Mortgage Bankers Association - "MBA Reaction to 'Making Home Affordable' Program" (3-5-09)

"We are pleased to see that the $729,750 limit applies across the country, rather than only in high cost areas, because it will allow us to help more borrowers, especially those who have been hardest by the current crisis. We think the refinance program could be even more effective if the 105% LTV limit were raised. It would allow the GSEs to help even more borrowers without any additional risk since the loans are already on their books."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Delinquencies Continue to Climb in Latest MBA National Delinquency Survey" (3-5-09)

"The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 7.88 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2008, up 89 basis points from the third quarter of 2008, and up 206 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey."

The San Diego Union Tribune - "Mortgage woes break records again in 4Q" (3-5-09)

"Foreclosures are spreading by epidemic proportions, expanding beyond a handful of problem states and now affecting almost 1 in every 8 American homeowners. It's an economic role-reversal: The economy, driven down by the collapse of the housing bubble, is causing the housing crisis to spread. Figures released Thursday show that nearly 12 percent of all Americans with a mortgage – a record 5.4 million homeowners – were at least one month late or in foreclosure at the end of last year."

USA Today - "Jobless claims sink, still high; productivity revision is ugly" (3-5-09)

"The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell more than expected last week, a government report showed Thursday, but remained at high levels consistent with a severe recession."

Inman - "Home auctions biz grows 1.1% in '08" (3-5-09)

"The National Auctioneers Association, a trade group for auction professionals, this week reported that gross receipts for real estate auctions grew about 1.1 percent in 2008, with an estimated $17.1 worth of residential real estate sold at auction"

Bloomberg - "Wells Fargo, BofA Loan Values Are a Scary Sight" (3-5-09)

"Perhaps never before have so many banks’ balance sheets been so patently full of hot air. Bank of America Corp. last week disclosed that its loans at the end of 2008 were worth $44.6 billion less than what its balance sheet said. Wells Fargo & Co. said its loans were worth $14.2 billion less than their book value. The spread at SunTrust Banks Inc. was $13.7 billion."

Bloomberg - "Fed’s Kohn Says Risks of Not Rescuing AIG Too Large" (3-5-09)

"Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said that while the decisions to rescue American International Group Inc. have been 'difficult,' the costs of withholding aid to the insurer would be 'unacceptably large.'"

Bloomberg - "Mortgage Rates Rise to 5.15% for 30-Year U.S. Loans" (3-5-09)

"The average rate for a 30-year fixed home loan climbed to 5.15 percent from 5.07 percent a week earlier, Freddie Mac, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage buyer said today. The rate dipped to 4.96 percent the week of Jan. 15, the lowest since Freddie began keeping track."

Bloomberg - "Ex-KB Home Chief Executive Charged in Backdating Case" (3-5-09)

"Former KB Home Chief Executive Officer Bruce Karatz was indicted in an alleged scheme to defraud shareholders by awarding himself and other executives millions of dollars in undisclosed stock options, federal prosecutors said."

Bloomberg - "Fannie Mortgage Borrowers Get Less Aid in Refi Plan" (3-5-09)

"Homeowners with Fannie Mae mortgages may get less payment relief than those with Freddie Mac loans under the firms’ implementations of President Barack Obama’s refinancing plan for borrowers with little or no home equity."