As loonie surges, Canadians snap up US homes

CHANDLER, Ariz. - Two hours after his flight landed in Phoenix, Calgary resident Doug Farley already was cruising the city's vast stuccoed suburbs in search of the one attraction Canadians cannot seem to get enough of these days: cheap homes.

There are thousands of them here: almost new, unoccupied and dropping in value. The mortgage meltdown, combined with a surging Canadian currency, has Farley — and many of his countrymen — dreaming of winter golf on grass that's always green.

"My dollar's the same as your dollar, finally," Farley said, grinning as he peered through a pool fence at a sparsely populated condominium complex in Chandler, a Phoenix suburb.

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source: msnbc.msn.com

Fed to propose new rules for mortgage lenders

WASHINGTON - People taking out home mortgages may gain new protections soon against shady lending practices as the Federal Reserve seeks to back even the riskiest borrowers, already hit hardest by the housing and credit crunches.

Rules expected to be proposed Tuesday would apply to loans made by all types of lenders, including banks and brokers. The plan from the Fed, which has regulatory powers over the nation's financial system, could be finalized next year. The effective date would be know then.

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source: msn.com

No housing bubble popped in Ohio, Michigan

DETROIT - Michigan and Ohio share something with Florida and California — some of the nation's highest rates of foreclosed homes and delinquent mortgages. But the reasons for their woes are as different as their climates.

Battered by a declining manufacturing base, stagnant population growth and low demand for housing, Michigan and Ohio rank No. 1 and 2 on mortgage finance company Fannie Mae's list of states with the largest credit losses through Sept. 30.

Fannie Mae, which finances or guarantees one of every five home loans in the United States, listed losses — loans written off as having no chance of being recovered — of $185 million for Michigan and $101 million for Ohio — two similar states in many respects with strong ties to the auto industry. By contrast, California saw $30 million; Florida, $21 million.

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source: msn.com

Homebuilder sentiment stays at record low

WASHINGTON - Confidence among homebuilders in the United States remained at a record low for the third straight month in December, a trade group reported Monday.

The National Association of Home Builders said its housing market index, which gauges builders' perceptions of conditions and expectations for home sales over the next six months, came in at 19 in December. The number was at the lowest level since the index began in January 1985.

Index readings higher than 50 indicate positive sentiment. The seasonally adjusted index has been below 50 since May 2006, and declined for eight straight months this year, and has been unchanged since October.

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source: msn.com

Paulson rules out bailout for mortgage crisis

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration reacted coolly Monday to a suggestion from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that the government should consider bolder efforts to deal with the current mortgage crisis.

Asked about Greenspan's suggestion that perhaps public money should be used to help struggling homeowners, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the administration remained opposed to any type of government bailout.

"I don't think what we need is a big government bailout right now," Paulson said in an interview on Fox Business News. "I think what we need is to help the markets work the way they're intended to work and avoid those foreclosures that are preventable."

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source: msn.com