A leading bank analyst said the shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are essentially worthless, suggesting that the best option for the mortgage lenders is to recapitalize them as cooperatives owned by the banks that benefit from their services in the secondary market.

The administration's loan modification program may be sabotaging the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market because it is trashing private contracts, The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial.

In a reversal of roles, the Treasury Department is now eager to get its bailout money back and banks are reluctant to part with it.

As foreclosures continue to rise, there is renewed interest in a homeownership vesting plan that met with only a tepid reception when first introduced in March.

While real gross domestic product growth will run at 2 to 3 percent in the second half of 2009, it will reach only about 2.5 percent next year and 3 to 3.5 percent in 2011 as recovery proceeds slower than usual coming out of a recession, PMI said in its latest forecast.

Economic growth will continue through the rest of 2009, but will slow down in the first half of 2010 under the weight of continued unemployment, before resuming a sustained pace and recording a 3 percent gain for all of 2010, the “Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) forecast.

A Massachusetts judge has thrown a wrench into that state's foreclosure procedures by affirming that state law requires every mortgage transaction to be fully documented.

Hampered by its takeover of Countrywide with its huge mortgage portfolio, Bank of America is lagging other big lenders in getting loans modified under the government’s Making Home Affordable program.

Top-tier homes make up almost twice the proportion of foreclosures as they did just three years ago, according to Zillow.com data, confirming the widespread perception that foreclosures are moving up-market.

Pressure is mounting for Congress to extend the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, currently scheduled to expire November 30, and perhaps extend it to all buyers.