Alt-A Loans: The Crisis Yet To Come?

by Charles Feldman on May 20, 2008

  

Last week, a member commented on my weekly post that he thought the next great crisis, following the current one caused in large measure by subprime mortgages, will come to us via something called Alt-A loans. And, he just may be right!

Alternative to grade-A prime loans..or Alt-A loans..unlike subprime loans, were dished out to folks considered credit worthy.

But, and here’s where the plot thickens, many of these loans, says the New York Times, were given “without verification of income or assets and on tricky terms…”

Watch out for 2009

Watch out because these loans will reset next year.

And, says the Times, “In coming years, if price declines are in line with expectations, Alt-A losses are projected to total about $150 billion.

So, will this crisis soon to be upon us be better or worse than the current crisis caused by subprime mortgages? No one really knows for sure. But brace yourselves for a political and economic rollercoaster ride.

Related posts:

  1. Subprime Mortgage Crisis Draining Wealth From African-Americans
  2. SubPrime Loans and Foreclosures: Looks Like There is a Connection!
  3. Weak Retail Sales As Mortgage Crisis Puts Freeze On Consumers
  4. Subprime Mortgage Crisis Puts Brakes On Consumer Spending
  5. It’s The Principal, Stupid! Fed Chair Bernanke Wants Lenders To Slash Their Loans
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Keahi Pelayo May 20, 2008 at 12:29 pm

Sounds like a great time to buy.
Aloha,
Keahi

Reply

2 Nadine May 22, 2008 at 11:55 pm

Hard to speculate…Everything is just too uncertain and unpredictable.

Reply

3 Tom Lindmark May 26, 2008 at 7:20 pm

I share your concern about Alt-A defaults and would also add Option ARMs to the mix. Neither have experienced significant resets. Here is a link that will show you graphically the calendar for the resets as well as the geographic concentration of these loan products-http://blog.metro-real-estate.com/?p=304

Reply

4 Andrew November 10, 2009 at 7:35 am

Quite interesting to reflect now we are at the end of 2009. The foresight of this article is very interesting.

Reply

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