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• Refi-Program Previewers Raise Issues

  Lenders and servicers are grappling with how they might participate in the new housing law's $300 billion refinancing assistance program.

• Agire Finds a Lifeline, and New Line

  A year ago Agire Mortgage Corp. was scrambling to find a new investor, and when it found one, it got a new business line in the bargain.

• New York Counseling Program Gets Big Banks on Board

  A New York program that trains lawyers to provide pro bono counseling to homeowners facing foreclosure has attracted more volunteers than expected.

• W.P. Carey Adds a Broker-Dealer Chief

  W.P. Carey & Co. LLC has announced the hiring of Mark M. Goldberg to be president of its broker-dealer arm, Carey Financial LLC.

• Mortgage Brokerage Reform Measures Are Found Wanting

  New laws and regulations designed to reform the mortgage brokerage industry missed at least two key problems, according to industry observers.

• Seeking More Detail, Trying Other Indexes

  The mortgage industry is looking beyond the two major home price indexes for more granular data to get a handle on where prices are heading in specific markets.

• Wachovia Mortgage Unit to Get Out of 19 States

  Wachovia Corp.'s retreat from mortgages continued last week as the company confirmed plans to shutter mortgage offices and cut jobs in 19 states.

• Fannie Mae to Double Delivery Charge

  Fannie Mae is raising the fees it charges lenders to guarantee mortgages.

• CMBS Issuance Plummets to '96 Levels: Moody's

  First-half issuance of commercial mortgage bonds decreased by 91% from year-ago amounts, according to rating agency.

• Liquidity Shored Up, Ocwen Goes Shopping

  Ocwen Financial Corp. has buttressed its liquidity position and is actively looking to buy servicing portfolios in partnership with private-equity firms and hedge funds.

• Morningstar Taps Global RE, Currency, for New Coverage

  The company announced it has added two new categories and one broad asset class to its proprietary classification system for mutual fund portfolios.

• An Agency Is Born, Agenda at the Ready

  The Federal Housing Finance Agency began life Wednesday with a substantial to-do list.

• Dropping of AMT Expected to Draw Corporate Investors

  The elimination of the alternative-minimum tax for housing bonds is expected to attract corporate investors to the municipal housing bond market and lower borrowing costs for issuers.

• Urdang Hires Executive in Realty Securities

  Urdang has announced the hiring of Liz Conklin as director of operations in its real estate securities group.

• Real Estate Target of New Investment Fund Launches

  A recent spate of fund launches targeting real estate collateral has created buzz in the fund sector.

• Fannie, Freddie Stocks' Slide Persists; Credit, Capital Cited

  Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to tumble on Thursday.

• Countrywide Debt's Status Still Unclear

  Bank of America Corp. has transferred Countrywide Financial Corp.'s debt to an indirect unit owned by the Charlotte company.

• B of A's Lewis: Mending our Mortgage Markets

  Kenneth D. Lewis, the chairman and chief executive of Bank of America Corp., gave his thoughts on the causes for the mortgage meltdown.

• Commercial Mortgage Delinquencies Rising But at a Lower Rate

  The delinquency rate this year is still relatively low compared to historical delinquency rates, said Citigroup analyst Darrell Wheeler.

• Goldman Dour on Commercial Real Estate

  Analyst: Commercial real estate is the next sector to take a dive, negatively impacting the earnings of equity REITs.

• State of Illinois to Sue Countrywide

  The suit will accuse the mortgage lender of deliberately loosening underwriting standards in order to gain market share.

• Putnam Finds Diminishing 401(k) Contributions

  A survey by Putnam Investments has found a troubling trend among 401(k) participants. The tough economic environment is causing them to decrease contribution levels.

• Debt Forgiveness: Ocwen Enters Uncharted Waters

  Servicers begin to forgive some debt for a large number of homeowners—large enough to cost investors in the mortgage pools some money.

• Deconstructing the Commercial Mortgage Market

  As lending slows, borrowers turn to insurers and hedge funds for loans.

• Mortgage Lenders, Brokers Getting Tighter Rules in New York

  New York lawmakers are expected to pass legislation this week that would require stricter underwriting by lenders and force brokers to act in a borrower's best interest.

• IPO Hopes for Invesco REIT

  Maryland-based REIT Invesco Agency Securities filed to go public this week.

• Real Estate Mutual Funds Rise 6%

  As dollar depreciation continues, it comes as no surprise that real estate mutual funds (REMFs) have grown 6% so far this year.

• Is It Time to REIT Rewards?

  Despite the flood of home foreclosures and a 27% drop in the real estate sector between January 2007 and February 2008, REITs appear to be pulling out of the bear cycle. But is it still too soon for investors to jump in?

• REIT Fund Redux

  Mutual funds investing in real estate investment trusts are "clawing their way back after taking a clobbering in the credit crunch last year," according to The Wall Street Journal.

• Slight Uptick in Home Prices, Condos Stagnant

  The latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors ( NAR) shows higher median prices for single-family home in 48 metropolitan areas of the U.S. from a year ago.

• Failure Raises Concerns About CRE

  The failure of ANB Financial, which had the bulk of its lending in the commercial real estate market, may augur more bank collapses.

• REIT in Massachusetts Buy-Lease Deal

  American Realty Capital Trust Inc. has bought 18 branches from Rockland Trust Co. for $33 million and is leasing them back to the Massachusetts bank.

• BlackRock to Buy a UBS Portfolio

  BlackRock Inc.'s deal to buy a portfolio of subprime mortgage debt from UBS AG for $15 billion may have helped set a market-clearing price for such assets.

• KBW Adds Real Estate Group

  KBW Inc. has formed a real estate investment advisory group and hired three investment bankers from Wachovia Securities LLC to staff it.

• Lender Reaps E-Closing Payoff

  AmTrust Bank of Cleveland says that in the past few months it has achieved a critical mass of electronic mortgage closings.

• Sun, Surf and Sales

  Advisors in California find opportunities in the state's flagging housing market.

• S&P Stops Rating Home Equity Loan Bonds

  "We will not issue any new ratings until we are comfortable with the predictability of the performance," agency spokesman tells IDD.

• Two REIT ETFs You May Wish You Owned

  TheStreet.com: REIT ETFs, such as the Vanguard REIT Index ETF and the DJWilshire REIT ETF, saw their prices fall dramatically in 2007, but both ETFs are now enjoying hot streaks.

• Existing-Home Sales Decline, But Prices Show Glimmer of Hope

  The housing market slump persisted in March with dropping sales of existing homes, but there are signs of future stability as the median home price seems to be on the rise.

• Foreclosure Moves Open Gray Area in Preemption

  A fight is brewing over whether and how much national banks and thrifts must comply with state laws designed to delay or prevent foreclosures.

• Multifamily Deals Multiply

  As the pace of commercial real-estate sales slows and financial-market instability persists, deal activity is still thiving in multifamily housing.

• REITs Stage Surprise to the Upside

  Stocks of real-estate investment trusts gained momentum in the first quarter, but this may be temporary as commercial-property values are expected to drop further.

• For Lenders, New Costs to Foreclose

  For some time rising foreclosures have led cities and states to consider ways to slow things down. Now more municipalities are taking a different tack: ramping up the costs associated with holding on to a foreclosed property.

• McCain Unveils New Housing Plan

  Republican presidential nominee John McCain is expected this afternoon to offer a new plan designed to help stem foreclosures.

• Fannie Moves to Facilitate Short Sales of Homes

  Fannie Mae plans to roll out a new program in the next few months to encourage short sales of delinquent borrowers' homes, a move that shows mortgage investors may be willing to make further concessions as housing prices fall and the inventory of foreclosed properties continues to grow.

• Mortgages: Exodus Creates Opportunity

  The credit crisis continues to sap financial institutions' willingness to take on risk and has created a negative view of mortgages among executives, but as consumer lending opportunities shrink across all lines, mortgages are still seen as the best available path to growth.

• Dodd on Stimulus Bill's Strengths, Flaws

  Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd defended the housing stimulus bill Friday, saying he had to compromise to win bipartisan support for the measure.

• Thornburg Infusion Averts Bankruptcy

  Thornburg Mortgage Inc. has staved off possible bankruptcy by raising $1.35 billion from investors.

• GE REIT Picks Chief for Global Division

  GE Real Estate has promoted Joe Parsons to president and chief executive officer of its newly formed global investment management division.

• Realtors Eye Credit Union, CUs See Ally

  Two of the largest lobbying rivals to banks on Capitol Hill — the National Association of Realtors and credit unions — are close to joining forces.

• REIT to Pay Wachovia $100 Million for Branches

  WSJ.com: Banking giant Wachovia Corp. will sell more than 100 vacated bank branches this year to American Realty Capital II LLC, a private real-estate investment trust, for more than $100 million.

• Auspicious Timing for These IPOs?

  WSJ.com: Four real-estate investment funds are planning initial public offerings that are a play on the market for mortgage-backed securities—just as sentiment toward those instruments is souring.

• Activists Come Back to REITs

  WSJ.com: Activist investors, seeking opportunity and advocating for change, have begun jumping back into REIT stocks.

• REIT Index Is Volatile

  WSJ.com: The Dow Jones Equity All REIT Total Return Index has been volatile for most of 2008.

• As Houses Empty, Cities Seek Ways To Fill the Void

  WSJ.com: Cities are scrambling to cope with a surge in vacant homes and abandoned properties in the latest fallout from the mortgage-lending crisis. Nationwide, the homeowner-vacancy rate, which measures the number of vacant homes for sale, rose to 2.8% in the fourth quarter, the Census Bureau recently reported.

• Far East Consortium gets go-ahead for REIT listing

  WSJ.com:  Far East Consortium International Ltd. said its shareholders approved its plan to raise at least HK$4 billion (US$513 million) by spinning off seven hotel assets through a real-estate investment trust. The trust's offering will mark the first REIT listing in Hong Kong after the disappointing debut of RREEF China Commercial Trust last June.

• These REITs Score In Mortgage Malaise

  WSJ.com: Some real-estate investment trusts that invest in mortgage-backed securities are raising billions of dollars through public offerings, despite the problems plaguing the housing and financial sectors.The pace and size of these offerings have grown in recent months—and the stock prices of this select group of companies has kept rising.

• MarketBlog: What REITs Say about Real Estate Values

  WSJ.com: MarketBlog: What REITs Say about Real Estate Values. Herb Greenberg blogs on REITs as a predictor of commercial real estate values.

• REITs Point to Further Decline In Commercial-Property Values

  WSJ.com: Shares of real estate investment trusts have a remarkable track record when it comes to predicting what will happen to the prices of commercial real estate—and they are predicting that prices will continue to fall.

• Financial Advisers Eye International Funds, REITs

  For financial advisers looking to broaden their product menus, recent research says, international mutual funds and real estate investment trusts are the most attractive additions. Bruce Harrington, a managing director at Cogent Research in Cambridge, Mass., said that these and other open-end mutual fund categories have the potential to gain market share within two years.

• Zions to Take $94M 4Q Charge

  Zions Bancorp said Wednesday that it would take a pretax charge of $94 million this quarter because of its exposure to the troubled collateralized debt obligation market.

• Subprime Truths and Consequences

  The continuing credit crunch spotlights the perils of leverage. How should your clients respond?