MBA’s Agenda to Stabilize the Housing Market – Mortgage Bankers’ Association 

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9 County Bay Area home prices plunge 27% in last year – by Carolyn Said – … Affluent areas such as Marin County and San Francisco, which until now had resisted most price erosion, saw existing single-family home median prices fall by about 11 percent.  … – SF Gate

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States battle mortgage foreclosure threat; see chart – Stephanie Armour – USA TODAY 

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Pimco’s El-Erian Says Agency Debt Is Undervalued – Pimm Fox and Sandra Hernandez – Bloomberg

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Crisis and Coherence: Finance Remains Vulnerable – Mohamed El-Erian – In a few years, we shall look back at this time as one that redefined the landscape of the US financial system and, by association, the workings of global capital markets.  – PIMCO

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Bargain hunting picks up as Southern California home values fall further – LA Times

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Discounted Mortgage Notes Can Stop Foreclosures: John F. Wasik – Bloomberg 

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Synthetic CDO Issuance Down Sharply in First Quarter – Issuance of synthetic collateralized debt obligations totalled just $47 billion in the first quarter, about one tenth of that seen in the first quarter of 2007, according to CreditSights. …  – Research Recap
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ABP cuts Fannie and Freddie holdings – NETHERLANDS – The €205bn Dutch civil service pension fund ABP has confirmed it has cut its mortgage-backed securities  (MBS) holdings in US mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. – thanks Ira Artman – IPE.com

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Buy Agency Mortgage Bonds – good charts and logic – David Merkel – Aleph Blog
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Uncomfortable Answers to Questions on the Economy – PETER S. GOODMAN – … How bad is housing?  Bad in many markets, awful in some, and still O.K. in a few. … – NY Times

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Paulson `Very Optimistic’ on Freddie, Fannie Rescue – Bloomberg

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Excellent Reg Z info at Buckley Kolar LLP : 
FRB Issues Final Rule to Amend Home Mortgage Provisions of Regulation Z. … The rule (i) creates a new category of “higher-priced mortgage loans,” intended to capture all closed-end subprime loans, subject to new requirements, (ii) imposes new appraisal and servicing requirements related to closed-end mortgages secured by a consumer’s principal dwelling, and (iii) imposes new advertising requirements related to all mortgage loans. Compliance with most provisions of the final rule is mandatory …
1.  Federal Register Notice that includes the final rule and official Federal Reserve staff commentary

2.  Buckley Kolar will host a second webinar on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 1PM EST to discuss the provisions and the implications for mortgage lenders. To register a site, please e-mail us at RSVP@buckleykolar.com.
3.  The PowerPoint presentation summary for the webinar is available here. 

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Tanta, at Calculated Risk has a great post where she takes issue with Gretchen Morgensen of the NY Times -  Gretchen Morgenson has another wowser in today’s New York Times. This one comes with not just a lengthy narrative packed with details about her “exemplary” borrower, but a video in which we hear the borrower’s own version of events, as well as seeing her in her “natural habitat.” - this is long but worth it – has video too – Calculated Risk

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Fortress mortgage fund down about 30 percent: WSJ -  … Fortress Mortgage Opportunities Fund, is down about 30 percent three months after the firm raised funds for it, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Sunday. Fortress raised $560 million for a fund this spring by buying triple-A-rated residential mortgage-backed securities, the paper said. The fund uses three-times leverage, owns only triple-A residential mortgage-backed securities and investors are locked in for three years, the paper said, citing unnamed sources.  … -  Reuters Yahoo  

   posted by Bill Coppedge