U.S. Foreclosure Activity Spreads Beyond Hard-hit Metro Areas
January 28, 2010, NewJersey.com

Cities in the so-called Sand States dominated the foreclosure rankings in 2009, with the 20 worst-hit metro areas residing in Nevada, Florida, California and Arizona.
Las Vegas had the largest number of foreclosure filings of any city last year, with 12% of its households receiving at least one during the year, according to RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed homes. That was more than five times the national average.

Obama Housing Rescue Threatened by Foreclosures, Unemployment
January 29, 2010, Bloomberg News

President Barack Obama’s efforts to bolster the U.S. housing market, the trigger of the worst recession since the 1930s, may be undone by record unemployment and repossessions by lenders. Foreclosures probably will reach 3 million this year, surpassing the record of 2.82 million in 2009, according to Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc. That would more than offset an estimated 448,000-unit rise in home sales, based on the average forecast of the National Association of Realtors, the Mortgage Bankers Association and Fannie Mae.

Obama's Falling Down on the Job
January 29, 2010, New York Daily-News (OPINION)

It is just over a year since President Obama took office. He inherited the worst economic mess the world has seen since 1929, and his team managed to pull us back from the brink. But the economy is still in sad shape and is not likely to get better anytime soon. The proposals in this week's State of the Union speech, including plans to cut taxes for businesses, help middle-class families and rein in spending, may not go far enough to really make a difference. And in the case of a domestic spending freeze, they may make things worse.

Senate Reappoints Bernanke
January 28, 2010, Wall Street Journal

The Senate voted 70-30 to reappoint Ben Bernanke for a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Earlier, senators voted 77-23 to end debate, clearing the way for a final vote. During more than two hours of debate on the Senate floor, Bernanke backers warned that voting him down risked sparking turmoil in U.S. and foreign markets and thwarting a budding economic recovery. They said the Fed chairman deserved an opportunity to finish what he started.

Still in the Cellar
January 22, 2010, The Economist

When American house prices finally started rising in June last year, ending a three-year decline, homeowners and economists rejoiced. The steep plunge in values — about 33 percent nationally from peak to trough — caused widespread damage in the American economy and abroad. The stabilization of prices turned out to be a precursor to broader economic recovery.

New York Law Offers Homeowners a Welcome Reprieve
January 22, 2010, The Buffalo News

Our State Legislature and governor recently passed the nation’s most progressive foreclosure prevention legislation. It expands previous protections to include all mortgage foreclosures instead of only subprime mortgages. Among other things, the Comprehensive Foreclosure Legislation provides these three protections: (1) Provides 90 days to resolve a mortgage default before foreclosure can begin. (2) Gives all borrowers the right to a settlement conference in court to prevent the foreclosure. (3) Creates a legal duty on the banks to maintain foreclosed properties to prevent neighborhood blight.

Spreading Foreclosures Still Concentrated in Sand States: RealtyTrac
January 28, 2010, HousingWire

The sand states, California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, continue to lead foreclosures in metropolitan areas. However, other cities sheltered so far from high foreclosures, are beginning to creep up the list, according to the year-end 2009 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac.

California Default Notices Fall 24 Percent in 4Q
January 28, 2010, New York Times

Mortgage default notices for California homeowners fell 24 percent during the fourth quarter, suggesting the worst might be over for foreclosures in entry-level markets while problems spread to pricier neighborhoods, a research firm said Wednesday. There were 84,568 default notices filed from October through December, down from 111,689 during the previous three-month period but up 12 percent from 75,230 during the same period of 2008, MDA DataQuick reported.

Why 2010 Could Be the Year of the ‘Short Sale’
January 27, 2010, Wall Street Journal

If 2009 was the year of the foreclosure (and loan modification), then 2010 may be shaping up as the year of the short sale. In the Phoenix metro area, the number of completed short sales, where lenders allow a home to sell for less than the value of the mortgage, increased by 60% in the last three months of 2009, according to Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. In December and January, sales of bank-owned homes fell by 25% from one year ago, while short sales increased by 16% and traditional sales rose by 9%.

Sales of New Homes Fall, Capping Worst Year Ever
January 27, 2010, BusinessWeek

Sales of new homes in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped in December, capping the worst year on record and signaling the government’s tax-credit extension has yet to shore up demand. Purchases declined 7.6 percent to an annual pace of 342,000, marking the fourth decrease in the past five months, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. For all of 2009, sales declined 23 percent to 374,000, the lowest level since records began in 1963.

Home Prices Rise for 6th Straight Month in Nov.
January 26, 2010, Washington Post

Home prices rose for the sixth straight month in November, with 14 of 20 metro areas posting improvements from the month before. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday inched up 0.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted reading of 145.49. The index was off 5.3 percent from November last year, nearly matching analyst's estimates that it would fall by 5.1 percent.

Strategic Defaults and the Foreclosure Crisis
January 19, 2010, U.S. News & World Report

Nearly a year after the Obama administration unveiled its ambitious housing rescue program, foreclosure tallies continue to break records. Foreclosure filings were reported on more than 2.8 million properties in 2009, up 21 percent from the previous year and 120 percent from 2007, according to RealtyTrac. With nearly 10 percent of mortgages now delinquent — which is also a new record — even more homeowners appear headed for foreclosure this year. "A massive supply of delinquent loans continues to loom over the housing market," RealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio said in a statement. "Many of those delinquencies will end up in the foreclosure process in 2010 and beyond."

Investors Dominate Home Flipping, Actions
January 25, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle

House flipping, a quick-buck scheme pursued by amateurs and professionals alike during the real estate boom, now is dominated by investors willing to pay all cash, who troll auctions for foreclosures that banks are gradually trying to siphon off their books. This trend, which took hold more than a year ago, gained more ground last week when the Federal Housing Administration reversed a rule and decided to allow government-backed mortgages for homes sold and resold within 90 days.

California's Home Inventory Shrinks to 5-Year Low
January 23, 2010, Wall Street Journal

California's inventory of unsold, previously owned homes shrank to a five-year low in December, in another sign that the state may be coming out of its worst housing slump in decades. The supply of unsold single-family homes dropped to 3.8 months from 5.6 months a year ago and 16.6 months in January 2008, when inventories were at a peak, according to estimates released Friday by the California Association of Realtors. The inventory levels are now at

N.Y. Housing Complex Is Turned Over to Creditors
January 25, 2010, New York Times

The owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, the iconic middle-class housing complexes overlooking the East River in Manhattan, have decided to turn over the properties to creditors, officials said Monday morning. The decision by Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty comes four years after the $5.4 billion purchase of the complexes’ 110 buildings and 11,227 apartments in what was the most expensive real estate deal of its kind in American history. The Wall Street Journal broke the story about the biggest foreclosure in U.S. history.

Treasury Weighs Fixes to Foreclosures Program
Jan. 21, 2010 – The New York Times

The Obama administration plans next week to revamp its $75 billion program aimed at sparing homeowners from foreclosure, streamlining the documents required of borrowers seeking lowered payments, according to financial industry executives and others who have met in recent days with Treasury officials.

Surge in Short Sale Requests Unlikely to Impact Housing Market
Jan. 22, 2010 – DSNews

Although short sales are likely to increase in 2010, the jump in these transactions is unlikely to have any real impact on the housing market, according to a new study by Housing Predictor.

Fannie, Freddie Losses May Hit U.S.
Jan. 22, 2010 – The Wall Street Journal

The U.S. government's move to deepen its ties to mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by agreeing to absorb unlimited losses for the next three years is igniting a debate over whether it should bring the business operations of the companies onto its books.

Obama proposes tough limits on largest banks
Jan. 22, 2010 – The Washington Post

President Obama expanded his new offensive on Wall Street on Thursday, proposing rules that would impede the growth of the largest banks and bar them from making what he called "reckless" investments.

IRS offers guidance on new $6,500 tax credit for repeat home buyers
Jan. 23, 2010 - The Washington Post

If you've been holding back on getting involved with the new $6,500 federal tax credit for repeat home purchases, there's no more excuse for inaction. You now have all the official IRS guidance you'll need to buy a house, qualify for the credit and pocket the $6,500.

FHA Raises Down Payments, Premiums Amid Mortgage Delinquencies
Jan. 20, 2010, Bloomberg News

The Federal Housing Administration is raising insurance rates and tightening credit-score rules to combat a rise in delinquencies, making a government-guaranteed mortgage more expensive for U.S. homebuyers. The premiums FHA charges to insure mortgages will rise to 2.25 percent from 1.75 percent this year, the agency said in a statement yesterday. Borrowers who have credit scores below 580 will also have to make down payments of at least 10 percent, and allowable seller concessions will be cut by half.

Home Builders Expect Construction Recovery
Jan. 20, 2010, The Wall Street Journal

Builders are likely to start construction on 610,000 single-family homes this year, up 38% from last year, according to David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, which is meeting this week for its annual convention. That forecast assumes that the total number of U.S. jobs will start growing again in the second quarter. Housing starts would remain far below the 2005 peak of 1.7 million.

Home construction falls; wholesale prices edge up
Jan. 20, 2010, Associated Press

The housing market remains a significant risk to the economy, data Wednesday showed, as bad weather across much of the country hit the construction industry. The Commerce Department said construction of new homes and apartments fell 4 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 from an upwardly revised 580,000 in November. Applications for future projects, however, increased strongly as the industry ramps up for the spring selling season.

Foreclosure Distribution In The United States (2005-2009)
Jan. 19, 2010, Mortgage Reports Blog

At the risk of appearing obsessed with foreclosure data, I want to run another chart of the country's Top 10 Foreclosure States.  Thank you to my friends at RealtyTrac for running this report special for me.

Southern California home prices rise in December
Jan. 19, 2010, Associated Press

The median home price in Southern California posted its first year-on-year gain last month since summer 2007, as more high-priced homes in relatively expensive neighborhoods continued to enter a market that had been dominated by lower-end sales, a tracking firm said Tuesday. San Diego-based MDA DataQuick said the median home price in the six-county region of Southern California was $289,000 in December, up 4 percent from $278,000 in December 2008. The price also represented a roughly 1 percent bump up from November's $285,000 median.

BofA loses $5.2B in 4Q as it repays bailout
Jan. 20, 2010, Associated Press

Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday it lost $5.2 billion during the final three months of 2009 as consumers struggled to make mortgage and credit card payments and the bank repaid its government bailout money. The report fell in line with those of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc., both of which had billions in losses from bad loans offset by investment banking income. Wells Fargo & Co., which reported results Wednesday, posted a $394 million profit although it also had big loan losses during the fourth quarter.