Lost jobs forcing more out of homes

Lost jobs forcing more out of homes
USA Today

WASHINGTON — The nation's foreclosure crisis — once largely confined to only a few corners of the country — is spreading to new areas as the economy teeters. The foreclosure rates in 40 of the nation's counties that have the most households have already doubled from last year, a USA TODAY analysis of data from the listing firm RealtyTrac shows.
Most were in areas far removed from the avalanche of bad mortgages and lost homes that have hammered the U.S. housing market. Among the new areas: Boise and Green Bay, Wis.

Weakness in Mortgage Refinancing
The Wall Street Journal

The Mortgage Bankers Association cut its forecast of home-mortgage lending this year by 27% amid deflating hopes for a boom in refinancing.

The trade group said Monday that it now expects $2.034 trillion of originations of mortgages for one- to four-family homes in 2009, down from a forecast of $2.780 trillion in March, when falling interest rates spurred expectations for huge volumes of refinancing.

Pa. to offer residents free legal, financial help in crisis
post-gazette

Gov. Ed Rendell can remember being in the audience at a showing of "Jurassic Park" when his fellow movie-goers cheered as a Tyrannosaurus Rex ate the lawyer character.

A new Pennsylvania initiative may help change the negative view of lawyers, Rendell said yesterday during a videoconference from Harrisburg.

Mortgage firm reaches deal with state
Boston Globe

A Florida mortgage company reached a $9 million agreement with 14 states to help struggling homeowners modify unmanageable loans, open up its books for review, and assist the states in their oversight of mortgage practices, the Massachusetts Division of Banks said.

Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., one of the country’s largest wholesale mortgage lenders, made the agreement following a multistate examination of its lending practices in 2006 of so-called exotic mortgages, including interest-only and adjustable-rate mortgages, state officials said.

Home Resales Up From Previous Month, as Prices Fall
The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- Existing-home sales rose a second month in a row during May, but prices again fell sharply, threatening a delay to a housing sector recovery.

Home resales increased by 2.4% to a 4.77 million annual rate from 4.66 million in April, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. The NAR originally reported April sales rose 2.9% to 4.68 million.