|
12/04/2008 12:17 PM
|
|
Mortgage rates post largest drop in 27 years
(Reuters)
|
Reuters - Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages plummeted by the largest amount in 27 years this week after an unprecedented intervention by the Federal Reserve, data from home funding company Freddie Mac showed on Thursday.
|
|
12/04/2008 12:16 PM
|
|
Bernanke urges action to halt foreclosures
(Reuters)
|
|
 Reuters - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday urged more aggressive steps to halt home foreclosures and said government-funded programs could help strapped homeowners.
|
|
12/04/2008 10:55 AM
|
|
FDIC's Bair warns investors fighting loan changes
(AP)
|
AP - Investors in mortgage securities who are challenging home loan modification programs aimed at avoiding foreclosures could provoke a "backlash" from Congress, the head of the FDIC said Thursday.
|
|
12/04/2008 10:23 AM
|
|
Bernanke: more action needed to cut foreclosures
(AP)
|
|
 AP - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on the government Thursday to ramp up efforts to stem soaring home foreclosures, which are feeding into the country's deep economic troubles.
|
|
12/04/2008 09:56 AM
|
|
Mortgage rates drop to lowest level since January
(AP)
|
|
 AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages plunged this week to the lowest level since January after the government launched a sweeping new effort to aid the U.S. housing market.
|
|
12/04/2008 08:57 AM
|
|
Seabreeze's Kass favors U.S. stocks over Treasuries
(Reuters)
|
Reuters - Hedge-fund manager Doug Kass, who successfully shorted U.S. equities this year including shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , is now buying U.S. stocks on the belief that they have hit bottom.
|
|
12/04/2008 08:38 AM
|
|
Toll loss narrows, shares rise sharply
(Reuters)
|
Reuters - Toll Brothers Inc , the largest U.S. luxury home builder, said its quarterly loss narrowed slightly as it wrote down less inventory, and its shares rose sharply as homebuilders extended a rally spurred by improved mortgage rates.
|
|
12/04/2008 08:09 AM
|
|
Treasury weighs plan to rescue housing sector: report
(AFP)
|
|
 AFP - The US Treasury Department is considering a plan designed to push down interest rates for home loans in a bid to revive the country's troubled housing sector, newspapers reported Thursday.
|
|
12/04/2008 06:08 AM
|
|
Home Foreclosures Continue, Despite Bank's 'Freeze'
(BusinessWeek Online)
|
BusinessWeek Online - Some homeowners say they are still receiving foreclosure notices, even from banks that have said they would halt the process until the New Year.
|
|
12/04/2008 07:23 AM
|
|
Toll Brothers 4Q loss narrows, no 2009 forecast
(AP)
|
|
 AP - Toll Brothers Inc. said Thursday its fiscal fourth-quarter loss narrowed slightly as it took fewer write-downs on land values, but warned that fiscal 2009 revenue will fall significantly below 2008 levels.
|
|
12/04/2008 03:13 AM
|
|
UK house prices fall at fastest rate in 16 years
(AP)
|
AP - House prices in Britain fell at their fastest rate in 16 years during November, the country's biggest mortgage lender said Thursday, reinforcing market expectations that the Bank of England will later cut interest rates by at least another percentage point.
|
|
12/03/2008 10:01 PM
|
|
Paulson Considers New Plan to Resuscitate U.S. Housing Market
(Bloomberg)
|
|
 Bloomberg - Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is
considering a new plan to reduce mortgage rates in another bid
to revive the U.S. housing market, a government official said.
|
|
12/03/2008 06:01 PM
|
|
U.S. working on affordable mortgage plan: sources
(Reuters)
|
|
 Reuters - The Treasury Department is developing a plan to try to reduce mortgage rates on home loans to 4.5 percent on typical mortgages by expanding its purchases of mortgage backed securities, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.
|
|
12/03/2008 05:24 PM
|
|
Financial industry pushes for lower mortgage rates
(AP)
|
AP - Financial industry lobbyists are urging the Treasury Department to take steps to lower mortgage rates and help stabilize the battered U.S. housing market.
|
|
12/03/2008 04:19 PM
|
|
SEC adopts new rules for credit-rating agencies
(AP)
|
AP - Federal regulators on Wednesday adopted new rules designed to stem conflicts of interest and provide more transparency for Wall Street's credit-rating industry, widely faulted for its role in the subprime mortgage debacle and ensuing credit crisis.
|
|
12/03/2008 02:21 PM
|
|
Obama: Financial bailout must help homeowners, too
(AP)
|
|
 AP - President-elect Barack Obama signaled a clear desire Wednesday to use a significant portion of $700 billion in financial bailout funds to stanch foreclosures by helping struggling homeowners with their mortgages. "The deteriorating assets in the financial markets are rooted in the deterioration of people being able to pay their mortgages and stay in their homes," he said.
|
|
12/03/2008 01:57 PM
|
|
Woman's skeleton found in foreclosed L.A. home
(Reuters)
|
Reuters - Police investigating a foreclosed Los Angeles house found the skeleton of an elderly woman, apparently dead for two years, who had lived there with her 48-year-old son.
|
|
12/03/2008 10:36 AM
|
|
Obama says reviewing TARP, eyeing homeowner relief
(Reuters)
|
|
 Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama said on Wednesday he is reviewing whether taxpayers are getting maximum bang for the buck from a $700 billion government financial rescue package and indicated particular interest in helping prevent mortgage foreclosures.
|
|
12/03/2008 10:14 AM
|
|
Russia to buy out mortgages from banks
(AP)
|
AP - Russia's government pledged a mortgage buyout Wednesday and announced more aid for major airlines and other companies beyond an existing $200 billion financial rescue package, Russian news agencies reported.
|
|
12/03/2008 09:42 AM
|
|
Mortgage applications post largest gain ever
(Reuters)
|
|
 Reuters - Mortgage applications surged by the largest amount on record last week as a new Federal Reserve program pushed interest rates down to their lowest level in more than 3 years, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.
|