How to Bank On Your Home - 2005-03-19
How huge of a risk do you take—should you take—when you borrow against your home? With prices in most places bounding up, homeowners find themselves sitting on a fat pile of capital (your "home equity"—the cash you'd put in your pocket if you sold the house and paid off the mortgage).

You can borrow whenever you want and expand your payments out for years. At Countrywide, home-equity lending jumped 60 percent from February a year ago, compared with 15.6 percent for other mortgage loans. Wells Fargo reports a 40 percent gain.
Read the full story at Newsweek

A Slowdown in the Homebuilding Sector? - 2005-03-19
One of the huge debates going on in the financial press is whether or not housing is in a speculative "bubble." Opinions vary among the experts and even the ones who have a track record of being mostly correct are divided on this topic.

As investors shifted away from the stock market, they moved into real estate. Fueled by some of the lowest mortgage rates in history and easy qualifying loans, the hysteria to make money by investing in real estate -- especially in the highly cyclical housing markets.
Read the full story at GoldSeek.com