AP - Nationalized mortgage lender Northern Rock said Wednesday that it returned to profit in the second half of 2009 as interest income rose and losses on loans fell.

AP - Commercial mortgages were among the best-performing loans and leases held by banks and thrifts in the fourth quarter of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Tuesday.

AP - Real estate investment trust Glimcher Realty Trust said Monday it has extended and changed its agreement for its $470 million unsecured credit facility with its lenders, including KeyBank National Association and Bank of America NA.

Reuters - The Obama administration has more work to do to help struggling U.S. homeowners, despite signs of a stabilizing housing market, a senior Treasury official said on Monday.

AP - The Treasury Department was forced Friday to reiterate its financial support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after a key lawmaker rattled investors by pointing out that their debt does not enjoy the explicit guarantee of the federal government.

AP - A key lawmaker is working with banks, regulators and the Obama administration on a new way to boost the government's struggling foreclosure prevention effort by encouraging banks to reduce the total amount borrowers owe.

Reuters - U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected during snow-battered February and the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent, bolstering views the economy was on the brink of creating jobs.

Investor's Business Daily - Housing markets rife with foreclosures can still present great deals for investors, but also stiff competition and pitfalls for the inexperienced.

AP - Mortgages rates have dipped below 5 percent again, four weeks before a government program that is helping keep rates low is scheduled to run out.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — California is broke, its 12.1 percent unemployment rate is among the highest in the nation, housing prices have plunged, home foreclosures have skyrocketed and a drought is threatening the state's dwindling water supply. There also are plenty of other issues for would-be U.S. senators to debate, including the battered economy and a massive effort to overhaul the nation's health care system.

Reuters - Two AIG units settled federal charges that they discriminated against black home buyers on fees for mortgages and will pay $7.1 million for restitution and education efforts, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

Reuters - Four top executives of Thornburg Mortgage improperly paid themselves handsome bonuses just before the mortgage lender filed for bankruptcy last year, and stole money and ideas from Thornburg to secretly launch a new firm, the bankruptcy trustee in charge of liquidating the lender alleged in a lawsuit.

AP - Homebuilder KB Home said Thursday that billionaire investor Ron Burkle will not stand for re-election to the company's board at its next annual meeting.

U.S. News & World Report - After its historic decline brought the global economy to its knees, the U.S. housing market is gearing up for a long-awaited recovery. Real estate experts expect home prices to hit bottom in late 2010 or early 2011 before--finally!--heading north again. But what shape will the rebound take? Are we in for another boom? Or will we have to settle for sluggish growth? Here's the outlook for home price appreciation through 2020.

AP - The ratings outlook for building products manufacturer Masco Corp. was lifted Wednesday to "Stable" from "Negative" by both Fitch and Standard & Poor's analysts, a reflection of an improving housing market.

AP - The CEO of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. said a modest surge in foreclosures this year wouldn't have a devastating effect on the homebuilder's sales.

AP - Government-owned mortgage finance company Freddie Mac on Wednesday priced $5.5 billion in three-year reference notes.

Reuters - Low U.S. interest rates were not the sole cause of the housing bubble, a top Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday, adding that ultra-low interest rates are appropriate now.