Real Estate
Countrywide home loan delinquencies rise (AP)
AP - Countrywide Financial Corp.'s shares tumbled for the second day Wednesday after the nation's largest mortgage lender said the delinquency and foreclosure rate of home loans in its portfolio surged in December. Read more…
Washington Mutual stock falls amid mortgage woes (Reuters)
Reuters - Washington Mutual Inc shares fell 13 percent on Wednesday amid concerns that rising residential defaults could be worse that expected in coming months. Read more…
Persimmon says forward sales down 14% (FT.com)
FT.com - Persimmon said it remained too early to tell how the housing market would develop in 2008 after the group revealed forward sales had fallen 14 per cent and legal completions were down 5 per cent on last year. Read more…
Countrywide: Lending stabilizes, foreclosures up (Reuters)
Reuters - Countrywide Financial Corp , whose shares have tumbled on concern it might not survive the nation's housing crisis, said on Wednesday it made more loans than expected in the fourth quarter, though foreclosures among loans it services increased. Read more…
Housing: A Fresh Jolt of Bad News (BusinessWeek Online)
BusinessWeek Online - In case you were still harboring a tiny bit of optimism about the U.S. housing sector, just take a look at a couple of headlines from Jan. 8. KB Home President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mezger said in a conference call with investors that he sees "no sign" that the sinking housing market is stabilizing in 2008, after announcing a staggering $9.99 loss per share in the last quarter of 2007. Read more…
