MORTGAGE

Demand for U.S. home loans slipped last week even as mortgage rates hovered near record lows, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

General Growth Properties , the giant mall operator that filed for bankruptcy in April, said on Thursday it reached an agreement with lenders that extends maturities on 70 loans and enables the lenders to get their money back.

U.S. mortgage delinquency rates and the percentage of loans that entered the foreclosure process jumped in the third quarter, with both reaching record highs, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday.

The Federal Reserve Board said on Monday it approved an interim final rule requiring that consumers be notified when their mortgage loan has been sold or transferred.

U.S. mall owner Developers Diversified Realty Corp snapped a dry spell of nearly a year and a half by selling $400 million of new commercial mortgage bonds on Monday, with help from an emergency Federal Reserve lending program.

Refinancing drove total U.S. mortgage applications higher last week as fixed borrowing costs fell further below 5 percent, but home purchase demand sank to a nine-year low, an industry group said on Thursday.

About 20 percent of struggling U.S. homeowners eligible for loan workouts have entered into a trial modification, but it is unclear how many of them will be able to keep the lower payments permanently, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday.

Home values in the United States stabilized in the third quarter and fewer mortgages were underwater, but impending foreclosures could threaten to delay a housing market recovery, real estate website Zillow.com said on Monday.

The joint venture that borrowed heavily to buy Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in 2006 could be among the first to take advantage of changes in U.S. tax law that let borrowers seek payment relief, when it said last week that it could not keep paying interest on a $3 billion loan.

U.S. mortgage rates fell below 5 percent for the first time in three weeks, a key level that may boost home loan demand and help the hard-hit housing market recover, a closely watched mortgage survey showed Thursday.

GMAC Financial Services, a lender that has received $12.5 billion in government bailouts, posted a third straight quarterly loss on Wednesday, hurt by red ink in its mortgage business.

Home equity lenders faced with losses from the U.S. property slump are holding out for more money in distressed sales, slowing transactions needed to support a recovery, real estate agents and analysts say.

GMAC Financial Services, a lender that has received $12.5 billion in government bailouts, posted a third straight quarterly loss on Wednesday, hurt by red ink in its mortgage business.

The U.S. labor market showed signs of improvement in October with fewer planned layoffs and private job cuts, though investors are waiting for Friday's government data for a confirmation of the trend.

U.S. mortgage applications rose for the first time in four weeks, reflecting a jump in demand for home refinancing loans as interest rates on 30-year loans dropped below 5 percent, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.

News, details on bond issues in the European market on Tuesday:

Executives do not expect the U.S. commercial real estate market to emerge from critical condition any time soon, according to a survey by The Real Estate Roundtable.

U.S. mortgage rates held steady just above 5 percent in the latest week after mixed signals on the health of the housing market, Freddie Mac said on Thursday.

U.S. mortgage rates held steady just above 5 percent in the latest week after mixed signals on the health of the housing market, Freddie Mac (FRE.N) said on Thursday.

U.S. home loan demand slid for the third straight week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, with purchase applications the weakest since mid-May and refinancing requests at a two-month low.

U.S. mortgage defaults ebbed in some hard-hit cities in the third quarter, but unemployment created new trouble spots as foreclosures set a record in the quarter, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Wednesday.