Home loan troubles break records again (AP)
AP - More than 4 million American homeowners with a mortgage, a record 9 percent, were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of June, as damage from the housing crisis worsened, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday. More »
Home foreclosures reach record high (Reuters)
Reuters - Home foreclosures and the rate of homes entering foreclosure rose to record highs in the second quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Friday. More »
Rangel had no-interest mortgage more than 10 years (AP)
AP - Rep. Charles Rangel paid no mortgage interest on a beach resort property for more than 10 years, a lawyer for the powerful House committee chairman said Friday. More »
Columbia Bancorp to close mortgage business, cut jobs (Reuters)
Reuters - Columbia Bancorp , the holding company for Columbia River Bank, said it plans to close its mortgage banking division, affecting about 39 jobs, as it strives to cut costs amid a difficult mortgage market. More »
Home Builders Led ETFs During Aug. (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - Last year's weakest sectors reversed course to become the strongest ETF performers in August. Precious metals and other commodities melted down as the dollar gained strength against other major currencies, which lessened the appeal of hard assets as a hedge on the greenback. More »
Corporate Relocations Hindered By Slumping Housing Market (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - The rough housing market is sending parts of corporate America into fits trying to hire, relocate and manage workers. It's spurring a change in methods. More »
FBI arrests ex-Credit Suisse broker (Reuters)
Reuters - An indicted former Credit Suisse broker was in U.S. custody on Thursday to face charges over deceptive sales of subprime-related auction-rate debt, the FBI said. More »
Hovnanian, Toll Brothers post quarterly losses (Reuters)
Reuters - Two large U.S. home builders posted quarterly losses amid the steep U.S. housing decline, but Hovnanian Enterprises Inc's results were far worse than Wall Street expected, while Toll Brothers Inc's loss was half what analysts had anticipated. More »
30-year mortgages dip slightly to 6.35 percent (AP)
AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a third straight week, dropping to the lowest level since mid-July. More »
Toll Brothers posts 3Q loss as revenue falls (AP)
AP - Toll Brothers Inc. said Thursday it swung to a loss in its fiscal third quarter as weak demand for new homes forced the luxury builder to mark down the value of its land and unsold homes. More »
Toll Brothers posts net loss; sees Q4 revenue below Q3 (Reuters)
Reuters - Luxury home builder Toll Brothers swung to a third-quarter net loss, hurt by write-downs and weakened demand in most markets amid the nation's housing slump, and forecast sequentially lower revenue in the fourth quarter on higher costs. More »
New York foreclosures up; Miami, LA market better (Reuters)
Reuters - New York home foreclosures rose in August from July, signaling a potential drop in prices, but the Los Angeles and Miami markets showed a slight improvement, real estate research website PropertyShark.com said on Wednesday. More »
Hovnanian reports deeper quarterly loss (Reuters)
Reuters - Hovnanian Enterprises Inc reported a deeper quarterly loss that lagged Wall Street estimates, hurt by record foreclosures and poor consumer confidence, sending its shares down more than 4 percent. More »
Egyptian tycoon charged with murder
Egyptian real estate tycoon Hisham Talaat Mustafa was charged on Tuesday with paying $2m for the brutal killing of Lebanese pop singer Suzanne Tamim in a Dubai flat in July. Tamim, 30, was stabbed several times and her throat cut, allegedly by a retired policeman paid by Mustafa. Mustafa runs the Talaat Mustafa Group real estate conglomerate, worth several billion dollars. He is also a stalwart of the ruling National Democratic Party and member of the Shura Council Egypt's upper house of parliament. More »
GMAC slashing work force, reduces mortgage lending (AP)
AP - Lender GMAC Financial Services said Wednesday it will close all of its 200 retail offices and lay off about 5,000 employees as part of plan to reduce its mortgage lending and servicing operations because of the housing market downturn. More »
2 brokers accused of $1B subprime fraud (AP)
AP - Federal prosecutors and regulators on Wednesday accused two former Wall Street brokers of defrauding customers by making more than $1 billion in unauthorized purchases of securities tied to subprime mortgages. More »
Ex-Credit Suisse brokers accused in ARS scheme (Reuters)
Reuters - Two former Credit Suisse brokers were charged on Wednesday with fraud and conspiracy over deceptive sales of subprime-related auction-rate debt, government officials said, part of an industrywide probe of the securities. More »
GMAC to cut 5,000 jobs at ResCap mortgage unit (Reuters)
Reuters - GMAC LLC said on Wednesday it plans to cut 5,000 jobs at its Residential Capital LLC mortgage unit, or 60 percent of that work force, and shut its 200 GMAC Mortgage retail offices to combat persistently weak housing and credit markets. More »
US charges 2 Credit Suisse brokers in bln-dlr subprime fraud (AFP)
AFP - Two Credit Suisse brokers were indicted on fraud charges Wednesday in connection with more than one billion dollars in unauthorized purchases of subprime-related securities, authorities said. More »
US names 2 Credit Suisse brokers in bln-dlr subprime fraud (AFP)
AFP - US regulators filed civil fraud charges against two Credit Suisse brokers, alleging they made more than one billion dollars in unauthorized purchases of subprime-related securities. More »
UPDATED: Landers Purchases Three Harley-Davidson Dealerships
Little Rock's RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Partnership is adding a motorcycle franchise to its stable of auto dealerships. More »
Fed Forum Survey Shows Pessimism About Area's Economy
Attendees at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Economic Forum at Little Rock displayed pessimism about the area's economy in survey responses. More »
Ad Agencies' Work Shifting To Internet
Arkansas' advertising industry has experienced its lumps during the past year, but agencies report a good year overall. The Internet is becoming a bigger part of business too. More »
Cold Storage Red Hot With $7 Million Sale (Real Deals)
A look at important real estate transactions for the week of September 1, 2008. More »
No Grass Under Whitbeck's Feet
You probably know that Man Industries (India) Ltd. acquired 155 acres to develop a $100 million pipe plant near the Little Rock Port Industrial Park. Did you know that 72 acres of that was acquired from an entity solely owned by former Little Rock insurance exec Frank B. Whitbeck? More »