No mortgages at Wachovia branches in 19 states

August 8, 2008 Wachovia Corp. will cease mortgage origination in its branches in Illinois as well as 18 other states, a spokesman confirmed Thursday. Wachovia is the fourth largest bank. To cease offering mortgages at the retail level is serious. Their total net worth...

Fannie Mae loses $2.3B in quarter as defaults rise

More bad news in the U.S. housing sector -- which is bad news for the U.S. (and other) economies. You have to wonder why Fannie Mae would respond by raising prices for borrowers. Won't this ultimately lead to more defaults? You'd think they would prefer to refinance existing...

Fannie Mae unveils loss of $2.3bn

" Fannie Mae unveils loss of $2.3bn Q&A Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae Problems in the US housing market have pushed mortgage finance company Fannie Mae into the red. The group sank to a net loss of $2.3bn in the three months to 30 June, against a...

National Indoor Toxic Mold Awareness Month

September 5 to October 5, 2008What is the purpose of National Indoor Toxic Mold Awareness Month?The purpose of National Indoor Toxic Mold Awareness Month is to inform, educate, and raise awareness about the adverse health effects due to exposure of indoor molds and...

US house prices continue to fall

According to recent figures, "No city in the 20-city index experienced price gains in May for the second straight month". In addition, the index "fell by 15.8 per cent in May compared with a year ago". The current crisis has been blamed on the offer of mortgages that...

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac: Where'd those names come from?

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been in the news recently as the US financial crisis continues.  I've always wondered where those unexplicable names came from and today I decided to find out.  Here's what Wikipedia had to say:"The Federal National Mortgage...

The End of White Flight

"The End of White Flight For the First Time in Decades, Cities' Black Populations Lose Ground, Stirring Clashes Over Class, Culture and Even Ice Cream By CONOR DOUGHERTYJuly 19, 2008; Page A1 Decades of white flight transformed America's cities. That era is...

PPT has a busy weekend

" Not much time was spent on the golf course this weekend for members of the Plunge Protection Team. Today's announcement of a support plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac follows another grim week on Wall Street. Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke faced the impending meltdown...

Section 8 loophole thwarts evacuees return to New Orleans- We Don't Want no S...

"Two weeks ago in Houston, two Katrina evacuees hauled the final boxes out of their apartments. But even as their landlords prepared to change their locks, Gina Martin and Samantha Egana couldn't go home to New Orleans, because their Section 8 vouchers were stalled by the...

The new Vancouver Special, now with more awkwardness

Here's a cantankerous piece about a new Vancouver housing trend: the Mohawk. If you're from these parts you've probably seen them around--"a two-storey box with a half-sized strip of 'hair' on top," as the writer describes them.The Mohawk is arguably more attractive than its...