Wednesday's Personal Finance stories - Marketwatch

Posted: 19 May 2010 01:08 PM PDT

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By MarketWatch

Don't miss these top stories:

Whither the housing market?

Foreclosures hit a record high in the first quarter, but do you see that light at the end of the tunnel? Late-payment rates seem to be declining.

The problem is delinquency rates are declining thanks to seasonal factors, but look at the data on a seasonally adjusted basis and those late payments are still marching higher. So will the drop in late payments stick, or vanish as the seasons change?

As Greg McBride, Bankrate's senior financial analyst says in Amy Hoak's story today on the foreclosure report, "The jury is still out as to whether we're going to see a sustained decline in delinquencies."

As for foreclosures, "a backlog of seriously delinquent borrowers, plus the added impact of strategic defaulters and borrowers falling out of the modification program all represent future foreclosure inventory waiting for a time to happen," McBride said.

So much for that light.

Read Hoak's story today for more, plus don't miss Jennifer Waters's Consumer Confidential column on all the risks that come with those credit-card rewards programs, and see how the bank-reform bill might affect your pocketbook, all on today's Personal Finance pages.

-- Andrea Coombes, Personal Finance editor

REAL ESTATE

Foreclosures hit record high as late payments wane

The percentage of loans in foreclosure or with at least one payment past due was a non-seasonally-adjusted 14.01% in the first quarter, down from 15.02% in the fourth quarter of 2009, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.
See story on foreclosures hit record high as late payments wane.

CONSUMERS

Credit-card reward programs may cost you

After nearly 18 months of lying low, credit-card issuers are on the hunt again for new customers, and they're willing to pay you to use their cards -- as long as you follow the new rules.
See Jennifer Waters's Consumer Confidential.

Senate's bank-reform bill is mixed bag for consumers

The Senate is debating a bank-reform bill that could bring far-reaching changes to the rules surrounding a variety of consumer products and transactions, but consumer advocates aren't convinced it goes far enough.
See story on Senate's bank-reform bill is mixed bag for consumers.

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Personal Finance

Wednesday, May 19, 2010