DQNews - "Southland home sales still ultra-low; median price slips again" (3-13-08)

"Southern California home sales limped along last month at the slowest pace ever for a February, the result of a market crippled by uncertainty and credit constraints. The median sale price dropped by a record 17.6 percent from a year ago, a real estate information service reported. A total of 10,777 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in February. That was up 8 percent from 9,983 the previous month but down 39 percent from 17,680 in February last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems."

DQNews - "Bay Area home sales remain at two-decade low" (3-13-08)

"The waiting game between Bay Area buyers, sellers and lending institutions continued last month as sales dipped below 4,000 for the second month in a row, a real estate information service reported. A total of 3,989 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine- county Bay Area in February. That was up 11.2 percent from 3,586 in January, and down 36.7 percent from 6,305 for February 2007, DataQuick Information Systems reported."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "MBA’s Quinn Commends Introduction of Mortgage Relief Bill" (3-13-08)

"Kieran P. Quinn, CMB, Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association today welcomed Congressman Barney Frank’s proposal for legislation to help stabilize the mortgage and housing markets and assist borrowers. Legislative language was introduced today, though Chairman Frank warned that it could change before the bill was officially introduced."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "MBA 2007 MARI Report Exposes and Explores Residential Mortgage Fraud Against Lenders in US" (3-13-08)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today announced that the Mortgage Asset Research Institute, LLC (MARISM), a ChoicePoint® (NYSE: CPS) company, has completed its 10th Periodic Mortgage Fraud Case Report to MBA. The report examines the current state of residential mortgage fraud and misrepresentation in the U.S. based on participating subscribers’ reports to MARI."

CNN - "Foreclosures up 60% in February" (3-13-08)

"Foreclosure filings nationwide jumped 60% in February compared with the same month last year, but they decreased slightly versus January, according to a report released Thursday. RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties, said 223,651 homes got hit with foreclosure filings last month, which include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. 46,508 of those were lost to bank repossessions, which more than doubled over last year."

CNN - "Countrywide's foreclosures rise again" (3-13-08)

"Mortgage lender and servicer Countrywide Financial Corp. said Thursday delinquency rates declined slightly in February compared with the previous month, while foreclosure rates continued to rise. Delinquencies rates on loans serviced by Countrywide fell to 7.44% in February, from 7.47% in January. Delinquencies rates are still much higher than the year ago-period, when delinquencies totaled 4.48% in February 2007."

Bloomberg - "Bernanke's Rate Cuts Endanger Fed's Inflation Outlook" (3-13-08)

"Federal Reserve officials are staking their credibility on a bet that the fastest interest- rate cuts in two decades won't endanger their forecast for inflation to slow in the next two years. Investors have pushed gold, oil, wheat and corn prices to records since the Fed lowered its benchmark rate by 1.25 percentage point in January and indicated it's ready to do more when policy makers meet next week. Inflation-linked bonds also rallied as traders anticipated the Fed will ditch the ``rapid reversal'' of rate cuts discussed at their Jan. 29-30 meeting."

CNN - "The next shoe to drop in housing" (3-13-08)

"The credit crunch has finally hit the traditional mortgage market. Investors are now shunning mortgage-backed securities issued by government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been critical in keeping the real estate market from completely falling apart."

CNN - "Mortgage rates rise" (3-13-08)

"Mortgage rates rose across the board this week as lower home prices and mortgage rates contributed to a more affordable market for homebuyers, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. The government-sponsored loan buyer said 30-year fixed-rate loans averaged 6.13% for the week ending Thursday, up from 6.03% last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year rate averaged 6.14%, Freddie Mac said."

Bloomberg - "S&P Says End in Sight for Writedowns on Subprime Debt" (3-13-08)

"Standard & Poor's, the ratings company criticized for missing the beginning of the mortgage collapse, now says the end of subprime writedowns is in sight. Writedowns from subprime-tied securities will probably rise to $285 billion, or $20 billion more than S&P forecast two months ago, S&P said today in a report. More than $150 billion have been reported already by banks, brokers and insurers, the firm said. S&P raised its estimate as it assumes deeper losses on collateralized debt obligations."

Reuters - "Regulators unveil plan to revamp mortgage rules" (3-13-08)

"Financial regulators pledged on Thursday to toughen rules for mortgage brokers, lenders, and credit agencies, to try to restore investor confidence and prevent a recurrence of credit-market problems that threaten to slow the economy. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, unveiling a 20-page set of recommendations from the top-level President's Working Group on Financial Markets, blamed a 'dramatic weakening' of underwriting standards for lower-quality home loans that have trigged turmoil in credit markets around the globe."