Housing Market News - Jon Shehan

Yahoo! News: Business - Real Estate
What's left to fix housing market? (Reuters)	3/21/2010 1:06 PM
Reuters - The United States has thrown trillions of dollars at the slumping housing market and it still looks wobbly.
Great Wolf to offer $225M of mortgage notes (AP)	3/19/2010 3:15 PM
AP - Indoor waterpark resort company Great Wolf Resorts Inc. said Friday it plans to offer $225 million of first mortgage notes due 2017.
House GOP calls for Fannie, Freddie phase out (Reuters)	3/19/2010 2:42 PM
Reuters - Republicans in the House of Representatives on Friday recommended the country's top two mortgage finance companies, the recipients of a massive government bailout during the height of the financial crisis, be phased out in four years in order to restore stability to the housing market.
Mom of octuplets may lose home to foreclosure (AP)	3/19/2010 1:20 PM
AP - Octuplets mom Nadya Suleman could be kicked out of her Southern California home.
Anti-Flippers Buy And Hold Cheap Homes (Investor's Business Daily)	3/18/2010 3:45 PM
Investor's Business Daily - When Paul Gabrail and two partners snag a foreclosed home on the cheap, neighbors have good reason to cheer.
America's Most Underwater Housing Markets (U.S. News & World Report)	3/18/2010 3:09 PM
U.S. News & World Report - Negative equity--what you have when you owe more on your home loan than the property is worth--is one of the defining features of the still-unfolding mortgage crisis. It's a particularly nasty problem because it can lead to all sorts of unpleasant outcomes for the real estate market and the economy as a whole. Having negative equity, which is also known as being "underwater" on a mortgage, makes homeowners more likely to end up in foreclosure. It restricts a borrower's ability to refinance or buy another home, which in turn stifles demand for housing. ...
Greenspan says Fed did not fuel the housing bubble (Reuters)	3/18/2010 11:01 AM
Reuters - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, whose legacy has been tarnished by the global financial crisis, on Thursday laid out a scholarly defense of why Fed policy did not fuel the housing bubble.
Mortgage rates still below 5 percent (AP)	3/18/2010 9:16 AM
AP - Mortgage rates held below the 5 percent threshold for the third straight week as the Federal Reserve prepares to end a program that has kept rates at or near record lows.
Fed's Bernanke sees U.S. backing Fannie, Freddie debt (Reuters)	3/17/2010 4:07 PM
Reuters - Current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities are likely to retain U.S. government backing should Congress create a new system for financing U.S. homes, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.
CIBC wins dismissal of suit over subprime holdings (Reuters)	3/17/2010 1:57 PM
Reuters - A U.S. federal judge dismissed a shareholder lawsuit accusing Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and four executives, including Chief Executive Gerald McCaughey, of misleading investors about the bank's exposure to subprime mortgages.
Moving target: Goal for foreclosure aid in dispute (AP)	3/17/2010 1:52 PM
AP - Last year, the message was clear. Now it is murky.
Wells Fargo signs up for loan modification program (AP)	3/17/2010 12:15 PM
AP - Wells Fargo & Co. has become the second bank to sign up for a government program to modify second mortgages.
Bailout watchdog to audit gov't mortgage program (AP)	3/17/2010 11:12 AM
AP - The federal bank bailout watchdog is planning to scrutinize the formula used by mortgage companies to evaluate borrowers for the Obama administration $75 billion mortgage relief program.
Fannie Mae slashes mortgage investment forecast (Reuters)	3/17/2010 9:25 AM
Reuters - Fannie Mae, the largest provider of U.S. residential funding, on Wednesday slashed its forecast for residential investment this quarter following a "setback" in home sales, and warned on its impact on the economic recovery.
Welcome to Real Estate Investing 101 and 102 (BusinessWeek)	3/17/2010 6:08 AM
BusinessWeek - After the housing bubble nightmare, does it still make sense to invest in real estate?