Some housing bubble reports from Wall Street and Washington. "M.D.C. Holdings Inc. reported third-quarter net income fell 60% as profit margins narrowed in more competitive markets and home orders plunged 40% from a year earlier. The 'operating environment in most markets became increasingly competitive in the face of continued expansion of unsold new and existing home inventories,' said CEO Larry A. Mizel."

"Margins thinned particularly in California, Nevada and Virginia, M.D.C. said. In the third quarter the company said it booked pre-tax charges of $29.4 million for inventory impairments and project cost write-offs."

"'Builder concessions and incentives continue to rise,' said CEO Mizel. 'Confronted with expanding inventories and increased uncertainty, many buyers displayed a wait-and-see approach to purchasing a new home.'"

"'M.D.C. said home orders in the third quarter fell 40% to 2,120 from 3,551 in the year-earlier period. The cancellation rate jumped to 48.5% from 25.7%."

"'We expect cancellations to remain high as long as home prices deteriorate,' wrote Banc of America Securities analyst Daniel Oppenheim. 'We believe land impairments will likely continue and increase from the $19.9 million charge in [the third quarter] due to the relatively young age and geographic concentration in stretched markets of the company's lots supply,' he added."

"Homebuilder Technical Olympic USA, Inc. reported consolidated net sales orders of 1,470 for the quarter ended September 30, 2006, a 19% decrease from the.. quarter ended September 30, 2005. Joint venture net sales orders for the third quarter of 2006 were 125, an 86% decrease the third quarter of 2005."

"TOUSA's consolidated cancellation rate was 33% for the third quarter of 2006 compared to 20% for the third quarter of 2005. TOUSA's combined cancellation rate for the third quarter of 2006 was 44% compared to 18% for the third quarter of 2005."

"The Company anticipates a pre-tax charge in the range of $35 million to $48 million for the third quarter of 2006 related to land deposit write-offs and asset impairment charges."

"HomeBanc Corp., which invests in and originates residential mortgage loans, on Friday forecast a wider-than-expected loss for its third quarter, saying rising interest rates hurt loan originations."

"The company, which saw a 28 percent decline in loan originations from a year ago, said its HomeBanc Mortgage Corp. unit cut general and administrative staff by 8 percent, or total associates by 4 percent. 'The by-product of the industry downturn is overcapacity, margin compression and aggressive credit practices,' HomeBanc CEO Patrick Flood said."

"Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, on Tuesday said..loans fell 22 percent from a year earlier to $115.1 billion, as rising home prices and higher interest rates led to a drop in borrowing demand."

"It may buy back up to $2.5 billion of stock, and intends to buy back $1 billion to $2 billion this quarter by issuing hybrid securities. Countrywide is cutting jobs and expenses to reduce its cost base by more than $500 million annually by year end. "

"'The mortgage market is on track for pretty significant year-on-year declines, and that's sharply at odds with the capacity that Countrywide has built up,' Robert Lacoursiere, an analyst at Banc of America Securities in New York, said. 'They've signaled they're in a relative retreat.' Countrywide's mortgage-banking profit declined 40 percent."

"Popular new mortgage products that have helped fuel the U.S. housing boom will soon lead to more delinquencies and foreclosures as rates are reset, the chiefs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Monday. Next year, a trillion dollars worth of mortgages will have their rates reset, said Dan Mudd, CEO of Fannie Mae. That's a significant share of $9 trillion in mortgages outstanding, he said."

"The danger of mortgage rate resets have emerged along with 'all of the innovation that has gone on in the market,' Mudd said. 'I would be the first to argue for that innovation,' Mudd said, but he cautioned that a wave of mortgage resets could be disruptive."

"One excess of the housing boom has been a glut of financing filtered through new mortgage products, said Richard Syron, Freddie Mac's CEO. 'There is too much capital chasing too little profit,' he said. 'We're all getting squeezed out on the risk curve.'"

"Syron foresaw 'a pretty tough correction' for housing after 'coming off probably the best 10, 15 years in the mortgage industry in the world.'"

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Up to 4% of America's mortgaged homeowners might lose their homes to foreclosure in coming months, one of the nation's largest lenders predicted Monday, as those homeowners find themselves trapped by heavy debt and the housing slump."

"'This downturn is going to be tougher because we've been though an unprecedented period' of good times, Michael Perry, CEO of Indymac Bank of California. told about 6,000 Mortgage Bankers Association conventioneers."

"A media firestorm is ahead, he warned, and one target is the newer, more aggressive lending practices that lenders call 'exotic' or 'non-traditional.'"

"Other speakers agreed that the next year or two could be rough for borrowers and lenders alike. 'It's going to be a fairly tough correction,' said Dick Syron, CEO of Freddie Mac. 'There's going to be a lot of heat about this, a lot of noise.'"

"That's because the damages could be enormous, said Daniel H. Mudd, CEO of Fannie Mae in Washington, the nation's largest mortgage financier. 'Getting more people into homes is a good thing,' Mudd said, 'but it's not entirely clear that everyone knew what they were getting into

From Forbes. "Two years ago, specialty mortgages were all the rage. Today, the financial grim reaper is at hand. Hundreds of billions of dollars in adjustable-rate mortgages that were underwritten in the first wave of the trend will get kicked up."

"As credit counselor Suzanne Boas put it, 'Instead of a homebuyer, you became a home speculator.'"