Internet retailer Amazon.com may need to write a new chapter for the Kindle in the face of fierce competition from Apple’s iPad.

Since Apple announced on Jan. 27 that it would sell a versatile tablet computer that lets users read electronic books and perform a range of other computing tasks, analysts have said the iPad would likely take a bite out of sales of dedicated e-book readers such as Amazon’s popular Kindle. In light of Apple’s Apr. 8 announcement that it sold 450,000 iPads in less than a week, Wall Street analysts are already slicing their forecasts for Kindle sales.

Charlie Wolf, a senior analyst at Needham & Co. who has a “buy” rating on Apple shares, on Apr. 9 cut his forecast for Kindle sales this year, settling on a range from 2.5 million to 3 million units, in place of a previous forecast of 3.6 million units. Wolf estimates that Amazon sold 2.2 million Kindles in 2009. “It’s not a compelling product,” he says of the Kindle, because Apple’s iPad offers more features, such as the ability to play video, plus a more compelling design.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who has an “overweight” rating on Amazon shares, cut his 2010 forecast for Kindle sales by 400,000 units, to 3.45 million. Amazon’s top-of-the-line Kindle DX, which is designed to let users read e-books on a black-and-white screen, is selling for $489, just $10 less than Apple’s least-expensive iPad.

The iPad starts at $499 for a model with 16 gigabytes of storage, a color touchscreen, and a library of 60,000 e-books. It also affords users the ability to watch videos, listen to music, and run a wide variety of applications. “No one in their right mind is going to buy a Kindle DX,” says Munster.

Buying or selling a home is among the most stressful experiences in anyone’s life, but it appears that estate agents are not at the heart of the problem.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has given a clean bill of health to the industry, pointing out that satisfaction levels are up.

However, the watchdog has shed light on the increasing influence of the internet on the way we buy and sell homes.

Now it wants to free up businesses that match private buyers and sellers in order to encourage more competition.

What is the future for internet sales?

At present, online services are dominated by the traditional estate agents rather than so-called “introducers”.

These introducers provide a website where buyers and sellers can find a property they like but are then left to conduct negotiations between themselves.

In the US, these currently have 15% of the market compared with only 2% in the UK.

The OFT wants to free them of the burden and cost of some of the regulations that come because each introducer is currently regarded by law as an estate agent.

They could be free from price negotiations and responsibility for ensuring that the property is described properly in an advert.

However, private buyers and sellers should be aware of the greater risks involved. For example, adverts could mislead a potential buyer about the state of a property, or the neighbourhood it is in, because those running the website would not have a legal responsibility to check that the claims are true.

The Commerce Department said housing starts fell 4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 units. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected housing starts to rise to 580,000 units. November’s housing starts were revised upwards to 580,000 units from the previously reported 574,000 units. The drop in housing starts was likely the result of unusually cold weather last month.

Groundbreaking activity dropped a record 38.8% to an all-time low of 553,000 units for the whole of 2009.
Starts for single-family homes fell 6.9% last month to an annual rate of 456,000 units after rising 4.0% in November. Groundbreaking for the volatile multifamily segment rose 12.2% to a 101,000 unit annual pace, after surging 69.8% in November.

Housing is on the mend after a three-year slump and new home construction contributed to economic growth in the third quarter of 2009 for the first time since 2005.

However data such as pending home sales and homebuilder sentiment have hinted at potential weakness in a sector whose collapse triggered the most brutal U.S. recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

New building permits, which give a sense of future home construction, rose 10.9% to 653,000 units last month, the highest since October 2008. That compared to analysts’ forecasts for 590,000 units. For the whole of 2009, permits dropped 36.9%, the department said.

The inventory of total houses under construction dropped 3.8% to a record low of 511,000 units last month, while the total number of permits authorized but not yet started rose 8.4% to 95,800 units.

As confidence in the economic recovery grows, average prices are likely to increase, the real estate agency says.

Royal LePage executive Phil Soper says the real estate market enters 2010 with “considerable momentum from an unusually strong finish to the previous year.”

The stimulus effect of low borrowing costs has contributed to a sharp rise in demand that has driven activity to new highs, he says.

The data backs that up. New data released Thursday from Canada’s largest real estate market, Toronto, showed existing home sales were up a massive 115 per cent, year over year, in December.

Those gains came against a particularly poor showing in December 2008, but the 5,541 sales reported by the Toronto Real Estate Board are the strongest December on record back to 1980, BMO economist Robert Kavcic said in a note to clients on Thursday.

Listings in the city were down 47 per cent, year on year, causing average prices to be pushed up 14 per cent. “Too much (cheap) money chasing too few goods,” Kavcic said.

The average home price in 2009 climbed four per cent to $395,460, the TREB said.

That follows the national trend, according to Royal LePage. House prices appreciated in late 2009, with fourth quarter price averages higher than fourth quarter 2008

A real estate company owner who obtained over $4 million in mortgage loans through fraudulent means has pleaded guilty to his role in the scam. Michael I. Striker of Minnetonka, Minn., was the president and sole owner of U.S. Equities of Minnesota, a real estate company that entered into 21 real estate loans with Associated Bank from March 2003 to September 2003, according to Frank J. Magill, U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota. A co-defendant was a construction loan officer at the bank who processed and approved the loans, which totaled more than $4 million. Striker admitted those loans were approved based on false and misleading information he submitted. In total, Striker obtained more than $724,000 in cash back at the closings on the loans. Although the loans were purported to be for construction rehab projects, Striker admitted he used some of the loan funds for unrelated expenses and debts. Furthermore, Striker paid more than $100,000 in brokerage fees to a mortgage brokerage company even though it did not broker any of the loans. U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen will determine his sentence at a future date.

AARMR Vendor Awards Partner Firms August 13, 2009

ComplianceEase has awarded four technology partners its highest certification level in recognition of their ability to help their customers prepare loan data for transmission electronically to state regulators through RegulatorConnect.org, the ComplianceEase automated compliance system selected by the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators to help improve oversight of the mortgage business. Lender Processing Services, Lender Support Systems, Mortgage Banking Systems and ProLender Solutions received the Platinum Partner Certifications at AARMR’s annual conference in Savannah, Ga. Compliance Ease, a provider of compliance and risk management tools, introduced the certification program earlier this year to help lenders adapt to the new automated residential mortgage examination initiatives introduced by AARMR and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. The certification requires recipients to provide its users with secure, one-click export of 100% of the loan information necessary for the examinations while also offering up-to-date, seamless loan-level compliance audits through Compliance Analyzer, another ComplianceEase platform.
SAFE Act Adopted in 48 States August 13, 2009

In what is being hailed as practically warp speed for legislation, all but two states have now acted to implement provisions of the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act. Signed by President Bush on July 30, 2008, the SAFE Act gave states one year to pass laws requiring the licensing of loan originators according to national standards and start participating in the National Mortgage Licensing System. As of Aug. 8, 48 states and the District of Columbia have done so. California is expected to comply this month or next, leaving Minnesota as the lone holdout. The states have been aggressive, Bill Matthews, president of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors’ subsidiary which runs the NMLS, said at the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators’ annual conference in Savannah, Ga. “You tell me anytime in history that all states have acted so quickly? This is a huge lift,” he said. AARMR Secretary Rod Carnes of North Carolina’s Department of Banking and Finance, agreed: “I think this speaks volumes for the states.” Mr. Matthews said CSBS is now in the process of adding “functionality” to meet the SAFE Act’s other requirements, including a streamlined renewal component and consumer access.

Two Are Convicted in Fraud Scheme But One May Appeal August 12, 2009

A federal jury has convicted Lila Rizk of Trabuco Canyon and Kyle Grasso, formerly of Santa Monica, of conspiracy, bank fraud and loan fraud charges for their roles in a scheme that led to more than $40 million in losses at federally insured depositories. According to a report in The Orange County Register, Grasso, a real estate agent, also was convicted of three counts of money laundering. The duo were part of a scheme that obtained inflated mortgage loans on luxury houses, with Grasso earning commissions and other payments and Rizk, an appraiser, earning fees. Donald Marks, an attorney for Rizk with Marks & Brooklier in Century City, said, “We are very disappointed in the jury verdict. We think our case was very defensible. We think we raised reasonable doubt, and we think she is not guilty. We will continue fighting on her behalf.” Mr. Marks said he would appeal the verdict. A lawyer for Grasso was not immediately available for comment. Eight others involved previously pleaded guilty.
Sentencing Pending for Former Judge After Guilty Plea August 12, 2009

A former Florida appeals court judge who pleaded guilty to defrauding a bank that loaned him money to purchase a residence in Hawaii is awaiting assignment of a sentencing date. According to A. Brian Albritton, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Thomas E. Stringer of Tampa pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud before Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo. Stringer falsified his mortgage application for the residence by claiming that he had borrowed none of the money he was using for the downpayment, when in fact he had borrowed funds from a third party. The U.S. intends to seek forfeiture of $222,362, the amount of the proceeds from the fraud. A sentencing date has not been set.

Consent Order for Allied August 11, 2009

Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp., Houston, has entered into a consent order with the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance over allegations it transacted business in the state with a person who was unlicensed or unregistered. Back in June, the Department sought to revoke Allied’s license and served cease and desist orders on company co-owners Jim Hodge and Kathy Hodge. This consent order settles those charges. The order calls on Allied to provide “an appropriate level of supervision” to its employees, perform background checks on new employees no later than 10 days after hiring and give $1,000 to State Registry LLC, to support the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. State Registry LLC is a subsidiary of the Council of State Bank Supervisors, which operates NMLS along with the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators. A call to Allied for comment was not returned by press time.

Colonial Faces Justice Department Criminal Probe August 7, 2009

Colonial BancGroup Inc. said it is the target of a U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigation relating to its mortgage warehouse lending business. The Montgomery, Ala., company said it is cooperating with the investigation which concerns accounting irregularities on more than one year’s audited financial statements and regulatory financial reports. The company also revealed it has provided documents to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the Securities and Exchange Commission. A Justice Department spokesman said the agency is not commenting on Colonial. Colonial also said its bank subsidiary received notice that the Alabama State Banking Board will meet on Aug. 12 at which time Colonial Bank will be asked to consent to the appointment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver or conservator if and when the state regulator deems necessary. This news wraps a bad week for Colonial as it reported the death of its recapitalization deal with Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, a $606 million second quarter loss, and a raid by the TARP IG on its warehouse office in Orlando as well as the abrupt closing of TBW.

Missouri Couple Admit to Mortgage Scheme August 6, 2009

Joseph Silvestro and his wife Julie Silvestro pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith to their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme. According to Matt J. Whitworth, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri, the Silvestros defrauded mortgage lenders by obtaining larger loans from lenders than the actual sale price associated with a particular property. These loans were based on material false and fraudulent representations, and by concealing material facts. The Silvestros arranged for mortgage documents that often included payment of fictitious and fraudulent invoices to their company, Taylor Investments, as part of the settlement statement. The plea agreements cite three properties — two in Kansas City, Mo., and one in Kansas City, Kans. — in which the Silvestros fraudulently claimed invoices for Taylor Investments, ranging from $20,000 to $37,000. The government believes that the loss attributed to the Silvestros totaled more than $567,000, though the defendants have reserved the right to contest the amount of loss at their sentencing hearings, which will be scheduled after the United States Probation Office completes its pre-sentence investigation. Under federal statutes, the Silvestros are each subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution.
Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud August 5, 2009

Robert Ratkovich of New Castle, Pa., pleaded guilty before Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond in federal court to fraud and money laundering charges connected to his scheme to defraud a bank and affordable housing entity. The board of directors of Affordable Housing of Lawrence County hired Ratkovich as a consultant to advise the board of which properties that it should purchase and at what price, according to Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Rather than do a diligent search, Ratkovich advised the board to purchase seven properties that were all owned or associated with an individual known to the U.S. attorney. To purchase the properties, Affordable Housing of Lawrence County received a loan from First Commonwealth bank to finance the purchase. Ratkovich and others allegedly made misrepresentations to First Commonwealth Bank regarding the financial status of Affordable Housing of Lawrence County and submitted fraudulently inflated appraisals. Judge Diamond scheduled sentencing for Oct. 28.

Two California Men Sentenced for Real Estate Fraud August 5, 2009

Howard Edwards and John Foster, both formerly of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., were sentenced to 20 years, four months in prison and 10 years, four months in prison, respectively, for real estate fraud crimes. The two defendants befriended unsuspecting victims on an Internet chat line. Their personal information was used to obtain loans on luxury cars and real estate in Fontana, Calif. The victims were then liable for these loans. The loan proceeds were transferred to a phony escrow company. The defendants falsified several real estate deeds and forged the signatures and stamps of several notary publics. The defendants then sold a house in Gardena, Calif., without the owner’s permission and knowledge for an additional $560,000. The victims, who had been living at the residence since 1971, first found out about it when a lending institution attempted to foreclose on the property. The defendants used the personal information of a man living in Massachusetts to obtain the loans. Edwards and Foster were extradited from Georgia and Illinois, respectively, in 2008. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit investigated, prosecuted and provided the information about this case.

The U.S. central bank also kept its benchmark short-term interest rate steady near zero and said it would likely stay there for an extended period to guide the way to recovery.

The Fed made its clearest statement to date that it sees the recession nearing an end and that shattered financial markets are healing.

“Information since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June suggests economic activity is leveling out,” the Fed said, referring to its policy-setting panel. “Conditions in financial markets have improved in recent weeks.”

It is the first time since August 2008 that the committee’s statement has not characterized the economy as contracting, weakening, or slowing.

Many peg the onset of the crisis to French bank BNP Paribas’ move in August 2007 to freeze funds because of problems with U.S. subprime mortgages. In the months that followed, the U.S. economy toppled into the most damaging financial crisis and painful recession in decades, and the economic malaise spread around the world.

“They see the worst with the economy is behind us but they don’t want to jump the gun and pull back quickly,” said Craig Thomas, a senior economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh.

The Fed cautioned that the economy remains fragile as employers continue to cut jobs and businesses trim investment.

U.S. Treasury prices fell after the Fed statement in apparent disappointment that the Fed did not increase the amount of debt that it plans to buy but subsequently regained some ground.

However, major U.S. stock indexes flirted with 10-month highs and the U.S. dollar rose against the yen.

The Fed cut interest rates to a range of between zero and 0.25 percent in December and pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into financial markets to stimulate economic activity in aggressive efforts to thwart the recession.

President Barack Obama’s ability to implement his health care and environmental reforms partly depend on his administration’s ability to turn the economy around with a controversial $787-billion economic stimulus package.

The recession has seen tax revenues fall and spending rise, leading to a record federal budget deficit expected to top $1.84 trillion in the current fiscal year.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s own renomination hopes for a second term have a lot riding on his ability to restore growth and jobs after the Fed’s role in controversial financial rescues and after questions about why the Fed did not spot the gathering storm earlier and take steps to prevent it.

Recent reports imply that the economy may be coming out of its swoon and that job losses, which have topped 6 million since the recession began in December 2007, may be moderating.

Still, the Fed renewed its warning that economic activity is likely to stay soft for “a time.” Household spending, while stabilizing, is still weak as a result of the grim labor market and tight credit, the Fed said.

To quell worries the Fed’s bloated balance sheet may sow the seeds of dangerous inflation once the recovery gains traction, Bernanke has taken pains to explain the Fed has tools to pull money out of the financial system to prevent price pressures from building.

Some analysts also worry the Fed’s easy money policies are setting the stage for another asset bubble, just as an extended period of low rates in the early part of the decade encouraged the housing boom that triggered the crisis.

The central bank cautiously moved to pull back some of that help for the economy on Wednesday, signaling it would slowly phase out a program to buy $300 billion in longer-term Treasuries by the end of October.

“To promote a smooth transition in markets as these purchases of Treasury securities are completed, the committee has decided to gradually slow the pace of these transactions

and anticipates that the full amount will be purchased by the end of October,” the Fed said.

The Fed launched the debt-buying program in March when it had already chopped interest rates to zero but wanted to open the money taps even wider to support the struggling economy. Treasury purchases were scheduled to expire in September.

The Fed’s decision to refrain from expanding its bond buying while standing pat on rates contrasts with approaches taken by other central banks around the world faced different stages of economic and financial stabilization.

The Bank of England stunned markets last week by expanding its program of bond purchases by a much larger amount than expected, saying the recession deeper than it had forecast.

Warnings from the experts that inflation will increase rapidly, forcing interest rates to rise and in turn pushing up the cost of borrowing, have become a familiar refrain.

However, homeowners on low variable-rate deals may be comforted to know that even some of Britain’s top economists do not see the value in switching to a fix.

With the Bank of England widely expected to leave official interest rates on hold at 0.5% for the fifth month in a row on Thursday, The Sunday Times asked leading economists what they do with their mortgages.

Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, and Simon Rubinsohn of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors were among those on variable deals, which rise and fall in line with Bank rate — yet neither had any intention of fixing.

Not everyone was happy to tell us about their own finances — economists at Nationwide, Standard Life Investments, Deutsche Bank and Collins Stewart, for example, were unable to take part.

Our survey found that those wanting to buy now had slightly different views from homeowners on super-low trackers.

Those looking to remortgage may have missed the cheapest deals, for now, though those who are buying still prefer to fix, according to Mark Harris of Savills Private Finance, the independent mortgage broker.

Bank of England data last week showed that the average five-year fixed-rate mortgage for borrowers with a 25% deposit rose 0.61 percentage points in June to 5.54%, adding £1,220 to the cost of a new £200,000 loan. Mortgage rates for two-year and three-year fixes also rose significantly. Here, we look at what the experts are doing with their mortgages.

Stuart Thomson, Ignis Asset Management Thomson, an economist at Ignis — the Glasgow-based fund management firm formerly known as Resolution Asset Management — argues strongly that deflation is a bigger threat than inflation. Interest-rate rises are therefore “very far in the distant future”, he said, adding that he will be paying his lenders’ standard variable rate (SVR) for the foreseeable future on his three mortgages.

For his main home in Glasgow, he took out one of Halifax’s two-year fixes in 2006, but is now paying its SVR of 3.5%. While this is not the lowest rate available — HSBC offers a two-year tracker at 2.49% — he said that HSBC’s £799 arrangement fee would wipe out much of the savings from switching.

He is doing even better on his two buy-to-lets, with Mortgage Express, the broker-only arm of Bradford & Bingley, which has been government-owned since September.

He is paying an SVR of only 1.75% over Bank rate, or 2.25%, so the rental income on the properties, in the prime London areas of Fulham and Clapham, comfortably covers his entire mortgage repayments.

He said: “Fixed-rate loans have already priced in substantial interest-rate rises over the next two years — you are paying an awful lot for that insurance unless you believe interest rates are going to rise even more rapidly, which we don’t.”

Simon Rubinsohn, Rics Rubinsohn, Rics’ chief economist, believes rates will rise, but not by very much. He took out a current account mortgage — similar to an offset — with Royal Bank of Scotland when he bought his house in north London in spring 2005. The arrangement allows him to put the interest earned on his savings toward reducing the interest on his loan. He said: “I think rates may go up a bit, but the outlook is pretty benign. We don’t expect rates to rise until 2010 and then by only half a percentage point.”

Peter Spencer, Ernst & Young Item Club Spencer is the chief economic adviser to the respected independent economic forecasting group. Spencer was fortunate enough to take out a Bank rate tracker with a margin close to 0.5% above Bank rate. He hopes to pay off his mortgage soon.

The Item Club believes that Bank rate will stay at 0.5% until the end of 2010.

Spencer said: “Inflation will be pinned to the floor by the weight of the profit margins banks are charging on the cost of loans. The spreads banks are charging for fixed-rate loans are scandalous.”

James Butterfill, HSBC Private Bank Butterfill, an economist, sold his home in London last summer and had been renting while he waited for property prices to hit bottom — which he believes they now have. Last week, he bought a house in Clapham.

HSBC’s, rather than the Bank of England’s, view is that house prices will be “stagnant” for the next year-and-a-half, but Butterfill decided to buy now to take advantage of cheap mortgage rates. He secured a three-year fix from the Royal Bank of Scotland at 3.95%.

For buyers, there is not much between three-year fixes and trackers — indeed, the best long-term tracker is only slightly cheaper than Butterfill’s fix, at 2.99% from HSBC.

Butterfill concedes that a three-year term is a bit of a “gamble” as the view is that this is precisely when inflation will rise. He said: “Inflation expectations depend on good central bank policy. I am gambling on the fact that the Bank of England does not make policy errors. Then, hopefully, I can cherry-pick from some more attractive mortgages in three years’ time.”

Martin Ellis, Halifax Ellis took out a tracker four years ago and while he anticipates Bank rate will rise to 1% in 2010, runaway inflation is “a long way off” — if it occurs at all. “I think it’s going to be some time before rates rise much beyond that,” he said. “We’ve seen some pretty bad economic figures recently and we are expecting sluggish growth for some time.

Sandy Hutchens is watching the markets and is not pleased to see such uncertainty from the borrowers.

“I do have a concern about money for loan modifications, particularly with such a high range of re-default,” Reich told participants at a conference in Washington organized by the Office of Thrift Supervision. “Focusing on job creation is a better way to focus federal dollars than on a loan modification process may be only partially effective.”

Reich’s statement clashed with Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chairwoman Sheila Bair over the best way to use government funds to end the financial crisis.

Reich’s comments were focused, in part, on Bair’s controversial proposal that would use $24.4 billion of a $700 billion government bank bailout program to modify loans. Bair argues that her proposal, which isn’t supported by outgoing Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, could avert 1.5 million foreclosures. Reich also referred to a job creation stimulus proposal put forward by President-elect Barack Obama.

Reich told MarketWatch that use of government capital to buy large minority stakes in U.S. savings and loan banks is working, but that it is too early to get a sense of how much lending participating institutions are doing.

To back his argument, Reich pointed to statistics released Monday by the Office of Comptroller of the Currency director John Dugan showing a high re-default rate on mortgages that have been modified in the first two quarters of 2008.

“The results were surprising, and not in a good way,” Dugan told a gathering in Washington at the Office of Thrift Supervision’s annual conference.

According to the OCC statistics, which looked at loans modified in the first quarter and second quarter of 2008, 36% of borrowers had re-defaulted by being more than 30 days past due and after six months, the rate was roughly 56%. After eight months, 58% of borrowers had re-defaulted.

The OCC tracked the number of borrowers that re-defaulted on their mortgages after the modification was completed. Dugan acknowledged that not all re-defaulted mortgages go to foreclosure, but he argued that the number was very high. Dugan said he was not sure why there was such a high level of re-default, pointing out that it may be because the modifications were not low enough to be affordable.

Bair contended that the statistics provided by Dugan did not provide enough details about the circumstances surrounding mortgage re-defaults such as whether a borrower’s income has been verified or not. She argued that even with the statistics, a large number of modified mortgages have not led to foreclosure.

“Without more data about whether it was a meaningful reduction in the rate, it’s not clear how successful the modification is,” Bair said. “We do need more detailed reports and more granulated reporting.”

Other bank regulators argued that the government should employ an all encompassing approach that includes a jobs stimulus package, a capital purchase plan for financial institutions and mortgage modification. “I suspect there isn’t any one approach that is clearly superior to any other approach,” said Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald Kohn. “These problems are pervasive enough that we need to focus on a number of different fronts.”

President-elect Barack Obama said on Saturday that he wants to create millions of jobs by investing in a huge new national program to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.

Dugan agreed that across the board approach should be used. He added that Bair and others should use the statistics the OCC produces to develop a successful loan modification program for 2009.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank reiterated Monday that he wants part of the $360 billion left in the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program to be used to help modify loans.

“The singular latest failure of public policy is to do significant foreclosure relief,” said Frank. “Principle reduction has got to be one of the things we do. There still is money left in the TARP.”

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today revealed that the number of mortgages approved for house purchase soared 23% in June, compared with May.

The rise is the fifth consecutive monthly increase and represents the highest level for a year.

According to the CML, 45,000 home loans were granted during the month – just 6% lower than June 2008 and is certain to fuel hopes of a recovery in the housing market.

However, the group cautions that the level is far from a return to the housing boom and first-time buyers still need an average deposit of 25% in order to secure a mortgage.

First-time buyers were granted 17,200 loans during the month, totalling £1.9 billion – more than a quarter on the previous month.

CML economist Paul Samter comments: “Low interest rates and realistic selling prices have helped generate a welcome increase in transactions. But there is some way to go before we reach normal levels of activity.”

“There are tentative signs that lending criteria are easing, but remortgaging demand is likely to remain subdued whilst interest rates stay at current levels,” adds Mr Samter.

Meanwhile, the number of loans for remortgaging rose by 13% compared with May. Record low interest rates are “dampening” the demand for remortgaging, according to the CML.

In other news today, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said house prices will rise over the next few months due to a shortage of homes for sale.

According to Rics, part of the renewed optimism within the housing market comes as a result of demand from new buyers outstripping supply.

The organisation said just 8% more surveyors reported seeing price falls than those who said the cost of homes increased – this represents the lowest figure for two years.

Furthermore, 29% of surveyors predicted sales levels would rise going forward.

However, Jeremy Leaf of Rics, cautions: “Although demand for property is continuing to rebound, it still remains low from a historical perspective.”