NAR - "Tighter Lending Standards Good For Housing, But Will Dampen Sales" (4-11-07)

"Tighter lending criteria and fallout from the subprime loan debacle will lead to a healthier housing market with greater assurance that owners can handle mortgage adjustments, but higher loan standards will slow the housing recovery, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®."

"David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said the changes are necessary for the long-term health of the housing market. “We want to people to be able to stay in their homes with mortgage terms they understand and can handle,” he said. 'Simply stated, a loan with the lowest monthly payment probably isn’t in your best interests – borrowers need to understand worst-case scenarios. If you’re in a mortgage you aren’t comfortable with, now is an excellent time to refinance, if you can, with historically low rates on safer conventional loans.'"

CNN - "Home prices set for first drop in 40 years" (4-11-07)

"The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday it expects its measure of home prices to fall this year for the first time since the group began keeping track nearly 40 years ago. In its latest monthly forecast, the real estate group said it expects a 0.7 percent decline in the median price of an existing home sold in 2007. A month ago it had been projecting a 1.2 percent increase. Half of all homes sell for more than the median and half for less."

Bloomberg - "Subprime Losers Blame Bear, Credit Suisse, JPM, Morgan Stanley" (4-11-07)

"When Buck Meyer thinks about the $300,000 he lost after he bought a subprime mortgage lender's bonds, he doesn't hesitate to denounce financial titans Bear Stearns Cos., Credit Suisse Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley. Like the thousands of people who snapped up American Business Financial Services Inc.'s notes yielding 10 times the going rate on Treasury bills, Meyer had no idea that the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. He wondered how something so celebrated as ``a kitchen-table startup'' by the Philadelphia Business Journal and so lucrative that it paid $50 million in fees to the four firms for its burgeoning credit, could default on his money. "

Market Watch - "KB Home CEO says housing slump will get worse" (4-11-07)

"The chief executive of KB Home, one of the nation's largest home builders, said Tuesday he expects the housing slump to worsen, even though sales have improved in some areas of the U.S."

MSNBC - "HUD auditors find widespread mortgage fraud" (4-9-07)

"As the government’s head of the investigations in the savings and loan industry collapse of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Kenneth Donohue is no stranger to mortgage fraud. Today, as inspector general for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Donohue is looking into fraud and abusive lending practices related to mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration."

Bloomberg - "National City, SunTrust May Say Net Fell on Mortgages (Update1)" (4-11-07)

"National City Corp., Capital One Financial Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc. may report lower first- quarter profits as the worst housing slump in more than a decade reduces income from mortgages. Earnings per share for the 10 largest regional U.S. banks fell an average 1.1 percent in the first three months from a year earlier, according to analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The last decline occurred in the fourth quarter of 2004. "

MSNBC - "Mortgage mess spreads to Alt-A segment" (4-11-07)

"Now the so-called Alternative-A mortgage sector, which loans to borrowers with better credit than subprime borrowers but not quite prime, is starting to hurt. One Alt-A lender, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. of Melville, N.Y., announced late last week that it was having trouble selling its mortgages into the secondary market and would have to cut its earnings forecast for the quarter and the year. At least five analysts downgraded the stock on Monday, and its shares fell more than 15 percent on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares dropped $2.37, or 11 percent, on Tuesday to close at $19.55."

New York Post - "LEGAL EAGLES CLAW OVER NEW CENTURY" (4-11-07)

"The collapse of subprime mortgage giant New Century Financial, which created more than $220 billion in shaky home loans, is growing into one of the biggest bankruptcy tangles ever to hit Wall Street as shocking new claims of insider windfalls and hijacked millions emerge. At least 95 lawyers have fought all week in the Delaware bankruptcy court to alter New Century's own breakup blueprint, which has triggered several red flags. "

CNN - "Shiller: Mr. Worst-case scenario" (4-11-07)

"Robert Shiller called the tech-stock crash just as the Nasdaq peaked. But he is also the expert on the real estate market. And where does he think it's headed now? Uh-oh."

Bloomberg - "Fed Minutes Say Rate Increases May `Prove Necessary' (Update3)" (4-11-07)

"Federal Reserve officials concluded last month that higher interest rates could still be needed even as they removed a reference in their policy statement to tighter credit."

Sign On San Diego - "More homeowners fail to avoid foreclosures via bankruptcy" (4-11-07)

"The Kings and people like them present a worrisome trend for investors already spooked by soaring delinquencies and defaults on home loans to people with the weakest credit. According to a study released in March by Credit Suisse Group , more subprime borrowers are turning to bankruptcy court to stave off foreclosure, as softening housing prices make it harder for them to sell their homes to repay debts. At the same time, the study shows, the number of borrowers who are actually able to bring current their mortgage payments through bankruptcy is declining, and more filers are ultimately turning their homes over to the lenders. The finding means investors in high-yielding mortgage-backed securities should expect higher losses on the underlying collateral. At least part of the blame, says the report, lies with the bankruptcy law passed in October 2005. The law raised the bar for people to qualify for Chapter 7 “fresh start” bankruptcy proceedings. Chapter 7 can enable individual filers to wipe away debts such as credit-card and medical bills so they can continue to make their mortgage payments. With access limited, more subprime borrowers are forced into Chapter 13, where some can't maintain their payment schedules for more than a couple of months. "

CNN - "Schumer calls for subprime bailout" (4-11-07)

"The federal government should offer troubled borrowers hundreds of millions of dollars to bail them out of subprime mortgage loans, several leading Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday."

Chron.com - "Moody's Downgrades Hovnanian" (4-11-07)

"Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday it cut its rating on Hovnanian Enterprises Inc.'s debt, saying the homebuilder is bleeding cash amid a downturn in the housing market. Moody's cut its the corporate family rating of the Red Bank, N.J.-based homebuilder's debt quality to 'Ba2' from 'Ba1,' and said it may downgrade the debt further. Both Ba2 and Ba1 are non-investment-grade designations."

Financial Times - "US plans curbs on subprime lenders" (4-11-07)

"US politicians are drawing up a bill that could make it less attractive for Wall Street investment banks and other financiers to repackage risky mortgages into securities and then sell them to investors around the world. Senior figures in Congress hope to force the financiers who buy mortgages and create mortgage-backed securities to share some of the liability – and thus financial cost – that might arise if mortgages were mis-sold to borrowers who proved unable to meet payments."

Reuters - "Mortgage defaults, delinquencies at record -survey" (4-11-07)

"Mortgage late payments and defaults reached record levels in the first quarter and may threaten the modest U.S. economic expansion seen this year, Moody's Economy.com said in a survey released on Wednesday."

OC Register - "MBA forms plan of attack" (4-11-07)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association has a plan to fend off regulation and deal with a wave of bad press, according to a letter to its members that was sent to me by a source and verified by the MBA. The letter speaks for itself, so here it is:"