The Wall Street Journal - "As Market Cools, Home Buyers Seek a Way Out" (5-9-07)

"In the latest fallout from the housing market's decline, disputes are breaking out between builders and buyers who signed contracts for new homes and condos when the market was hot -- and now want to get out of them. Even as many of the new buildings are completed, buyers are filing lawsuits claiming they were duped into purchases they couldn't afford, or victimized through fraudulent investment schemes. Some are scrutinizing their contracts looking for loopholes, or searching out tiny flaws in finished homes that might allow them to back out without losing their deposits."

Reuters - "US mortgage applications rise in 3rd straight week" (5-9-07)

"U.S. mortgage applications increased for a third straight week, driven to a two-month high by demand for both purchases and refinancings, an industry trade group said on Wednesday. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted applications index rose 3.6 percent in the week to May 4 to 680.7, its highest since 690.5 in the week ended March 9."

Yahoo - "Congress Debates Mortgage Reforms" (5-9-07)

"Congress is looking at potential reforms to risky home lending practices, although a House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday suggests lawmakers are still sorting out the complex workings of the mortgage market and wondering whether reforms will be necessary or helpful. With the number of foreclosures nationally jumping 47 percent in March from a year ago, lawmakers are weighing whether new lending rules are needed or whether the market is already in the process of self-correcting. The task of crafting reforms is made more complicated by the long list of players involved in mortgage transactions."

The San Diego Union-Tribune - "Troubled mortgage borrowers find help" (5-9-07)

"Ernestine Witherspoon managed to hang onto her house in Washington even after she lost her job and fell far behind on her mortgage payments. Her lender, Countrywide Home Loans, was weeks away from seizing the house when Witherspoon called, explained her situation and worked out a plan to repay the $9,800 she owed. She scraped together $3,600 – only because she landed a new job – and Countrywide then tacked $25 onto her monthly payments for the life of the loan to make up the difference."

CNN - "Toll Brothers' home sales slide" (5-9-07)

"Luxury home builder Toll Brothers said on Wednesday it would post lower quarterly home building sales and warned it no longer expects to achieve its most recent quarterly and annual forecasts. 'Twenty months into this housing downturn, we continue to face difficult conditions in most of our markets,' Chief Executive Robert Toll said in a statement releasing the company's preliminary second-quarter results."

NAHB - "Americans To Spend More Than $232 Billion On Home Remodeling In 2007" (5-9-07)

"Americans will spend nearly $233 billion on home remodeling this year, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) 2007 industry forecast. That represents a 1.9 percent increase from the record $228 billion spent in 2006, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. NAHB announced this forecast today at a teleconference celebrating National Home Remodeling Month."

NAHB - "Remodeling Market Erodes Slightly During Housing Downswing" (5-9-07)

"Remodeling activity eroded slightly in the first quarter of 2007, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI). The current market conditions index slipped from 48.2 to 46.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis while future expectations edged up to 46.5 from 46.0. The RMI measures remodeler perceptions of market demand for current and future residential remodeling projects, and 50 is normally the dividing line between a growing and contracting market."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Survey" (5-9-07)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 4, 2007. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 680.7, an increase of 3.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 657.2 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4 percent compared with the previous week and was up 19.9 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. The Refinance Index increased 4.9 percent to 2115.2 from 2015.8 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.6 percent to 438.3 from 427.3 one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index increased 3.2 percent to 1003.1 from 972.3 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index increased 8.6 percent to 143.2 from 131.8 the previous week."

Financial Sense University - "SUBPRIME AMERICA INFECTS ASIA AND EUROPE" (5-9-07)

"As the US real estate market collapses, questions about subprime mortgages and those unable to pay are in the news. These are not inconsequential questions. Over $1.5 trillion of subprime—don’t ask, don’t tell—mortgages were issued and are now beginning to default. As the defaults mount, the consequences will spread to countries and institutions far beyond the shores of the US and the desks of the originating lenders—for the majority of America’s subprime loans are owned by investors, banks, insurance companies, and pension funds in Europe and in Asia."

The Ticker - "WSJ's Tim Annett talks housing, subprimes" (5-9-07)

"In the last five years, consumer spending fueled by home equity cash outs has exceeded their earnings. But greater leverage exposes them to risk if the value of all real estate falls. Banks, meanwhile, increased their mortgage holdings causing the boom that most Americans enjoyed. This, however, made them susceptible to mortgage defaults which were in fact inevitable. Shouldn't subprime defaults have occurred earlier when the real estate bubble burst?"

The Examiner - "Regulators crack down on escrow officers in mortgage fraud" (5-9-07)

"Arizona regulators are cracking down on escrow officers for skimming hundreds of thousands of dollars off home sales as part of a wave of mortgage fraud that has hit the state. Regulators are concerned that more escrow officers are stealing from their employers and homeowners and that others may be tied to mortgage fraud, a category of white-collar crime that has exploded across the country."

CNN - "Confessions of a time-share salesperson" (5-9-07)

"The slick, fast-talking time-share salesman still exists. He may no longer wear a lime-green leisure suit, but he's solely focused on the sale -- and he's largely the reason the industry has a less-than-stellar reputation. Some salespeople talk, talk and talk, and never listen to the client. There's no shortage of unseemly tactics, with questions like "Don't you think your children deserve better?" I've seen a salesperson give a tour of one time-share and then at the last minute try to sell a property in another part of the country. To avoid falling for a trick, pay close attention and never let a salesperson tell you what you want."

Real Estate Journal - "Why Househunting Can Spark That Age-Old Battle of the Sexes" (5-9-07)

"When hunting for a house, what do women want? What do men? Surprisingly, there's very little formal research on this issue, and much of it is on singles rather than couples. For instance, the National Association of Realtors' 2006 survey of consumers found that unmarried women looked for places near friends and family when home shopping, while single men wanted places that were near work or school. But the trade association doesn't break down responses of married couples by gender. When singles become couples, whose wish list wins?"

The Denver Post - "Rental housing glut seen" (5-9-07)

"The glut of U.S. properties for sale is about to hit the rental market. A record number of homeowners who can't sell condominiums and houses are competing for tenants with the country's biggest apartment owners led by Chicago-based Equity Residential, said Jack McCabe, the founder of Deerfield Beach, Fla.-based McCabe Research & Consulting LLC. Metropolitan New York, where demand for housing exceeds supply, may be the only place where rents increase, albeit at a slower pace, he said."

Real Estate Journal - "Safeguarding Your Home's Value As Foreclosures Flood the Market" (5-9-07)

"Gary Kent has more foreclosed properties to sell than ever before during his 23 years in the real estate business. The San Diego-based realty agent currently represents about 100 homes for sale, 85 of which are foreclosures. A year ago, Kent represented about 20 homes for sale with only a couple of foreclosures among them."

Orange County Register - "Effort to limit private fees on home sales killed" (5-9-07)

"State Sen. Lou Correa's bill to ban fees that are charged each time a home is sold died in committee today, even though he offered amendments to allow the fees under limited circumstances. Working with the California Association of Realtors, the Santa Ana Democrat originally sought to ban private transfer fees, a relatively new mechanism used by developers to raise revenue for charities or development costs long after their homes had sold."

Orange County Register - "Private mortgage insurance regains popularity" (5-9-07)

"Private mortgage insurance is making a comeback. Until six or eight months ago, private mortgage insurance was out of favor as people eager to get into the roaring housing market took adjustable-rate mortgages or "piggyback" loans or some other exotic form of financing. But as the market has cooled and lenders have tightened their standards, many people who want homes – especially first-time home buyers and those with little money for down payments – are choosing traditional fixed-rate mortgages backed by private mortgage insurance, or PMI."