Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. Bloomberg, "St. Joe Co., Florida's largest private landowner, plans to eliminate more than 75 percent of its workforce, sell about 100,000 acres of land and scrap its dividend to contend with the worst housing slump in 16 years. 'This is not a fire sale,' CEO Peter Rummell said today on a conference call. 'We are not dumping stuff on the market and we are not going to make stupid decisions but there are things that we believe have reached their height in pricing.'"

"'We're not selling land now,' Rummell said. 'We're carving it out and identifying it and we'll sell at an appropriate price at an appropriate time. We have been able to articulate 100,000 acres that we think over a reasonable time frame is close to its reasonable value and based on pure economics it doesn't make sense to hold on to.'"

The Financial Times. "JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are expected to reveal losses of about $3bn on holdings of mortgage securities and leveraged loans when they report third-quarter results this month."

"This would take to more than $20bn the total writedowns announced by the world’s leading banks as a result of the credit market turmoil over the summer."

"JPMorgan is likely to unveil mark-to-market losses on leveraged loans of about $1.4bn, in line with those reported by Citigroup last week, according to Howard Mason, analyst at Sanford Bernstein. He estimates it will suffer a further $700m of writedowns on mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, for a total of $2.1bn."

"For Bank of America, he estimates leveraged loan losses will be $700m and the mortgage writedowns $300m. Merrill Lynch last week said it had suffered $5bn losses. UBS said it had $3.7bn of writedowns, Deutsche Bank $3.1bn and Citigroup $2.7bn."

"ANZ, the Australian bank, has decided against selling its wholesale mortgage distribution business, saying on Monday that it had struggled to attract a fair price for the division due to the volatility in global debt markets."

"While the failure to sell the business will have a negligible impact on ANZ’s bottom line, the move highlights the continuing fallout the US subprime lending crisis is having on the Australian market."

"A key stumbling block to the sale of the business was finding a buyer willing to take on Origin’s existing loan book, which stood at A$5.7bn and NZ$1bn in July."

"ANZ’s decision follows Westpac’s deal last week to buy Rams Home Loans, the troubled local mortgage lender, and comes as at least two other non-bank lenders have decided to postpone tentative plans to list on the local market."

"'ANZ has a clear view on the fair value of the Origin business and an acceptable price is unlikely in today’s volatile markets,' the bank said."

The New York Times. "In May 2005, NYSE Magazine featured an article titled 'American Dream Builder' – a glowing profile of Angelo Mozilo, the chairman and CEO of Countrywide Financial, the nation's largest mortgage lender."

"The article portrayed Mr. Mozilo as a heckuva guy, a man from a humble background determined to help other people, especially members of minority groups, achieve the American dream of homeownership."

"These days, of course, Mr. Mozilo doesn't look like such a wonderful guy, after all. So far, nobody has accused Mr. Mozilo of breaking the law. Still, what we're learning from the housing mess is that the crisis of corporate governance, which made headlines in the early years of this decade, never went away."

"As The New York Times' Gretchen Morgenson reported in August, Countrywide often led customers to 'high-cost and sometimes unfavorable loans' that, among other things, generated 'outsize fees to company affiliates providing services on the loans.'"

"Countrywide made more questionable loans than anyone else – and its postbubble behavior does stand out. As Ms. Morgenson reported in Sunday's Times, Countrywide seems peculiarly unwilling to work out deals that might let borrowers hold on to their homes, even when such a deal, by avoiding the costs of foreclosure, would actually work to the benefit of both sides."

"Why block mutually beneficial deals? Countrywide can make money from the fees it charges on foreclosures, while the losses from mortgages that could have been saved, but weren't, are borne by others."

"The U.S. housing bust is like a leaking ship. Will the home market continue to sink or is it just bobbing around waiting for buyers to rescue it?"

"In August, housing prices posted their biggest drop in almost 40 years and pending sales fell the most on record. New- home sales declined to a seven-year low. There are more than 5 million homes sitting unsold."

"The behavioral economics of this market are tugging buyers to the sidelines for now. And with the possibility of 2 million more homes coming on the market due to foreclosures, the supply is outpacing demand."

"Mass psychology anchored home buyers to the myth that homes were endlessly appreciating wealth vehicles. Now the sentiment has shifted."

"As Yale University economist Robert Shiller wrote in a recent paper, home buyers fell prey to a 'social epidemic' and a 'widespread perception that houses are a great investment.'"

"Shiller found that 'residential investment as a percentage of gross domestic product has had a prominent peak before almost every recession since 1950.'"

"In the last quarter of 2005, he notes, home investment rose to 6.3 percent of GDP, 'the highest level since 1950.'"

"Will this downturn be like the 15 percent decline between the third quarter of 1989 to the fourth quarter of 1996 or the 42 percent rout in Los Angeles between December 1989 to March 1997?"

The Palm Beach Post. "The worst housing slump in 16 years has produced a subprime mortgage meltdown, widespread layoffs and record foreclosures. It also has produced Larry Leggett, a Vero Beach homeowner who wants to make his monthly payment — he just doesn't know where to send it."

"That's because HomeBanc, his mortgage company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August. As of Thursday, the only thing he had received was a form letter...and this: 'As a reminder, effective Oct. 1, 2007, all checks will be made payable to the new mortgage company that will service your loan. If you have any questions about this transfer, please contact your new lender on all matters concerning your loan.'"

"Unfortunately, HomeBanc didn't tell him who his new lender is. Or how to contact it. Or where to send his mortgage payment. So Leggett called its Palm Beach Gardens office. No answer. 'It didn't even ring,' he said."

"'I've got really good credit, and I don't want to damage it,' he said. 'It seems very weak for these large banks to expect everyone to chase them around to learn where to send money.'"

"Accounts said Freddie Mac wanted a $1 billion slice of HomeBanc's loan portfolio. Others said Countrywide was the new lender."

"Leggett tried to reach his mortgage broker, his builder and even his homeowners association. He left a message on the HomeBanc director's cellphone."

"He did hear from Chase again, speaking at length with Audie King, who 'explained a few things, none of which put us at ease,' he said. 'We are not comfortable just sending Chase a check,' Leggett said. 'If they truly had control of our title, wouldn't they be notifying us?'"

"That's what Chase is doing. 'We will be sending welcome letters to homeowners whose loans we will be servicing,' Tom Kelly said by e-mail."

"Leggett is waiting. 'We were making it through this horrible, tough time,' he said, 'and then this happens. I am just trying to make my payment.'"