2006. A reverse mortgage is a way to borrow against the equity in your home rather than a forward mortgage where you are attempting to purchase a home and build home equity by making mortgage payments.
If recession afflicts U.S., Iowa could bear up well
The new year could bring a new threat to Iowa's economy: Economists fear a growing national housing crisis will drag the U.S. economy into a recession and with it state economies like Iowa's.
That would hurt even the largest and most stable Iowa employer, experts say. Wells Fargo & Co., which has 12,900 workers in Iowa, warned last month the nation's No. 2 mortgage lender couldn't escape the losses hitting U.S. financial service companies.
Fallout from housing could reach other major Iowa businesses, said Morgan McGowan, an assistant economist at Moody's Economy.com. Fewer jobs added nationally means fewer retirement accounts, insurance policies and investments sold at places like Principal Financial Group, Allied Insurance and Aviva USA, he said. .
10 Questions
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