MBA - "MISMO® Releases Three Data Standards for the Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Industry" (6-11-07)

"MISMO, the not-for-profit data standards subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), announced the completion and release of three more data standards for the commercial/multifamily mortgage industry. The release of Document Classification Version 1.1, Environmental Site Assessment Synopsis Version 1.1 and Work Order Request and Response Version 1.1 marks the completion of the next phase of MISMO's broad effort to develop and promote data standards for the commercial/multifamily mortgage industry. These standards, along with the already released Commercial Servicing Transfer Standard Version 1.0, are the first of many planned for the industry. Ultimately, MISMO standards will reduce costs, streamline processes, improve accuracy, increase data transparency, and boost investor confidence in mortgages as an asset class."

The Boston Globe - "Home costs stay beyond reach of many" (6-11-07)

"Even with the downturn in the real estate market, houses in the Boston area will continue to be unaffordable for many working families and first-time homebuyers, according to a new report from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. The median price of a single-family home in Greater Boston has dropped 3 percent in the current slowdown, to $402,200 in 2006. At that price, a house costs 5.4 times the median household income of $74,773 for the region. The standard for affordability is 3 to 3 1/2 times median household income, according to the Harvard center."

Daily Business Review - "Special Report: Condo Lending" (6-11-07)

"Sift through condominium foreclosure listings, and you are likely to see Deutsche Bank’s name as the plaintiff in hundreds of South Florida cases. Deutsche initiated 325 foreclosure actions against condo owners in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties from Jan. 1 through May 4, more than any other financial institution, court records show. Even more staggering was the total unpaid mortgage value: $70.3 million."

MSN - "Public pension funds take a risky gamble" (6-11-07)

"I'd like to continue last week's focus on the debt market -- because, without the incomprehensible complacency in all of its sectors, we would not be seeing the lunacy now on display in the equity market. I've already discussed how the world's central banks, by printing their own money to suppress their own currencies, have wound up owning trillions of dollars' worth of U.S. Treasurys."

CNN - "Subprime crisis: Was Greenspan remiss?" (6-11-07)

"Former Federal Reserve Governor Edward Gramlich claims that former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan blocked a proposal to crack down on subprime lending practices back in 2000, according to The Wall Street Journal. Gramlich, who was Fed governor from 1997-2005, says he proposed the idea to Greenspan personally, The Journal reported. He suggested that the Fed send examiners into offices of lenders that were units of Fed-regulated bank holding companies. He claims Greenspan - well-known for his deregulatory practices - rejected the idea."

Bloomberg - "Treasuries Fall as Pianalto Says Inflation `Uncomfortably High'" (6-11-07)

"U.S. Treasuries fell, extending five weeks of losses, as Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said inflation is 'uncomfortably high.' Fourteen of the 21 primary dealers that underwrite the government's debt boosted their year-end estimate for the central bank's target rate or the 10-year note's yield. This week the government will release reports on consumer and wholesale prices. Yields on 10-year notes exceed two-year securities by 13 basis points, the most since May 2006."

USA Today - "Housing slowdown smacks Realtors hard" (6-11-07)

"Chris Beach often works through lunch and seldom leaves the office before 9 p.m. So far this year, he's taken 2½ days off from work. And he hesitates now to take vacations, because he fears losing business: potential home buyers or sellers. 'My wife went out and bought two dogs because I'm never home,' says Beach, whose hands-free cellular earpiece seems permanently attached to his head. This is the life of a real estate agent in a market in which in the past year home sales have tumbled 30%, prices have fallen 13% and there's a one-year supply of homes for sale."

Los Angeles Times - "A Subprime Lender That Went Too Far -- Didn't They All?" (6-11-07)

"We've told you before we're easily confused, and it's happening again. This time it's this MarketWatch report on federal fines against a subprime lending unit of AIG: 'A subprime-mortgage unit of American International Group offered inappropriate loans to some borrowers and charged fees that were too high, the Office of Thrift Supervision said Friday.' MarketWatch reports the settlement could cost the company up to $178 million."