Update: Foreclosures -- and bailout pressure -- rising

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News item: ‘U.S. home foreclosures and the rate of homes entering the foreclosure process rose to record highs in the fourth quarter led by failing subprime loans, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.’

More, from Reuters via CNBC: ‘A record 0.83 percent of U.S. loans were entering the foreclosure process in the last three months of 2007 compared to 0.54 percent in the same time a year earlier.’

Update: The New York Times reports, ‘The latest data is expected to put further pressure on policy makers and the mortgage industry to move faster to contain losses and help more homeowners. In recent days, regulators and lawmakers have begun suggesting that the federal government might need to take a more interventionist role in the mortgage business.’

Another update: Click here to view the latest installment of LA foreclosure listings -- and price discounts from previous sales prices.

Thornburg Mortgage, meantime, was trading at levels indicating a growing expectation of bankruptcy. Shares were down 56% this morning (no, that’s not over some recent period of time; that’s down 56% this morning), to $1.48. Thornburg was a $27 stock in July.

One sign of stability, though, also from Reuters: ‘The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in January, held steady at 85.9. Economists were expecting pending home sales -- which are a key gauge of future home sales activity -- to fall by 1.0 percent.’ NAR says this is consistent with a stabilizing of the national market this spring, leading to a recovery in the second half of the year.

Before you laugh and sputter and spit out your coffee and mock NAR economist Lawrence Yun, do remember the NAR is not talking about Palmdale or the San Fernando Valley; they’re talking about national trends and statistics. OK, now that you have considered that, feel free to lay into Larry.

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