They keep dropping despite interest rates near zero.

The refinance boom has gone bust.

What further tricks might the Fed have up its sleave?

I suspect they're running out of money and interventionist steam.

Read more on Mortgage Applications Fall 11%…

Despite massive government intervention to subsidize the buying of homes with generous tax credits, applications for mortgages keep dropping. This now includes refinance applications.

All this comes while interest rates are at near record lows.

Read more on Mortgage Applications Drop Again…

Credit rating agencies were spectacularly wrong in the past few years when they tried to assess the worth of mortgage-backed securities.

When thousands of home owners can no longer afford to send in their monthly mortgage payments, all the fancy financial instruments in the world are still going to fail.

Read more on New Regulations To Promote More Accurate Lending Risk…

LAT consumer correspondent David Lazarus claims the housing crisis was caused by banks eagerness to loan money. Now they've turned skinflint.

Well, banks were burned. They were forced by politicians and regulators to lend to a lot of people, particularly minorities, who banks did not regard as good credit risks.

Read more on LAT Astounded By B of A's Refusal To Refinance…

We have the lowest mortgage interest rates in four months, yet there's been a fall in mortgage applications.

The housing market appears nowhere ready to recover from its three-year decline.

Banks own thousands of homes they've foreclosed on that they have yet to bring to market. This is expected to put downward pressure on home prices.

Read more on Mortgage Applications Fall Despite Low Interest Rates…

This program is aimed at borrowers who have not missed a mortgage payment.

It is different from earlier government programs aimed at those who were late on their payments. Those plans offered mortgage modification so people could have lower monthly payments.

Read more on Obama's HARP For Distressed Borrowers…

Mortgage applications are down too.

This is the first time since July that loan requests dropped for the first time six weeks.

The housing market has apparently stabilized after three years of plunging prices. This was the steepest plunge since the Great Depression.

Read more on Mortgage Loan Rates Fall…

Politicians talk a lot about plans to modify mortgages so fewer people default, but these plans depend on so much paperwork, that few people are having success with them.

The Obama administration came up with a $75 billion program to help homeowners adjust down their mortgages so they can stay in their homes, but few people have been able to take advantage.

Read more on Paperwork Avalanche Overwhelms Refinance Applications…

The great refinance boom of 2009 may be over.

Apps are down 8%. Rates are edging lower.

Reuters says:

U.S. mortgage application demand slid to the lowest level since mid-March, driven by a drop in requests to refinance loans even as borrowing costs dipped toward record lows last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.

Read more on Refinance Applications Slump…

This is a solid new book from McGraw-Hill.

I particularly liked the section on the top five borrower blunders:

* Applying for more credit while waiting for your mortgage to close
* Stopping payment to your current lender while you wait for your refinance to close
* Quitting your job. Even if you have taken a new job, if the lender calls the place of employment you listed on your mortgage application and finds you are not there, your mortgage won't close.
* Borrowing your down payment. You'll typically be asked to account for your funds.
* If you get a conditional pre-approval from a lender doesn't mean you can go on a spending spree

Read more on 'American Mortgage' By Trevor Rhodes, CEO of AmerUSA…