The number of mortgage fraud cases increased last year in the U.S., with the highest concentration in areas with high property foreclosure rates.  

According to MortgageDaily.com’s fourth quarter 2009 mortgage fraud index, the activity was worst in Florida and Nevada, with a combined 1,780 cases last year.

Last week in the U.S., a former Beverly Hills real estate appraiser was sentenced to three years in federal prison for her role in a large-scale mortgage fraud.

Prosecutors say Lila Rizk was part of a ring that obtained dozens of inflated mortgage loans for homes in wealthy Southern California neighborhoods. She was ordered by the judge to pay her part of a $46 million restitution to Bank of America Corp. and others.

Have you lost a sense of your personal power lately? How many of you could use some NEW tools and techniques to reclaim your power?

I’m so pleased and delighted to share with you a free and exciting event that’s just starting. It’s the third season of the The Aware Show teleseminar series… Tools To Reclaim Your Power.

Each guest on The Aware Show Teleseminar Series is either a best-selling author or new thought leader in their own right, but how do you think they came up with the tools they use to get them through challenging times and rise to the top of their field? You can get first hand access to the tools and techniques that some of the greatest minds in the human potential movement use in their own lives on a daily basis. How many of you could use some new techniques to reclaim your power?

The series is produced by renowned host of The Aware Show, Lisa Garr, who has been on Public Radio KPFK (90.7 FM) for over a decade. In that time Lisa has interviewed the most established leaders in the human potential movement. She is now bringing her connections, insights and remarkable interview skills to a new interactive forum where you can question and converse with the best of the best. You’ll appreciate her engaging and enthusiastic interview style.

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Lisa will be interviewing me twenty four experts about “Tools To Reclaim Your Power”. Quite often, as we face our own challenges in life, we slowly lose our own sense of self-worth and we wind up operating with half of the energy we need in order to be happy, make quick decisions, and deal with life. This process often happens without our awareness until it’s too late. Would you like to know how to reclaim your power that might have been lost?

Joining Lisa will be guests who will be sharing their tools and techniques to reclaim your personal power so you can learn and be able to immediately apply new techniques to manage your life to its fullest potential

Here is a sampling of the amazing experts who will be a part of this series…

Wayne Dyer

Wayne Dyer is one of the most popular best-selling authors and Lecturers on spiritually motivational topics. With over 30 books, many audio programs, and videos. Wayne has also delivered his inspiring message on thousands of television and radio shows.

Caroline Myss

Caroline Myss has been in the field of energy medicine and human consciousness for 20 years. Since 1982, she has worked as a medical intuitive, providing individuals with an evaluation of the health of their energetic anatomy system. She specializes in assisting people in understanding the emotional, psychological, and physical reasons why their bodies have developed an illness.

Lisa Nichols

Lisa Nichols is a dynamic international motivational speaker and powerful advocate of personal empowerment. She is the Founder and CEO of Motivating the Teen Spirit, which is recognized by many as one of the most comprehensive empowerment skills programs available today for teen self-development.

Peggy McColl

Peggy McColl is a New York Times Best Selling Author and an internationally recognized expert in the area of goal achievement AND an expert in helping experts create products, make money online and create “best sellers”! With her goal achievement seminars, speaking engagements and books she has been inspiring individuals, professional athletes and organizations to realize their goals and reach their maximum potential for the past twenty-five years. Her purpose is to make a positive contribution to the lives of millions!

Judith Orloff

Judith is the author of the new bestseller “Second Sight: An Intuitive Psychiatrist Tells Her Own Extraordinary Story And Shows You How To Tap Your Own Inner Wisdom”. She is a psychiatrist, intuitive, and New York Times Bestselling author who offers traditional medicine with intuition, spirituality and energy medicine.

There are 24 speakers in all including: Michael Beckwith, Marci Shimoff, Yvonne Oswald, Hans King, Sheila Stewart, Joe Nunziata, David Wolfe, Bernie Siegel, Maryam Webster, Joan Borysenko, Alison Armstrong, Chris Howard, Gay & Kathlyn Hendricks, Michael Tamura, Les Brown, and more.

The first call is on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010 at 6:00 PM Eastern (5:00 PM Central, 3:00 PM Pacific).

I know you will enjoy connecting with this amazing group! Did I mention this is all completely free?

Take advantage of this invitation to interact with these personal development experts right now. Click on this link to register for your free seat…

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After you register, keep an eye out for Lisa’s email with the details for listening in on the calls.

Also, be sure to click on the special link in Lisa’s email and grab your bonus gifts that you can use right away. They are yours just for enrolling in this free series.

Yours truly,
Mary Wozny
Vibrant Health & Prosperity Inc.
P.S. Remember, there are a limited number of seats available for this complementary teleseminar intensive series, and they’re likely to fill up fast. So join us now, while the opportunity is here in front of you…

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P.P.S. Also, if you can’t make the LIVE calls every Wednesday and Thursday at 6:00 PM Eastern (5:00 PM Central, 3:00 PM Pacific) starting on Wednesday, February 10th, 2010, they will be recorded and available after each show for a limited time so you won’t miss a thing. We’ll send you the web address of the recording as soon as it’s posted on our website. So join us now, while it’s fresh on your mind…

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Warmly,

Mary Wozny

The CMHC-backed Canada Housing Trust issued $47 billion worth of mortgage bonds in 2009 - the biggest issuance in the Canadian marketplace last year, according to a story in The Financial Post.

The growth is another sign of success for the Canada Mortgage Bonds program, which was launched in 2001 as a way for financial institutions to sell some of their mortgages to the government for liquidity and to lower borrowing costs. The program has proved popular among both financial institutions and investors, the Post said.

“Investors have responded extremely well to the safety and security of Canada’s mortgage market as well as the AAA backing from the Canadian government,” Doug Bartlett, managing director and head of government finance for CIBC World Markets, told the Post.

The five-year bonds are still the most popular product in the CMB program, but the 10-year bonds have also done well since being introduced to the market in November 2008, with a total of $9.2 billion being sold as of December. Despite the high numbers, CIBC executive director Warren Lovely told the Post the program is “very mature” after the explosive growth it has experienced in the past few years.

Genworth MI Canada ended 2009 on a positive note, with a $6 million increase in new insurance written in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter and net income for the year climbing to $87 million.
“Our strong execution against our business objectives combined with improving housing fundamentals contributed favourably to our overall results this quarter,” said Brian Hurley, chairman and CEO of the company. “In addition, our proactive Homeownership Assistance Program contributed to lower delinquencies and a corresponding lower loss ratio.”

Along with the strong housing market, the private mortgage insurer also said its positive year-end results were “favourably impacted by improving customer confidence and market position gains with key lenders.”

The financial standing for 2009 was also marked by Genworth MI Canada’s initial public offering last July to raise money for its parent company in the U.S. The offering generated $850 million, with close to $97 million allocated for the Canadian arm of the company to pay off debts and build business. The IPO raised Genworth MI Canada’s stock from $19 to a current trading rate of $25.56, according to The Financial Post.

In a report just out, residential sales growth in B.C. will remain positive in the next two years, but won’t be able to replicate the past year’s growth, says the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BRCEA).

In its Housing Forecast Update for the first quarter of 2010, the association says B.C. Multiple Listing Service (MLS) residential sales are forecast to increase six per cent from 85,028 units in 2009 to 90,100 units this year, before falling to three per cent to 87,500 units in 2011. B.C. residential sales went from about 50,000 units in the first quarter last year to 112,000 by the fourth quarter 2009, a 124 per cent increase. “That gold medal finish will give way to a silver medal performance in 2010,” says Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist.

Meanwhile, prices are forecast to increase five per cent to $490,900 this year, then another one per cent to $494,800 in 2011. “Higher mortgage interest rates will limit price appreciation next year,” says Muir.

A survey was recently done by Genworth Financial’s First-Time Homebuyer’s Monitor and the Canadians surveyed said they would feel more financially secure if they owned their own home and 84 per cent revealed owning a home gives them a greater sense of emotional well-being and security.

This is encouraging feedback as it shows that even in today’s economy, people are living and striving for the dream of home ownership.

The survey focused on measuring both the financial and psychological factors of home ownership and explored the link between owning a home and self-fulfillment.  Resutls were similar for regions across the country, with respondents in Montreal placing the least value on home ownership and those in Vancouver placing the most.

Warmly,

Mary Wozny

·         US economic activity has continued to strengthen since the December meeting.
·         Consumer spending has been moderately expanding but weak labor markets continue to hamper spending.
·         Employers are still not hiring, indicating that a full blown consumer led recovery is well into the future, and as such increases in interest rates are well off.
·         Financial markets have stabilized and are supportive of economic growth, despite a continued contraction in bank lending.
·         The US Fed anticipates that inflation in the mid to long term will remain stable and subdued, further supporting no increases in interest rates (Inflation is a non-issue).
·         The Fed is now not expected to increase rates until 2011.
·         Of interest is the fact that the vote was not unanimous.  One governor voted in favor of wording changes.
Implications:
·         Canada to expect slow growth from the US spillover.
·         Canadian inflation should thus be subdued for a period as well (we could see resource inflation though).
·         The implication is that Carney’s conditional commitment to hold Canadian rates till at least June is now firmly entrenched.

The Obama administration has laid out final guidelines that should make it easier for some financially troubled borrowers to sell their homes. The guidelines are designed to encourage the use of short sales, transactions in which the borrower with lender approval sells the home for less than what is owed on the loan. The program also makes it easier for borrowers to voluntarily transfer ownership of properties through a “deed in lieu of foreclosure.”

In an effort to stabilize home values and improve conditions in communities where foreclosure activity is high, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced a temporary policy that will expand access to FHA mortgage insurance and allow for the quick resale of foreclosed properties. The announcement is part of the Obama administration commitment to addressing foreclosure.

The Federal Housing Administration will place a one-year moratorium on its anti-flipping rule, which will allow buyers with FHA-backed loans to purchase homes that have been held for less than 90 days, officials said Friday. The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and is effective for one year, unless otherwise extended or withdrawn by the FHA Commissioner.

Opening up to FHA buyers means you can sell it to anybody and do back to back closings with FHA buyers.

* This week’s spate of U.S. economic news told the tale of a tepid U.S. recovery, still-benign inflation pressures and a Fed that is poised to stand pat for some time to come.

* U.S. retailers suffered an unexpected drop in sales in December of -0.3% and -0.2% excluding autos. Q4 results still point to a recovery in retail spending, but a relatively shallow one in light of the precipitous slump in sales during the recession.

* U.S. CPI headline and core inflation rose by a modest 0.1% M/M in December and the 12-month trend in core prices was stable at 1.8%.

* Bolstered by this week’s reports, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell to a one-month low. What is good for bonds is often bad for the USD, which continued to shed ground against a number of major currencies.

* In Canada, housing developments moved to centre stage again, with evidence that new homebuilding activity continued to gear up and resale activity stayed strong in December.

* Remarks by a Bank of Canada Deputy Governor this week reinforced the view that regulatory changes, not rate hikes, would be used to address an overheated housing market if future conditions warrant.

* The Canadian trade balance worsened unexpectedly in November, moving back into deficit territory on the back of a 3.9% M/M surge in imports.