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In response to the glimmer of hope mentioned in this article, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43099849/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy, that foreclosures are slowing down, don’t kid yourself. The 30-90 day delinquencies might be lower but, just like how unemployment rates are posted, it doesn’t paint the real picture of the health of the housing market. Case in point, the 90+ day delinquencies rose [...]

AMERICA’S economy performed just a little worse in the first quarter of 2010 than the Bureau of Economic Analysis previously estimated. Economists were expecting a slight upward revision to growth in the BEA’s second estimate of first quarter GDP, from the initial 3.2% expansion to 3.4%. Instead, growth was nudged downward, to 3.0%. The American [...]

Tax credits and historically low mortgage rates have failed to lift home prices so far this year. Prices fell 0.5 percent in March from February, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday. That marks six straight months of declines — a sign that the housing market is going in reverse. via Home [...]

Mortgage rates in Cincinnati are low.  Really low.  Like, 30-year-fixed-under-5-percent low. It’s astounding, really.  Mortgage rates weren’t supposed to drop this low but that’s not stopping people from looking the mortgage gift horse in the mouth. via Mortgage Rates Are Range-Bound And Doomed To Rise | The Mortgage Reports.

Dour predictions about the housing market aren’t the norm anymore, as many economists have grown optimistic that home prices will begin rebounding strongly next year. But International Monetary Fund economists Prakash Loungani has found plenty of reasons to remain glum. Loungani, at a National Economists Club luncheon in Washington Thursday, presented his analysis of housing [...]

Real-estate investment trusts that sold convertible bonds during the go-go years thought they found a good source for cheap capital. But as the conversion dates approach, the bonds are becoming larger-than-expected liabilities. REITs sold $27 billion of convertible bonds from 2005 to 2007. At the time, companies expected most investors eventually to convert the bonds [...]

The housing market had a spring fling with buyers hoping to find bargains using the now-expired government tax credits and record low interest rates. Now it’s back to reality. The sweet sales pace of March and April, many experts agree, will sour by mid-summer, and the national housing downturn has not yet ebbed. via Experts [...]

Freddie Mac reported Wednesday that it had sold 207 HomeSteps REO homes to first-time buyers and other owner-occupants at auctions in Las Vegas and Riverside-San Bernardino, California on April 24 and 25. via Freddie Mac Sells 207 REO Homes in Vegas, SoCal Auctions.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said Wednesday that it lost $6.7 billion during the first three months of this year, which follows a $6.5 billion loss for Q4 2009. via Freddie Mac Posts $6.7 Billion Loss in Q1.

Former Treasury Department secretary Henry Paulson told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) today that the US mortgage finance system — and in particular the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) — ran under an “inherently flawed” structure and outdated regulation that failed to keep up with a changing market. He told the congressionally-appointed panel tasked with investigating [...]