IF you have a mortgage, consider yourself lucky.
That is the upshot of the most recent survey of mortgage lenders by the Federal Reserve Board, which found that banks’ lending standards were significantly tighter in April than they had been in January, when credit was already tight.
Some prospective borrowers who just a few months ago were […]

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SANTA ANA, Calif. — Drawing a sharp distinction between himself and the two Democratic presidential candidates, Senator John McCain of Arizona warned Tuesday against vigorous government action to solve the deepening mortgage crisis and the market turmoil it has caused, saying that “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those […]

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Home Sales Rise Unexpectedly but Prices Keep Tumbling
WASHINGTON (AP) — After falling for six straight months, sales of existing homes posted an unexpected increase in February which may have reflected more aggressive price cutting by sellers in some parts of the country, a real estate trade group reported.
The National Association of Realtors said that sales […]

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President Resists Wide-Scale Assistance
Now that the Federal Reserve has pledged billions of dollars to rescue Wall Street bankers from possible default, lawmakers and regulators are turning their attention to helping average citizens — from homeowners in danger of foreclosure to people who want to buy a home.
But unlike the Fed’s rapid moves last week to […]

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Torrid population growth rates in Sun Belt metropolitan areas from Florida to Arizona, Nevada and California have slowed amid a severe downturn in the nation’s housing market, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census Bureau data released today.
“It’s really a slowdown in places with superheated housing markets that were almost out of control in […]

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They took out adjustable-rate mortgages at the peak of the housing bubble to buy homes they would otherwise not be able to afford. Or they refinanced existing mortgages to take cash out. And now, two or three years later, the day of reckoning is here.
These are not lower- and middle-income borrowers, but more affluent consumers […]

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The peach-colored house in a modest subdivision near downtown Modesto, Calif., used to be someone’s dream home. But it stands out in a row of similarly hued homes where many have a “For Sale” sign planted in their front yards. The two-story appears battered: its address has been scratched on a front panel and weeds […]

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FEAR is ruling the financial markets. Billions of dollars have been lost in mortgage-related investments. The Federal Reserve worked madly over the weekend to engineer a takeover of Bear Stearns and avert a systemic meltdown. But the big fear remains. How low will house prices go?
If prices continue to fall, mortgage defaults will move well […]

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WHAT image does the term “lowballer” conjure up for you? A smirking bottom feeder in a bad suit? A fast-talking investor working the phone?
How about a couple of young newlyweds who have saved their wedding cash to put toward their first home?
James and Valentina Sbarra fit the last description, and they are relieved to be […]

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Souring Economy Spreads Its Tentacles, Causing Business Insolvencies to Rise
As the housing and credit markets continue to spiral downward, business casualties are rising rapidly in bankruptcy courts across the Washington region.
The number of corporations that have filed for Chapter 11 protection to reorganize so far this year in Maryland, Eastern Virginia and the District has […]

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