Foreclosures are soaring in California with 473,652 foreclosed homes and thousands more nearing foreclosure. California continues to have the highest number of foreclosures regardless of the government intervention loan modification programs.

The 2 most frequent questions I am asked by prospective borrowers are what is your rate and where do I think mortgage rates are going? Because interest rates are a constantly moving commodity, my answer today may not hold true tomorrow. My best indicator of future mortgage rates is to look at the past.

Today Bank of America and Citigroup made news by reporting some healthy profits. Bank of America reported a $3.2 billion profit for the second quarter. Citigroup said it earned $4.3 billion during the same period. This follows other good news earlier this week issued by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase. This may not be good news for current mortgage rates.

While the past couple days have seen a slight increase in current mortgage rates, mainly due to stronger than expected wholesale inflation reading in the Producer Price Index and better than expected retail sales reports, interest rates are still at historic lows and refinance applications have increased.

Buried on page two of the Money and Investing section of the WSJ is a very interesting article that highlights one of the few reasons why I believe a true recovery in the US economy is far off. Option ARM (or "pick-a-pay") default rates are now surpassing those of subprime.

The FBI's new mortgage fraud report shows an estimated increase of 36% in mortgage fraud during 2008.

Poor jobs reports are bad for those out of work. However, for those looking for a mortgage, bad news equals good news, as Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage report notes that current mortgage interest rates have dropped in the wake of labor market worries.

Homegrown Evolution published a very interesting real estate related story on one of the surprising benefits of the housing meltdown: fresh fruit. That’s right. The blog thanks Mr. Mozilo for creating our very own ‘Banana Republic’ as rundown homes and unmanned irrigation systems create the perfect environment for the growth of amazing tropical delights

Last week, U.S. mortgage rates were mixed, in terms of rise / fall. The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose still further above 5%, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage rates, while other rates dropped, or rose, unevenly.

The percent of mortgages 30 days or more overdue rose to 8.49% in May according to LPS Applied Analytics, setting a new record. Rising unemployment rates are fueling these delinquencies, and complicating the problem of preventing foreclosures.