G-7 Nations Pledge to Steady Markets

The real estate downturn and loose lending standards have left many homeowners in Southeastern Massachusetts and around the country owing more for their mortgage than their house is worth.

In Brockton's 02302 ZIP code, about 36 percent of homes bought last year are underwater, according to figures provided by online real estate service Zillow.com.

In the city's 02301 ZIP code, 25 percent are underwater, or are worth less than the mortgages on their properties.

In Whitman the scenario afflicts 30 percent of homes bought last year, while in East Taunton it's 29 percent and in Bridgewater it's 24 percent.

Falling home values can be a fatal blow for homeowners who are struggling to meet their monthly mortgage payments, MassHousing spokesman Tom Farmer said. read more

Foreclosures nearly double from year ago: report

WESTPAC is planning a major relaunch of the RAMS home loans brand after yesterday putting in place a new $500 million funding package that allows its franchisees to keep writing mortgages.

The completion of the new financing arrangement is part of the countdown to the bank taking control of the RAMS name and its ongoing business in the wake of the non-bank lender's crippling financial problems, which emerged during the global liquidity crisis in August.

Any new loans written from last Thursday by the company's 53 franchisees, who operate 92 branches under the RAMS name, become the responsibility of Westpac. The bank has since signed up all of the franchisees to give the brand a new start after summer.

The franchisees will continue to work with the RAMS management team, under chief executive Greg Kolivos, which is moving over to Westpac and will operate the company as a stand-alone business from January 4. read more

Carbon risk could melt markets

Remember the ownership society, fixture of major George W. Bush addresses for the first four years of his presidency? We're creating…an ownership society in this country, where more Americans than ever will be able to open up their door where they live and say, welcome to my house, welcome to my piece of property, Bush said in October 2004. Washington think-tanker Grover Norquist predicted that the ownership society would be Bush's greatest legacy, remembered long after people can no longer pronounce or spell Fallujah. Yet in Bush's final State of the Union address, the once-ubiquitous phrase was conspicuously absent. And little wonder: rather than its proud father, Bush has turned out to be the ownership society's undertaker.

Well before the ownership society had a neat label, its creation was central to the success of the right-wing economic revolution around the world. read more