U.S. MBA's Mortgage and Refinance Mortgage Applications Fell - 2006-03-22
A gauge of U.S. mortgage applications dropped last week to the lowest level of the year as home buying and mortgage refinance applications fell, a sign housing will be less of a source of strength for the economy. An increase in mortgage rates this year is putting a cap on sales and making it less profitable to refinance current loans.
Read the full story at Bloomberg

Foreclosures chilling many U.S. housing markets - 2006-03-22
The American dream is showing cracks around the edges, and they are deepening. RealtyTrac, a California-based firm that tracks the state of the national housing market, says default notices to bank ownership, i.e., mortgage foreclosures, surged 45 percent in January from the same period a year earlier. There was one new foreclosure for every 1,117 U.S. homes.
Read the full story at Rock River Times