How Much Can You Afford?

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Gary Stern said Wednesday that now is not an "appropriate time" to close government-sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Speaking on Bloomberg Television, Stern said it is "important" for Fannie and Freddie to function and that they should be re-oriented towards lower income buyers.

While the U.S is currently in the midst of the largest bout of home foreclosures in at least 30 years, at least one economist says two more 'waves' are likely on the way.

Patrick Newport, a housing economist at Global Insight, said the next round of foreclosures could come over the next several months as a result of...

Commercial real estate prices continued falling in June, according to the Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Indices (CPPI), which recorded a 3.3% monthly decline, marking a 9.6% decrease from year-ago levels.

Mortgage interest rates for the week ended August 14 as reported from data collected by Freddie Mac from its Primary Mortgage Market Survey drifted in a very narrow range as they have done for most of 2008.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 15 on Wednesday...

A leading indicator for the U.S. commercial real estate market continued decelerating for the fourth consecutive quarter on Wednesday, according to the National Association of Realtors, who also said that commercial real estate activity would weaken over the next six to nine months.

Canadian retail sales followed by the U.S. Department of Energy's weekly oil inventories will hold the focus of Wednesday's news releases on what is shaping up to be a mild day of economic news for North America. At midday, markets will also be paying attention to the Bank of Canada selling C$3.6 billion in two-year notes.

Last week former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan strongl y criticized the form of the Congressionally mandated Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae "backstop" program and a survey by the Wall Street Journal found that a small majority of economists involved thought the bailout of the two government sponsored entities (GSEs) would ultimately be invoked, handing taxpayers responsibility for their $5.2 trillion debt.

Meanwhile, more voices were added to the chorus of experts and pundits predicting that government intervention will be required.

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker (non-voter) said the Fed should not wait too long for a rate hike.

The Richmond Fed President said inflation will slow if oil prices drop. He added that inflation is still a "risky situation," and that keeping inflation in check requires a tight monetary policy...

The Federal Reserve must be prepared to take action and curb inflation if slowing growth doesn't moderate prices as expected, said the most hawkish member of the FOMC on Tuesday.

U.S. government-backed mortgage finance company Freddie Mac caused ripples through the debt market on Tuesday after weak results in a $3 billion, 5-year note auction.

The reference note sold for 113.0 basis points above the 5-year Treasury benchmark. Before the auction, the 5-year spread was 105 bps.