Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications climbed last week from a seven-month low, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, adding to emerging signs that the three-year housing market collapse may be abating.

AP - A key industry group on Monday slashed its estimate for mortgage volume by 27 percent because of higher interest rates and the slow start to the government's refinance program.

BusinessWeek Online - The housing crisis is creating ghost towns of once-bustling communities like Merced. In largely abandoned neighborhoods, paved sidewalks and driveways lead to empty lots strewn with utility coils. Unfinished frames with rotting rafters and rusted hinges sit alongside occupied homes. Roughly 40% of the homes in Merced are considered distressed, meaning owners are behind on their mortgage payments or can't make them at all. The toll is expected to rise, even though California extended its moratorium on foreclosures for another 90 days.

AP - If President Barack Obama gets his way, consumers who take out mortgages would automatically get a "plain vanilla" loan — such as a traditional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage — unless they opted for a riskier variety.

AP - Herbert Allison, the former head of troubled mortgage giant Fannie Mae, has been confirmed to oversee the government's $700 billion bank bailout program.

Reuters - The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed Herb Allison, the former chief executive of mortgage finance company Fannie Mae, as assistant Treasury secretary to oversee the government's $700 billion bank bailout fund.

AP - State personal income tax collections dropped 26 percent nationwide through first four months of this year compared with a year ago, putting many states' already-shaky budgets into deeper trouble, a research institute reported.

BusinessWeek Online - The housing crisis is creating ghost towns of once-bustling communities like Merced. In largely abandoned neighborhoods, paved sidewalks and driveways lead to empty lots strewn with utility coils. Unfinished frames with rotting rafters and rusted hinges sit alongside occupied homes. Roughly 40% of the homes in Merced are considered distressed, meaning owners are behind on their mortgage payments or can't make them at all. The toll is expected to rise, even though California extended its moratorium on foreclosures for another 90 days.

AP - The Department of Education has selected student lender Sallie Mae and three other companies to service the $550 billion in outstanding federal student loans and future loans owned by the government.

AP - President Barack Obama's plan to increase oversight of banks and other financial institutions met with skepticism on Capitol Hill on Thursday, where senators sharply questioned whether it was enough to prevent another economic meltdown.