The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University is pleased to share The State of the Nation’s Housing 2009.
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Reverse Mortgages for Home Purchases – BOB TEDESCHI – THE federal government issued new guidelines at the start of 2009 that would allow older borrowers to use reverse mortgages to buy a principal residence. But few lenders were ready to offer this option — until fairly recently.  The problem, said Peter Bell, the executive director of the Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, had been that lenders needed more information from the government about acceptable underwriting procedures.  These details have since been worked out, he said … – NY Times
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has 7 observations: O.C. house price declines getting smaller – posted by Jeff Collins – House prices continue to fall from year-ago levels but the rate of decline is slowing, a possible sign that price drops are approaching bottom, said Santa Ana-based First American CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index. – OC Register

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What was a subprime loan modeled on?  – by Rortybomb – discusses differences of subprime and CRA loans  – Delinquencies Double on Least-Risky Loans, U.S. Says – By Margaret Chadbourn – Delinquency rates on the least-risky mortgages more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier as U.S. efforts to help homeowners failed to keep pace with job losses that pushed more borrowers toward foreclosure.  Prime mortgages 60 days or more past due climbed to 2.9 percent of such loans through March 31 from 1.1 percent at the same point in 2008, – Bloomberg
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1.  Case Shiller Index Falls 18% – By Barry Ritholtz – Home prices continued to decline in April 2009, but at a slightly less bad rate than expected.  Don’t break out the champagne, just yet. … And once the various government stimuli gets withdrawn — very low rates, $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit — we can expect even these weak reports to turn south. … – The Big Picture Blog

2.  Updated: Case-Shiller 100-Year Chart – By Barry Ritholtz – The Big Picture Blog

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another problem for 2005-07 vintages:  Cracked Houses: What the Boom Built – By M.P. MCQUEEN – Robert and Kay Lynn lay in bed shortly after closing on their new home in the Blue Oaks subdivision in Rancho Murieta, Calif., abutting an 18-hole golf course. They were listening to the “pop, pop, pop” of what they thought were acorns falling onto the roof. … “Little did we know it was the house cracking,” says Mrs. Lynn, 67 years old – (This can only hurt appraisals, default rates, and loss severities – thanks X) – Wall Street Journal

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Housing Affordabilty Index: 7.2 Point Drop in May From Rising Home Prices: Market Reached Bottom? – Mark Perry – Carpe Diem Blog

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Home Prices In 2014? Dead Flat From Here – Written by Matthew Hougan – We know that by looking at the new MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up (NYSE: UMM) and MacroShares Major Metro Housing Down (NYSE: DMM) products, which began trading on the New York Stock Exchange this morning. We covered the launch here.  As of 10:02 a.m. EDT this morning, UMM was trading for $20.13 per share and DMM was trading for $30.97 per share. So how does that translate into a flat market over the next five years?
Here’s how the math works:
The new products are designed to provide 300% and -300% of the return of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price 10 Index, the leading measure of national home prices. But they are not designed to track those changes on a day-to-day basis; rather, they are designed to track the total performance change from December 31, 2008, through August 31, 2014. – Index Universe Blog

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Prices in Major Markets Return to 2003 Levels – By DIANA GOLOBAY – Two separate indices calculated by Standard & Poor’s showed house prices in major US metropolitan areas continued to fall in April, although year-on-year declines show signs of slowing.  Both the 10-city and 20-city composite indices have returned to their mid-2003 levels, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, released today. – HousingWire
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FHFA AUTHORIZES FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC TO EXPAND HOME AFFORDABLE REFINANCE PROGRAM TO 125 PERCENT LOAN-TO-VALUE – FHFA.gov