Consumers are having a tough time qualifying for a mortgage these days, and even a federal program designed to provide financing for low- and moderate-income borrowers is winnowing out applicants with low credit scores.

Americans who are able to buy homes are putting down payments of more than 12% on average, a survey from mortgage lead generator LendingTree found this month.

Holiday retail sales gave the National Association of Credit Management's (NACM) Credit Managers' Index (CMI) a boost to a high not seen since May, but it remained below year-ago levels as many companies, including some in the mortgage space, are still in distress.

Investors behind three CDOs – Cedarwoods CRE CDO III, Concord Real Estate CDO 2006-1 and Resource Real Estate Funding CDO 2006-1 – filed a lawsuit this week to block a junior lender from exercising the fair value purchase option on the $150 million defaulted loan secured by JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa securitized in CSMC 2007-TFLA, according to a New York court filing.

Mickael Le Gargasson, Societe Generale’s director of acquisition and leveraged finance for the Asia Pacific region has left the firm, according to reports.

Pending home sales surged 7.3% to a reading of 100.1 in November, its highest level in 19 months, from an unrevised 10.4% increase to 93.3 in October, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.

Average weekly fixed rates for mortgages inched up a bit but still are ending the year near their all-time historic lows, according to Freddie Mac.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to implement a congressionally mandated increase in their loan guarantee fees on April 1.

Hannover Re Group executive board member Wolf Becke will retiring after 20 years of serving on the board.

Morrison & Foerster has been appointed as legal counsel for the European DataWarehouse (ED), the Eurosystem-endorsed data repository that will facilitate the storage and dissemination of ABS loan-level data.

There is little risk of a negative impact on CMBS from the closure of 100 to 120 Sears and Kmart stores under the U.S. Sears Holdings Corp., according to a Fitch Ratings report.