Mortgages News

NEW YORK (AP) - It doesn't take highly paid Wall Street analysts to figure out why corporate earnings are trending toward their worst performance in six years. With roughly half the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 having reported fourth-quarter results, banks and brokerage have proven to be the biggest drag on the overall earnings picture. Profit declined 22 percent from the year-a ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Consumer groups in four states asked congressional banking and finance committees on Friday to conduct hearings on Bank of America Corp.'s proposed $4.1 billion buyout of struggling mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. The groups sent letters requesting that lawmakers investigate the possible impact of the buyout on Countrywide borrowers. They also want lawmakers to pre ...

Fred Attewill, Metro31 January 2008 Chat | Vote | Guide | Calculate The number of borrowers struggling to meet mortgage payments has soared by 700%, a housing charity said today. Strapped for cash: repossessions could rocket in 2008 due to the number of people unable to meet their mortgage payments WANT TO KNOW MORE? Mortgage crisis: Bank braced for the worst Mortgage approvals sink to three-year low The mortgage crisis of 2008 POLL: Are you relying on the value of you ...

Major bond insurer, MBIA, has posted its biggest ever loss for a three month period, hit by its exposure to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. MBIA made a net loss of $2.3bn(£1.15bn) in the quarter ending 31 December. The year before it made a profit of $181m. It is reeling from falls in value of US mortgage-backed debt, which firms like MBIA had offered guarantees. There are now fears insurers will not be able to pay out, forcing banks to announce another big round of losses. The deep p ...

This is Money31 January 2008 Reader comments (1) | Chat | Vote | Guide | Calculate House prices fell for a third consecutive month in January to post the slowest annual growth in more than two years, according to Britain's biggest building society. WANT TO KNOW MORE? 'Property to crash within months' Dull property increases rate cut calls POLL: Do you think a property price crash is more or less likely now than you did three months ago? OTHER STORIES House pri ...

Benedict Moore-Bridger and Jonathan Prynn, Evening Standard31 January 2008 Britain's most expensive home property deal was struck today when Chelsea Barracks was bought by the Qatari government and the Candy brothers for £959m. Billionaire barracks: The site will be 'a contemporary version of Mayfair', say the brothers OTHER STORIES A million 'could lose home' in credit crunch Top mortgages disappearing in a flash Britons spend more on home than food Will buy- ...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The US dollar recovered some of its earlier losses against the euro with risk appetite remaining very fragile despite the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut. The US central bank met market expectations by trimming a further 50 basis points off the key Fed Funds rate, meaning rates have now fallen by 225 basis points in the space of four months. The accompanying state ...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - European government bonds were higher after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by another half point last night, and as flight-to-safety flows were sparked by more bad news from bond insurers. Financial markets had largely priced in the probability of a 50 basis point rate reduction from the Fed, although some players considered this might be too rash coming so ...

New figures from the Bank of England show that at the end of last year, loans for new homes were at their lowest level for 13 years. In December, 73,000 new home loans were approved, 37% fewer than in December 2006 (117,000). The figure is below the 79,000 forecast and compares with 81,000 new mortgage approvals in November, making December the seventh straight month in which new mortgage approvals have declined. The news confirms the slowdown in the housing market and also comes alongside a ...

KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysian shares ended the morning session flat on Thursday after the Federal Reserve's widely-expected half-point rate cut failed to boost sentiment ahead of the long weekend. The local market will be closed on Friday for a public holiday. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) ended the session up 1.79 points or 0.1 percent at 1,385.87. The FTSE Bursa Malay ...