Freddie Macs (NYSE:FRE) weekly rate report says a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.97 percent in the week ending March 3, down from 5.05 percent the previous week. On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported pending sales of existing homes fell 7.6 percent in January from the previous month, although pending sales of existing homes were up 8.8 percent from January 2009. The expanded home-buyer tax credit, which now includes more than first-time buyers, covers purchases signed by April 30 and closed by June 30.

The credit is $8,000 for first-time buyers, and as much as $6,500 for repeat buyers who meet certain qualifications. In the Charlotte market, the number of homes sold increased 8.3 percent to 1,363 in January from a year earlier, according to the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association. The average list price of houses sold in January was $229,214, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier. [Read the full article]

Americas housing crisis has not gone away. If anything, it is getting more severe. Today, median single family house prices nationwide are down by slightly more than 30 per cent from their early 2006 peak. Fusion IQ, the research group, estimates that excess inventories will push prices down by a further 10 per cent. This is a critical issue because home equity was for years the largest asset on the balance sheet of the average American family. The sheer number of empty homes overhanging the residential property market points to lower prices. There are an estimated 7m homes empty today, and an estimated 7.7m houses and condominiums behind on their mortgage payments. This is tantamount to a shadow inventory. More than 4m of those are now delinquent and going through some form of foreclosure or related procedures that will put them on the market in the next year or two. Fannie Mae 90-day delinquency rate is now roughly 5.5 per cent, double that of a year ago. [Read the full article]

Welcome to the fourth quarter 2009 Cohen Company Inc. earning conference call. (Operator Instructions) Before we begin, the company has asked to me read the following statement. You are cautioned that many statements during the call are forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions regarding the economy and financial markets and that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties as set forth in our earnings release and our SEC filings. Please read the statement in today release regarding forward-looking statement information. I would now like to hand the call over to your host for today call, Mr. Daniel Cohen, Chairman and CEO. Welcome everybody to Cohen & Company first quarterly investors call. With me are Chris Ricciardi, President and Joe Pooler, our Chief Financial Officer. 2009 was a transition year for the company as we built a significant platform in the debt capital markets business which Chris will describe. Our platform is now robust. [Read the full article]

FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair is looking through rose-colored glasses -- Bair says, “After three long and difficult years for housing and mortgage finance, I think we're seeing some progress in stabilizing our housing markets.” She cited the improvement in the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which I say is set to decline again.She talks about rising home affordability, based on lower prices and low interest rates. While this may be true, mortgage rates aren't low enough for most to refinance, home prices are still 50% above the levels of 1999, and property taxes are up as is home insurance rates.Then she takes off the rose-colored glasses to state that problem mortgages and long-term stability of the housing markets aren't out of the woods. “Problem mortgages continued to grow through year-end, while new sources of credit distress have emerged. [Read the full article]