A report from the Post Independent in Colorado. "Fewer homes are being bought, so there's a softening in the housing market. Since the 2008 Financial Crisis is still very much in living memory, many of us think we hear ominous music, a harbinger of a banking crisis that could trigger a new recession."

"There are some red flags waving. And the breeze is blowing from the segment of the residential mortgage industry that makes the majority of home loans. Not banks, but mortgage companies. The massive conduits that keep cash flowing to fund home loans through mortgage backed securities, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginny Mae, are taking a look at the situation, and they're getting just a bit nervous."

"Ginny doesn't make loans, and doesn't service them; it simply guarantees payment on the investment. Currently, Ginny Mae has about $2 trillion of loans guaranteed, 61 percent of which are serviced by mortgage companies, which means they collect the payments from borrowers, and then remit the money to retire the MBS and pay interest. What's causing those red banners to unfurl is that recent studies show that around 33 percent of these mortgage companies are unprofitable."

"The GSE's, Fannie, Freddie and Ginny, limit who they do business with, by requiring sufficient capital, and monitoring that capital level regularly, or by simply cutting off a servicer from delivering any more loans. In the latter instance, the damage is likely already been done. These measures are good, but maybe not good enough, especially considering how big a player the mortgage firms are in the real estate lending industry."

"I once worked for a very small Savings & Loan, in a very small town. The chairman of the board had a favorite saying: 'You'll never go broker making a profit.' Flip the coin over, and, well, you get the idea."

The Orange County Register in California. "I read with great interest this week a column by Jeff Collins, 'Home seller’s market cooling,' in which he reports the year-over-year home sales in December of 2018 declined 20.3%! This is a staggering figure and confirms 'the bloom is off the rose' officially in the housing market."

"Economic uncertainty, a spike in interest rates, and a glut of homes for sale are the culprits. Will a decline in the median home price in SoCal be the hangover that follows? Will the carnage be similar to 2008-2009? I doubt it, but we will have to stay tuned."

"You may be wondering, why isn’t Allen writing about COMMERCIAL real estate? Bear with me, readers, our commercial world closely mirrors that of our residential counterparts, albeit nine to 18 months later. So with a hurricane of change on the horizon, how should you — an occupant of commercial real estate — prepare for the downturn blowing in our direction?"

"If you want to buy the market is moving in your direction.  It may not appear that way because our vacancy is still historically low, but we are seeing two things that confirm the shift. First, we are witnessing price reductions for offerings that have not sold. In a robust market, the only price reductions you see are for buildings with problems. Now, that is evolving into solid offerings, perhaps overpriced at the outset, and settling into reality."

"Secondly, fewer buyers are waiting for an open place to land. Those in the market are not afraid to 'make an offer' at well below asking price."

From ABC News. "2MG Asset Management's Mike Mangan says since the market meltdown scare in December, the four largest central banks have increased the size of their balance sheets by $US428 billion ($603.3 billion) to global liquidity across the last month. That's a big change to the $US1.2 trillion of liquidity central banks drained out the financial system in the previous nine months."

"'It is entirely logical central bankers should panic at the first whiff of market trouble,' Mr Mangan said."

"Mr Mangan argues the world is so loaded up with debt — and in particular corporate, bank and government debt — any market correction risks spiralling out of control into global financial crisis-type abyss, or worse. Data compiled by the Institute of International Finance recently showed global debt has swelled to $US250 trillion, which is a bit more than three times the size of total global GDP."