I have been warning clients for about two months that the mid-June-mid-October time period is the danger zone for a mood shift, and it looks like we're on schedule.   Read More

Government officials claim the refi plan has been extremely successful, far moreso, they admit, than the modification program. But clearly it wasn't doing enough, or they wouldn't have widened the parameters of elligibility.   Read More

That's right, your loan can be a full 25 percent more than the current value of your home, and Fannie and Freddie will gladly buy and/or back your new refi.   Read More

Shares of UK house-builder Taylor Wimpey saw solid gains, while FTSE-listed alternative investment manager Man Group sank, amidst positive trading for the London index.    Read More

A lot of folks are parsing the latest S&P Case Shiller home price report out today, and debating whether some month-to-month increases are proof of home price stabilization nationwide. I frankly think it’s impossible to say anything nationwide, because a lot of different markets are reacting very differently. That may seem an incredibly prosaic thing to say, but I think an awful lot of smart folks often lose sight of that.    Read More

An interesting aside in the interview I did today with Michael Barr, the Treasury Department’s Asst. Secretary for Financial Institutions. Barr is the architect of the Administration’s Making Home Affordable program, i.e. the housing bailout, and this was his first on-camera interview since he was sworn in as a Treasury official.    Read More

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testified in front of a House Committee Thursday that he did not put pressure on Bank of America to close the takeover of Merrill Lynch. Unemployment numbers released are showing a weak job market and GDP growth is still in a decline. Read and watch what the pros say...   Read More

Amid all the steps the government has taken to shore up the banking system, a recent proposal by the Obama administration to require lenders to retain a stake in securitized loans is a "tremendous game-changer," says real estate mogul Richard LeFrak.   Read More

Stocks opened lower on Thursday after weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected. In the meantime, the economy contracted 5.5 percent, the Commerce Department said in its final reading on first-quarter GDP. That was a smaller contraction than the 5.7 percent initially reported. Read and listen to what the experts had to say...   Read More

I received the following email from Jeff in San Diego and was so struck by how reasonable, matter-of-fact and truly troubling it is. I know it's California, but I believe it's an example of a spreading trend nationwide...   Read More