FHA and HUD led the race to the bottom of loose lending practices--lowest downpayments, lowest credit history requirements, and highest total debt-to-income ratios.

In last week’s State of the Union address, President Obama urged Congress to pass legislation that would help more homeowners refinance. Much of the policy focus in this area has been on proposals that would modify the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program , which helps borrowers with loans insured by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. However, other proposals would go further, such as one that is reportedly being developed to facilitate the refinancing of mortgage loans that are not backed by the government. Finding ways to encourage refinancing is good policy. The Federal Reserve has done its part: Its asset purchase programs have helped to lower long-term interest rates to historically low levels. The interest rate on new 30-year fixed-rate mortgages is now around 3.5 percent, down from more than 6 percent prior to the financial crisis. Yet, many homeowners appear to have been blocked from refinancing into lower-rate mortgages. Indeed, data from the Commerce Department suggest that the average home mortgage has an interest rate of around 5 percent right now—much higher than the rate available on new loans. One reason to promote refinancing is that the families that would be helped would tend to be among those less-advantaged and harder hit by the economic slump. Many of the proposals target “under water” homeowners (those with mortgages that are larger than the value of their homes) that are still current on their loans, because these people have had particular difficulty refinancing their mortgages. Based on the 2010 Survey of Consumer Finances , I calculate that median financial assets and median liquid financial assets in this group were only about half as high as the medians for all homeowners. A greater share had experienced job loss over the preceding year (22 percent versus 15 percent), and the median ratio of required debt service payments to before-tax income for this group, at 0.31, was close to double that...

Bernanke's Stimulus Spurring U.S. Employment in Housing-Autos Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has something to tout before Congress in hearings this week: job growth in the auto and housing industries. Consumers rely on loans to buy cars and homes, so these segments of the economy are among the ...

(Reuters) - Federal and state regulators are examining whether some of the largest U.S. banks are helping Internet-based lenders evade state laws that cap interest rates on payday loans, The New York Times said on Sunday.

The National Association of Home Builders called for an overhaul of the residential appraisal system, making a number of recommendations with which members of the National Association of REALTORS® can agree. One suggested change, however, could alter the role of the MLS forever.

Although the U.S. housing market is improving and home prices look to have bottomed, some analysts are saying the run may be over for the home builders and other housing-related stocks.