Housing starts took another dive in November, falling another 3.7 percent from the revised October estimate of 1,232,000 starts. Even worse, the seasonally adjusted annual November rate of 1,187,000 starts is 24.2 percent below the 1,565,000 annualized rate of residential construction initiated in November 2006. Read More Now

Two Surveys Show Big Rate Moves In Opposite Directions
The two mortgage interest rate surveys upon which we report each week showed big changes for long term rates during the week ended December 6 and 7, but the difference in the outcomes was striking. Two of the products tracked by Freddie Mac dropped to new two year lows while the mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported substantial upward movement. The most recent result of Freddie Mac’s Primary mortgage Market Survey for showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaging… Read More Now

MBS Apartment Titan Struggles Against Defaults
The apartment complex owner is in danger of defaulting on nearly $400 million in loans.

Washington Mutual Announces Major Layoffs and Closings
Late Monday, after the market closed of course, Washington Mutual announced that, in an attempt to raise cash, it will conduct a $2.5 billion convertible preferred stock offering. It will also close 190 of its 336 loan centers and sales offices, lay off more than 3,000 employees and set aside up to $1.6 billion for loan losses in the fourth quarter. The company also announced that it was… Read More Now

mortgage Stanley Latest to Accept Foreign Aid
Another major American financial institution went on the international auction block Wednesday afternoon as Morgan Stanley announced it was accepting a $5 billion cash infusion from China Investment in return for a stake in the bank estimated to be as high as 9.9 percent. Read More Now

Federal Reserve Expected To Adopt New mortgage Regulations
The Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors is expected to endorse proposed rules developed by its staff for the banks it regulates that would end some of the more abusive lending practices aimed at subprime borrowers. The rules which have been widely promoted by consumer advocacy groups for some time and already adopted in whole or in part by many state regulatory agencies would, if enacted, do the following: Read More Now

Rates rocke; reader Q&A
The San Francisco Chronicle had an op-ed column Sunday by a San Mateo attorney named Sean Olender, about the “real story” behind the mortgage rate freeze announced last week.

Rate Freeze Faces Many Hurdles
Plenty of people, including Matthew Graham, mortgageNewsDaily’s op-ed columnist, are talking about the practical realities of freezing a mortgage rate adjustment under the plan President Bush announced last week. After reflecting I would like to raise some objections of my own and/or reflect comments from others, about this “solution” to the mortgage mess that may ultimately be nicknamed Katrina Two. First of all is the issue of fairness. Read More Now

Refinance Costs Hit Property Trusts
Australian firms Centro Properties and Centro Retail slashed earnings forecasts because of higher refinancing costs and may sell U.S. assets.

REIT Executive May Lose Towers in Los Angeles
Robert Maguire III spent 40 years amassing property in the city. Now he’s fighting to hold on to his portfolio of office buildings as his real-estate investment trust comes under attack.

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