Inman - "Congressional report backs suitability, predatory lending standards" (4-12-07)

"A new Congressional report on rising delinquencies and foreclosures in subprime loans overstates the problem because it relies on "faulty, inflated data," the Mortgage Bankers Association maintains. The report, by the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, cites statistics from RealtyTrac and predictions by the Center for Responsible Lending to make the case for increased regulation of the mortgage lending industry. The JEC report cites a prediction by the Center for Responsible Lending that one in five subprime loans issued in 2005 and 2006 will default, and that 2.2 million families have lost or will lose their homes in the next several years. The report also relies on statistics from RealtyTrac, which claims 1.2 million foreclosures were reported in 2006 and that as many or more are expected this year."

The Wall Street Journal - "Bankruptcy May Not Save Homes" (4-12-07)

"Filing Isn't Helping Many Borrowers Avoid Foreclosure"

CNN - "Subprime: Bailouts won't cut it" (4-12-07)

"A number of states are aiding subprime homeowners with assistance plans, but critics say that won't stop foreclosures from climbing."

CNN - "Buyers in charge: 4 strategies" (4-12-07)

"The good news: Rocky real estate markets mean home shoppers finally have the upper hand."

Real Estate Journal - "Realtors Predict Price Drop, Lower Forecasts for Sales" (4-12-07)

"The National Association of Realtors, which has long proclaimed that U.S. home prices haven't declined on a nationwide basis since the Great Depression, now says they are likely to do just that this year."

OC Register - "Home values will decline in 2007, Realtors say" (4-12-07)

"An index of home values is set to drop in 2007 for the first time in nearly 40 years of records, a leading association of real estate professionals said Wednesday. The median price of an existing-home is expected to slip 0.7 percent to $220,300 this year, the National Association of Realtors said. Last month, the group predicted the median price of an existing home would increase 1.2 percent this year. Economist Edward Leamer, director of the UCLA's Anderson Forecast, says that estimate is too conservative. He predicts a decline in the price of existing homes of between 2 percent and 3 percent this year, and he expects that trend to continue for two to three more years."

DQ News - "Bay Area home prices up, sales still slow" (4-12-07)

"The median price paid for a Bay Area home moved up in March, regaining much of the decline since last summer even as sales remained at the lowest level in 11 years, a real estate information service reported. The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $639,000 last month, up 3.1 percent from $620,000 for February, and up 2.1 percent from $626,000 for March last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems. "

Retuers - "Derivatives markets may hold key to U.S. recession" (4-12-07)

"Relaxed lending standards may have contributed to a surge in U.S. mortgage failures this year, but the chance of recession could hang on the complex derivatives used to hedge loan risk, analysts say. Collateralised Debt Obligations (CDOs) are baskets of bonds that give investors varying levels of exposure to defaults. CDOs helped fuel the U.S. housing boom by purchasing bonds backed by sub-prime mortgages and distributing the risk."

DQ News - "Slow sales, record median for Southland homes" (4-12-07)

"Southern California's housing market continued to send contradicting messages in March. Sales remained at a ten-year low while the median sales price increased to a new peak. The rise in median is in part due to a drop-off in sales of entry-level homes, a real estate information service reported. A total of 21,856 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 23.6 percent from 17,680 for the month before, and down 32.4 percent from 32,320 for March last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems. Last month's sales were the lowest for any March since 1997 when 20,024 homes were sold. The slowest March in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988, was in 1993 when 16,214 homes were sold, while the strongest was in 2004 when 37,030 were sold. The March average is 26,033. Last month's sales drop was steepest in San Bernardino and Riverside counties. "

Yahoo! - "Countrywide mortgage lending in foreclosure rises" (4-12-07)

"Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said on Thursday the share of its mortgage portfolio that faces foreclosure nearly doubled in March from a year earlier in a difficult housing market. Its overall mortgage lending, however, rose 5 percent in the month from March 2006 and 25 percent from February, suggesting that the Calabasas, California-based lender is adding market share as weaker rivals pull back and industrywide volume contracts."

Bloomberg - "Housing Bubble Accomplices Preparing for Death: Caroline Baum" (4-12-07)

" First came denial: It isn't a bubble. Banks don't have any exposure to mortgages. Housing is a small sector of the economy. Subprime mortgages are a small segment of the home-loan market. Then came the Feb. 7 double time-bomb from HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest bank, and New Century Financial, the No. 2 subprime lender in the U.S., that they were setting aside more money as a cushion against rising loan delinquencies. New Century filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 2, one of more than 40 lenders that have ceased operations or sought buyers since the start of 2006, according to Bloomberg data. "

OC Register - "Subprime resets to peak through April 2008" (4-12-07)

"A total of 32 percent of balances face rate adjustments over the next 12 months."

OC Register - "Loan defaults spike in Orange County" (4-12-07)

"Loan delinquencies in Orange County rose to the highest level in nine years last month, as the mortgage meltdown and housing slump continued to weigh on homeowners. Lenders sent out 986 notices of default in March to homeowners behind on their loan payments -- the biggest total since January 1998, reports DataQuick. Defaults -- the formal start of a foreclosure proceeding -- were up 21.6% from a month earlier and 142% from a year ago. (Of course, February is a short month.)"