The Federal Housing Authority, which insures home purchases with as little as 3.5 percent down payments, may create another crisis in the lending industry, Toll Brothers Inc. Chief Executive Officer Robert Toll said. “Yesterday’s subprime is today’s FHA,” Toll said today at a New York conference for builders sponsored by UBS AG. “It’s a definite train wreck and the flag will go up in the next couple of months: Bail us out. Give us more money.” Toll Brothers is largest U.S. luxury homes builder..,

From the BLS report on the this morning: The rent index decreased 0.1 percent, the index for owners' equivalent rent [OER] was unchanged ... The rent index decreased at a -1.3% annualized rate, and OER declined in three of four ranges (only the Northeast Urban Region saw an increase - see ). The rent index and OER will probably continue to fall for some time, keeping CPI and core CPI low. Most of the reports of falling rents are focused on the coasts, but here is a report from MN Reader in Minneapolis: The Minneapolis rental market was OK through the end of July. It has deteriorated sharply since then. Internal apartment industry figures show an 8.0% physical vacancy rate as of 8/31/09. The economic vacancy rate, which includes free rent offers, etc, was 11.8% as of that same date. Both figures have gone up significantly since then. All landlords in the market are fighting desperately for residents. Effective asking rents are dropping rapidly. The vacancy losses seem to be caused by (1) home buying using the $8,000 tax credit; (2) job losses/cutbacks among existing residents; and (3) lack of new jobs for residents who would have rented. Unlike the coasts, there is only a small pool of permanent renters in Minneapolis. Most residents will eventually buy — it is only a question of the rate at which they depart. That rate has definitely picked up this year. [A large part] of the rental market is recent college graduates who rent an apartment after they get their first career job. That hiring and renting has not happened this year. One difference between Minneapolis and warmer climates is that the rental market is extremely seasonal here. There is very little rental traffic during the winter months. Typically, our movements in and out follow a bell-shaped curve, peaking in the summer months. While in-bound traffic drops in the cold months, the out-bound traffic also typically drops as well. The drop off in out-bound traffic did not occur this year. Resident move-outs...

On Monday, stocks charged higher to hit new 2009 highs. The rally had all the hallmarks of the usual manipulation including: Starting in the futures market during the wee hours of the morning before the stock market even opened Occurring on extremely light volume Charging higher within the first hour of trading and then doing next to nothing for the remainder of the day Occurring thanks to a significant drop in the US Dollar courtesy of various anti-Dollar comments made by government officials over the weekend I’ve pointed out countless times how much this rally is based on a US Dollar carry trade. The below chart is yet another example (the millionth) of this with the Dollar plunging over the weekend pushing stocks to new highs.

Did you know that Government Sponsored Enterprises (Fannie, Freddie, Ginnie, etc.) played increased roles in the mortgage markets in 2008?

Did you know that FHA loan usage increased from 7% in 2007 to 25% in 2008?

The FBI- Foreclosure theft, as well as mortgage fraud, have become growing problems since the collapse of financial markets last year. Newburg addressed a crowd of about 60 people, mostly real estate agents, at Tuesday’s presentation. The FBI’s Detroit office handles large-scale mortgage- and foreclosure-related complaints through a hot line. He said there’s no one set way [...]

On November 17, 2009, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA) Final Rule.

With the Fed in a holding pattern, markets have looked to economic data for their biggest moves in the last six and that trend is likely to continue, Goldman Sachs economists said. “With the unemployment rate high, we expect the markets to continue to focus on employment data for indications of labor market improvement,” Goldman economists wrote in a research note. From June to November, the largest market moves were driven by data that provided information about the strength of recovery. Goldman economists saw a turning point in June, which is when they say the recession officially ended. June and July were the months with the largest market moves. “Employment indicators contributed to many of the moves, as markets watched the unemployment rate increase (to above 10 percent in the most recent report). Indexes gauging the recovery of specific sectors, particularly manufacturing, were also a common source of market moves,” Goldman said. But not all the economic data is positive for markets. Of the 10 largest moves from June to November, six were declines. Markets have shifted away from looking at monetary policy, so data will be scrutinized to gauge how strong the recovery can be. With the Fed in a holding pattern, markets have looked to economic data for their biggest moves in the last six months and that trend is likely to continue, Goldman Sachs economists said. “With the unemployment rate high, we expect the markets to continue to focus on employment data for indications of labor market improvement,” Goldman economists wrote in a research note. From June to November, the largest market moves were driven by data that provided information about the strength of recovery. Goldman economists saw a turning point in June, which is when they say the recession officially ended. June and July were the months with the largest market moves. “Employment indicators contributed to many of the moves, as markets watched the unemployment rate increase (to above 10 percent in the most...

Fannie and Freddie are being hit by the deterioration of the commercial real-estate market and now face rapidly rising loan losses.

From the LA Times: Less than four months after California leaders stitched together a patchwork budget, a projected deficit of nearly $21 billion already looms, according to a report to be released Wednesday by the state's chief budget analyst. The new figure -- the nonpartisan analyst's first projection for the coming budget year -- threatens to send Sacramento back into budgetary gridlock and force more across-the-board cuts in state programs. The projected deficit includes $6.3 billion for the remainder of the current fiscal year (ends June 30th), and $14.4 billion for the next fiscal year. It just keeps getting worse ...