Beazer posts $123 million in losses as backlog persists

Beazer Homes USA Inc. posted quarterly losses of $123 million as the builder wrote down the value of unsold homes, abandoned land option contracts and totaled up goodwill impairments.

Pretax charges on inventory impairments totaled $113.9 million, the company said, and charges related to abandoned land options were $44.8 million.  more...

SEC blesses workouts on securitized loans

The Securities and Exchange Commission says lenders don't have to put mortgage loans they hold through securitization trusts back on their balance sheets if the trusts that service the loans engage in workouts with troubled borrowers.

The SEC's opinion -- on an accounting rule that governs the terms under which lenders can move loans off their books, allowing them to make still more loans -- may help some borrowers avoid foreclosure.  more...

D.R. Horton reports quarterly loss

D.R.  more...

Mortgage rates fall on housing concerns

Long-term mortgage rates dropped this week as concerns over the housing market's recovery intensified, Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com reported in separate surveys.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sank to an average 6.69 percent from last week's 6.73 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 6.37 percent from 6.38 percent.  more...

New-home sales tumble 22% in June

Sales of new single-family homes weakened in June as the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate fell to 834,000 units, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Last month's sales rate is down approximately 6.6 percent from the revised May rate of 893,000 and is approximately 22.3 percent below the 1.07 million-unit rate a year ago.

The median sales price of new houses sold in June was $237,900, a decrease of approximately 2.2 percent from $243,200 posted a year ago.  more...

Real estate rates barely move overnight

Long-term mortgage interest rates barely moved Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell slightly to 4.9 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average edged down slightly at 6.28 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate dipped at 5.96 percent. The 1-year adjustable dipped to 5.55 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was unchanged at 5.03 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states.  more...

Multifamily housing starts up 40% in June

A 40 percent jump in multifamily housing construction starts from May to June helped residential building grow 4 percent for the month, to an annual rate of $283.4 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction Research & Analytics.  more...