AFP - The US Treasury said Thursday it would extend guarantees to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through 2012 to allow the government-sponsored mortgage finance giants to weather any new crisis.

Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications nudged higher last week, data from an industry group reported on Wednesday, as consumers showed a subdued reaction to the lowest interest rates in six months.

U.S. News & World Report - Even as the U.S. economy expanded in the third quarter, the nation’s eroding labor market sent the mortgage delinquency rate to new heights and created fresh headaches for the Obama administration.

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U.S. News & World Report - Even as the housing market continues to stagger, foreclosure filings in October declined for the third month in a row. Foreclosure filings were reported on 332,292 properties last month, or 3 percent fewer than September’s tally, real estate firm RealtyTrac said today

Reuters - The Obama administration is facing stepped up pressure to provide more details about its efforts to help struggling homeowners stay in their homes.

U.S. News & World Report - A recent report by a congressional oversight panel highlighted the changing nature of the housing crisis by suggesting that the Obama administration’s sweeping anti-foreclosure initiative might not be suited to address the mortgage delinquency epidemic as it exists today

Reuters - On the surface, a glimmer of confidence is returning to the battered U.S. housing market, after more than three years of gut-wrenching defaults, price slumps and foreclosures.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s efforts to force the modifications of distressed mortgages, while laudable, is likely to fall far short because the foreclosure crisis has grown and threatens to dwarf government efforts to relieve it, a special congressional watchdog panel warned in a report released Friday.

Reuters - The lowest mortgage rates in 3 months had U.S. consumers clamoring for home loans last week even as the government said on Wednesday it expected millions more foreclosures