BofA, Chase executives say US housing still fragile

SAN DIEGO - Executives from two of the United States' biggest home mortgage lenders said the nation's housing market is still in a tenuous state despite signs of stability over the summer months.

There are some green shoots ... however, the environment is still relatively fragile, Barbara Desoer, president of Bank of America Corp.'s home loan and insurance unit, said at a meeting of the Mortgage Bankers Association here.

David Lowman, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Chase Home Lending, concurred, noting that delinquency rates remain high with little sign of relief. The peak has yet to come, and the result will be a huge hangover for some time to come, he said.

The result of efforts to stall the crisis in foreclosures, such as modifications of loans to affordable levels, is not yet known, Lowman added.

The modification effort is still wet paint, so we don't know yet how that will play out, he said.