Struggling homeowners could get new taxpayer backed loans

4-22-2008 • AP

Homeowners staggering under mounting mortgage debt and facing foreclosure could get cheaper, government-backed loans under Democrats' housing rescue plan.

California foreclosure "surge": Up 327% from '07 levels

04-22-2008 • L.A. Times

...reaching an average of more than 500 foreclosures per day -- DataQuick said in a report, warning that the widening foreclosure problem could "spread beyond the current categories of dicey mortgages, and into mainstream home loans."

The trillion-dollar mortgage time bomb

4-21-2008 • CNN

Risks are rising that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need a taxpayer bailout that could cost far more than previous rescues.

Housing-credit woes spur calls for more federal regulation

4-21-2008 • AP

A heavier federal hand is reaching into American life as politicians in both parties demand an overhaul of government financial regulation and more protection for homeowners in the face of mortgage woes and a weakening economy.

1 in 33 Homeowners Predicted To Be In Foreclosure Within Next 2 Years

4-18-2008 • Consumerist

For those of you hoping that foreclosure crises has hit bottom, we've got some bad news. A new report released by the The Pew Charitable Trusts says that 1 in 33 homeowners is expected to be in foreclosure over the next two years, due primarily t

Housing: Time to Halt Taxpayer Subsidies

4-17-2008 • BusinessWeek

Homeownership has long been a vibrant part of achieving the American Dream. But these days owning a home is more like starring in a horror flick, perhaps called Nightmare on Main Street. The numbers are frightening. Home prices are falling nationwide

Foreclosures jump 57% and repos 129% in last 12 months

4-15-2008 • Reuters

Home foreclosure filings surged 57% in the 12 month-period ended in March and bank repossessions soared 129% from a year ago, as homeowners struggled to make mortgage payments, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said.

Clinton: Protect reputable home lenders

3-24-2008 • AP

Hillary Clinton proposed several remedies to the nation's home mortgage problems including tort reform. "Many mortgage companies are reluctant to help families restructure their mortgages because they're afraid of being sued

Subprime Lending's Smartest Guys in the Room

03-16-2008 • Mother Jones

...key culprits: the CEOs who misrepresented their books and cashed out before the public knew what was happening, and the credulous finance reporters and securities analysts who cheered them along until it was too late.

Foreclosures up 60 percent on year for February

3-13-2008 • Reuters

US home foreclosure filings in Feb. edged down from Jan. but were a whopping 60% higher than a year earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said. The surge in foreclosures from a year ago indicate the cycle has yet to hit its peak.

Fannie Mae may fall more, need bailout - Barron's

3-8-2008 • Reuters

Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. [government] home funding company, could face further declines in its already battered share price, and may soon need a [taxpayer] government bailout, according to the latest issue of Barron's.

Bill Would Set Forclosure Moratorium

03-03-2008 • The New York Times

With forclosure rates seen skyrocketing nationwide, politicians now support measures not seen since The Great Depression. President Bush, Hillary Clinton and the State of New York are proposing legislation enacting moratoriums on home forclosures.

Vital Signs: Deeper Damage from Housing?

2-26-2008 • BusinessWeek

The potential economic fallout from housing may be far from over. That’s bad news for the economy at large. Once widely viewed as a well contained problem, economists are now worried that housing could stimulate a wide range of damage to the economy

Banks Lose to Deadbeat Homeowners as Loans Sold in Bonds Vanish

2/26/08 • www.bloomberg.com/

Joe Lents hasn't made a payment on his $1.5 million mortgage since 2002. That's when Washington Mutual Inc. first tried to foreclose on his home in Boca Raton, Florida. The Seattle-based lender failed to prove that it owned Lents's mortga

Foreclosure Aid Rising Locally, as is Dissent

02-26-2007 • New York Times

As the Bush administration and Congress consider proposals to ease the home foreclosure crisis, local governments across the country have been lending money to imperiled homeowners and confronting some opposition.

Foreclosed homes occupied by homeless

2-18-2008 • AP

Sometimes the heat, lights and water are still working. "That's what you call convenient," said James Bertan, 41, an ex-convict and self-described "bando," or someone who [squats] lives in abandoned houses.

What Median Home Prices Would Look Like If the Bubble Never Happened

1-28-08 • HomeGuide123.com

From the mid-1970s to 2001, the historical ratio of median housing value vs. median household income was consistently between 2.6 and 3.0.

S&P Case-Shiller: House Prices Fall 8.4%

1-29-08 • CalculatedRisk.blogspot.com

This article provides the price change in most metro markets in the US over the past year. The metropolitan area of Phoenix, Arizona saw a YOY change of -12.9 percent.

US mortgage crisis creates ghost town

1-28-2008 • AFP

The streets are empty. Trash rustles down the road past rusted barbecues, abandoned furniture, sagging homes and gardens turned to weed. Faded "for sale" signs sit in front of deserted houses. The residents are gone, either in search of new

New Home Sales: Cliff Diving

1-28-08 • CalculatedRisk.blogspot.com

When you look at the fall in new home sales over the last two years you will understand why they call this cliff diving.

60 Minutes - Show segments

01-28-2008 • CBS.com

House of Cards: Housing Bubble - Saddam's Translator -

60 Minutes Legitimizes Walking Away

1-28-08 • Michael Shedlock / Mish

Welcome to Deflation American Style. At the current rate of progression, Deflation American Style figures to be far worse than anything Japan ever saw.

Foreclosure Radar: California Foreclosure Defaults Jump 45.4% In December

1-28-08 • Huliq.com

The number of NOD in December was 32,948 compared to 22,665 in November.

Real Estate Auctions Booming

1-27-08 • Michael Shedlock / Mish

As go defaults so goes auctions. The auction business is going to be booming for a long time to come and prices have much further to drop.

Farmer hides castle from building inspectors

1-25-2008 • Reuters

A British farmer built an entire mock castle behind a screen of hay bales and lived there concealed for four years to evade planning regulations, officials said on Friday -- but it may be torn down anyway. [cuz he didn't have our permission]

What happens when the wealthy are poor?

1-17-2008 • Reuters

"There is a section of the population here that over-extended themselves to buy here and then keep up the facade of wealth," said a broker. "In the next year or so they'll be forced out in dribs and drabs."

Housing Starts: Lowest Since 1991

1-17-08 • CalculatedRisk.blogspot.com

Single-family authorizations in December were at a rate of 692,000; this is 10.1 percent below the November figure of 770,000.

More needed to help stabilize housing : W.House

1-2-2008 • Reuters

More steps by Congress and the Bush administration are likely needed to stabilize the imploding U.S. housing market, a senior White House official said, as more signs of distress appear. Early last month, President George W. Bush unveiled a plan t