Some housing bubble news from Wall Street, Washington and beyond. "U.S. home builder Standard Pacific Corp. said new orders in April and May fell 16 percent, citing prolonged weakness in the Florida and Arizona markets. The company's cancellation rate for the period was 28 percent compared with 35 percent a year ago."

"'We think management began to respond with further price cuts in May and will continue to adjust price to improve sales,' Bank of America Securities analyst Daniel Oppenheim wrote. Oppenheim also expected cancellations to worsen, 'as buyers see another round of incentives/price cuts offered by the builders,' he wrote."

The Washington Post. "For the first three months of the year, Reston home builder NVR reported a $12.3 million charge for abandoning projects, up from a charge of $7.2 million for the corresponding period a year ago. For all of 2006, the company recorded charges totaling $174 million, up from $12.6 million in 2005."

"Analysts say NVR may be forced to write off more in the coming months."

"NVR said...it 'experienced a noticeable slowdown in market conditions' in the mid-Atlantic in the first quarter. NVR also reported reduced home buyer traffic and an 11 percent decline in the average sales price for new orders. In the Washington market, prices dropped by 16 percent."

From Reuters. "Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, on Tuesday said it made 15 percent more home loans in May as the pace of refinancings increased, though the foreclosure rate doubled."

"Nonprime loans, including 'subprime,' sank 43 percent. Countrywide said pending foreclosures as a percentage of unpaid principal balances rose to 0.90 percent from 0.45 percent a year earlier, and 0.85 percent in April."

"Foreclosures based on the number of loans serviced rose to 0.71 percent from 0.47 percent a year earlier, and 0.69 percent in April, Countrywide said. Delinquencies rose to 4.71 percent from April's 4.45 percent."

From MarketWatch. "On a consolidated basis, Countrywide funded $2.3 billion in pay-option loans during the month as compared to $6.6 billion in May, 2006."

The Wall Street Journal. "Economists are giving up on the idea that the U.S. housing slump will be quick and relatively painless. Instead, more are concluding, the downturn that began nearly two years ago will last at least through the end of 2007."

"The culprits: a glut of homes for sale and growing caution among lenders who now regret being so free with their mortgages during the boom."

"David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities International Inc., says he is surprised by the degree to which speculation caused builders to overestimate demand, leaving a glut of houses and condominiums."

"Meanwhile, empty houses are multiplying. A recent Merrill Lynch report tallies a record 2.2 million vacant single-family homes and condos for sale nationwide, about one million above the norm."

"Economists at Merrill Lynch admit it is hard to predict how the slump will play out from here. 'We are not sure how deflating a $23 trillion asset class, the value of real-estate assets on the household balance sheet, will end, but we doubt that it will end well,' Merrill economists wrote."

From Dow Jones Newswire. "General Electric Co.'s WMC Mortgage Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co.'s First Franklin Financial Corp. are among the first subprime home lenders to adopt proposed federal guidelines on underwriting low- initial-payment mortgages to people with flawed credit."

"In particular, the guidance calls for lenders to take into account the highest possible monthly payments, as opposed to the initial low payments, when deciding borrowers' ability to repay the loans."

"Analysts at Credit Suisse's asset-backed securities research group recently examined the subprime borrowers who last year took out the loans that have fixed rate for the first two years and then adjusts to market rates. Their conclusion: about a third of them wouldn't have qualified for the loans had the lenders used the fully indexed rate, not the initial 'teaser' rate, in determining the borrowers' repayment ability."

"WMC Mortgage, which adopted the guidance in March, estimates that it will make 50% fewer subprime hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages as a result of the new criteria. 'It will be a redefined business,' said Eugene Ullrich, a spokesman at GE Money."

"The U.S. housing market downturn could linger for years but probably does not pose a major risk to the overall economy, Lehman Brothers' chief global fixed-income strategist said on Monday."

"Lehman's Jack Malvey said the subprime mortgage crisis that blew up in February had not completely played out, and that foreclosures 'are probably going to accelerate.'"

"'The problem will be for all the homeowners who thought they could roll over into another teaser adjustable rate mortgage' but find that credit standards have been tightened, he said."

From CNBC. "I'm blogging to you from the J.P. Morgan Basics and Industrials Conference in mid-town Manhattan, where I've never in my life seen so many freaked out CEOs."

"Here's what the CEO of Ryland Homes said when I asked for a quick interview: 'No, you guys make us look like idiots, absolutely not.' Said the CEO of D.R. Horton, 'NO, not now, not after the presentation, NO.' Said the CEO of Standard Pacific Corp., 'Thanks for asking, uh, I don't think so, no, real busy today, back to back meetings, nope can't do it.'"

"Here I am, standing here with breaking news on foreclosures (thank you RealtyTrac)..up 90% year over year and a staggering 20% month to month jump, and not one of these guys will respond."

"I'm just asking for YOU CEOs to tell me what to say, YOU guys to give me something to put on TV so I don't have to ask another analyst, YOU, who have an open mike whenever you want it...we'll give you 30 seconds full if it's good, hell we begged you to go live), but your lips are sealed. It begs the question: What are you all afraid of?"

"Across the nation, over two dozen states are considering or have passed bills aimed at subprime borrowers who were given loans despite their damaged credit. Mortgage brokers, the agents who connect borrowers with lenders, and other loan vendors are coming under particularly tough scrutiny."

The Boston Herald. "With foreclosures rising across the state, (Massachusetts) Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday unveiled a plan to crack down on the controversial subprime mortgage industry. Patrick called for criminal penalties for mortgage fraud and for a ban on so-called 'foreclosure rescue schemes.'"

"Adjustable-rate deals would be banned for subprime borrowers unless the would-be homebuyers specifically opted out of a fixed-rate loan product."

From Bloomberg. "Banks demanded that Inmobiliaria Colonial SA pay more interest to borrow 7.2 billion euros ($9.7 billion) because of the risk Spain's second-largest developer will be hurt by a slump in property prices."

"'It's being affected by the slowdown in the housing market,' said Roger Ramos, managing director of investment banking at Fortis in Madrid. 'Colonial is a very good company but it's not paying enough given the timing. A year ago, it would have been no problem to syndicate the loan.'"

The Edmonton Journal. "Soaring land values pushed Edmonton's new-housing prices up 40.5 per cent from April 2006 to April 2007, the biggest bump in Canada. Calgary was a distant second place, with prices up 27.4 per cent."

"Michael Mooney, executive director of the Urban Development Institute, Mooney praised city staff for working with industry to streamline the processing of development applications. 'The best way to limit price increases is to increase the supply on the market,' he said."

The Edmonton Sun. "We're into June now with the dog days of summer up ahead. But suddenly there appears to be a chill in the air. And with the Great Alberta Energy Boom hitting the stupid money phase, the discipline of the business cycle couldn't come at a better time."

"The signs of stress started last week when the Realtors Association of Edmonton reported a big buildup of inventory on the resale market last month. Combined with what ComFree Edmonton has on its books, there were over 4,400 properties on the market."

"Last year the real estate board had 2,416 in inventory while ComFree revealed its property listings has jumped 120% from last May's total. So why do so many folks want to dump their property?"

The Leader Post. "Buyers beware: House prices are rising all across the Prairies. The four major cities in Alberta and Saskatchewan saw the largest one-year increase in new home prices over the past year, Statistics Canada said Monday."

"'We're seeing a very strong increase in Saskatchewan and Alberta,' said Randy Sterns, prices analyst with StatsCan. 'Prices are on a significant rise in those cities.'"

"Rising new home prices will further amplify Regina's already tight resale market, Regina realtor Jeremy Cossette said. Buyers now routinely make offers greater than the listed price, yet still miss out on homes."

"'I have buyers who have been looking for several months, and made offers $15,000 to $20,000 above asking and are still looking,' he said."

"Larry Hiles, president of the Regina Regional Economic Development Authority, urged buyers to keep rising prices in perspective. 'What you see is Regina finally starting to catch up with the rest of Canada,' he said."

"U.S. notes extended their declines after the Treasury Department's $8 billion 10-year note sale drew the smallest demand from a group of buyers that includes foreign central banks since March 2006."

"'The U.S. market is part of a global move to higher rates,' said Jay Mueller, who manages about $3 billion of bonds at Wells Fargo Capital Management. 'The momentum has clearly turned negative in the bond market globally.'"

"'Real yields are rising across the board and the U.S. has caught on,' said Brian Brennan, a portfolio manager who helps oversee $11 billion in fixed income at T. Rowe Price Group Inc. 'You have some big players in the market changing their mind' about Fed monetary policy."