MORTGAGE

The CEO of a New York commercial mortgage company sold his personal condo at 15 Central Park West, one of the most expensive buildings in the world, for $23.3 million, according to city records filed Friday.

With a fairly light data day heading into the weekend, the focus of markets thus far has been macroeconomic commentary

U.S. mortgages rates have dropped to record lows for four consecutive weeks, but that doesn't mean more homes will be sold. In fact, at least one housing expert argues that extremely low rates are causing banks to be even more stringent with underwriting approvals, turning away more prospective buyers and hurting the national housing market.

U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rates dropped to 3.78 percent in the week ending May 24, down slightly from 3.79 percent in the previous week, mortgage financier Freddie Mac said Thursday.

Spain may say on Wednesday how it will plug a hole of at least 8 billion euros ($10.21 billion) at Bankia, part of an effort to clean up a banking sector laden with bad debts and stop the country sinking further into the euro zone debt crisis.

U.S. home resales rose in April to their highest annual rate in nearly two years and a falloff in foreclosures pushed prices higher, hopeful signs for the country's economic recovery.

While global leaders obsess over the likelihood of debt-stricken Greece departing the euro zone, an emerald isle 1,800 miles away from Athens may be on the brink of needing another financial bailout.

Home prices in China fell in April, indicating that the government's efforts to curb the property market boom are gaining further momentum.

U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hit a new record low for the third straight week as concerns over the euro zone weighed on the economy, mortgage financier Freddie Mac said Thursday.

He's also lowered the asking price for his home.

U.S. builders began work on more homes than expected in April, government figures showed on Wednesday. But the data suggested that builders might also be slowing their future construction plans.

The annual shareholder's meeting Tuesday of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), widely expected to feature fiery denunciations of leaders at the nation's biggest bank, could hardly have been quieter or more management-friendly.

During a Tuesday morning appearance on the talk show The View, President Obama attributed JPMorgan's $2 billion trading loss to a lack of financial regulation.

Homebuilder confidence in the U.S. single-family home market rose to a five-year high in May as buyer traffic increased and sales improved, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Tuesday.

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Melissa Gorga might not be so real after all. RadarOnline.com reported that Melissa and Joe Gorga are selling their enormous mansion in New Jersey because they cannot afford to make the mortgage payments on the home.

Ally Financial Inc's Residential Capital unit is nearing a bankruptcy filing, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday, in a move that could help the taxpayer-owned auto lender to shed its troubled mortgage business but also spur drawn-out legal fights.

Ally Financial Inc's Residential Capital unit is nearing a bankruptcy filing, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday, in a move that could help the taxpayer-owned auto lender shed its troubled mortgage business but also spur drawn-out legal fights.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Friday were The Hackett Group, Inc., Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., Multimedia Games Holding Company, Inc., Leap Wireless International, Inc. and XOMA Corporation. The top after-market NASDAQ losers were: American Capital Mortgage Investment Corp, Brightpoint Inc., magicJack VocalTec Ltd., Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (EXXI) and JetBlue Airways Corporation.

Hong Kong's economy slowed down in the first quarter compared to the last quarter of the previous year as exports dipped with soft global demand.

Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC), the second-largest U.S. mortgage guarantor, said Thursday it was appointing Donald Layton, the former head of E*Trade as its CEO.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking via teleconference to a Chicago bankers' conference, took an uncharacteristic swipe at community banks on Thursday, suggesting that those institutions might not be as sure-footed as their balance sheets would have them appear.