Peter Wallison from the American Enterprise Institute and a well-known advocate of GSE reform, wrote an op-ed piece for thd Wall Street Journal that deserves your read. Highlights: Fannie and Freddie are using the recent market stumble to argue that allowing them to buy and hold more mortgages in their portfolios would “add capital” to the mortgage [...]

Fremont General Corp. said today that an expected purchase by a investor group led by Gerald J. Ford in its Fremont Investment & Loan subsidiary may fall through, a sign that even lenders who have ditched subprime are facing some difficulties. Fremont exited the subprime mortgage business in March after receiving a cease-and-desist order from [...]

Credit Suisse said today that it will cut approximately 150 jobs in its mortgage-backed securities unit amid continued weakness in the subprime mortgage sector. Via Bloomberg: Credit Suisse Group will cut about 150 jobs, the latest global securities firm to reduce staff in response to the fallout from rising defaults in the U.S. subprime mortgage market. Switzerland’s [...]

Lennar Sees Worst Loss in Over 50 Years: Lennar Homes yesterday reported a shocking $514 million loss for its third quarter, ended August 31. That’s a loss of $3.25 per share, when analysts has expected losses equaling roughly 55 cents per share — not surprisingly, the home builder said it’s got some laying off to [...]

In an SEC filing this morning, H&R Block — parent of troubled subprime lender Option One Mortgage Company — said it had drawn $250 million against an available $2.0 billion in credit, and cited instability in the commercial paper market as they key reason for the draw. From the filing (emphasis added): On September 24, 2007, BFC [...]

Via the Associated Press wire: Private equity firm Lone Star Fund V said Monday it has extended its tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. The tender offer is available until 12:00 a.m. Oct. 5. As of Sept. 21, Lone Star had already received about 19.1 million, or 76 [...]

(September 25, 2007) — The National Association of Mortgage Professionals, Inc. said it has launched a free help line designed to help consumers with mortgage-related questions.

The National Association of Realtors released its existing-home sales report today, which showed a 4.3 percent drop in total existing home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.50 million units in August from a level of 5.75 million in July. The August number is 12.8 percent below the 6.31 million-unit pace recorded in [...]

First American LoanPerformance said today that it will launch its own home price index, called TrueStandings. The new index will compete with other housing indices, including the S&P/Case-Shiller as well as Freddie Mac’s own HPI. From the press release, an overview of the index: TrueStandings HPI incorporates more than 30 years of repeat sales transactions representing more [...]

In a new report released today, Moody’s Investors Service said that it expects rated financial guaranty insurance companies to be able to ride out the subprime mortgage storm. Citing credit enhancement levels exceeding currently projected losses, Moody’s said the “risks presented by the direct insurance of subprime RMBS transactions will likely be well contained.” Moody’s [...]