A report from Kieth Jurow. "California was the epicenter of cash-out refinancing and HELOC madness during the wild bubble years. There is growing evidence that Californians have learned nothing from the collapse and are once again throwing caution to the wind. According to a leading mortgage broker in California with a widely-read weekly real estate column, it is quite common for non-bank lenders to offer a HELOC with a combined loan-to-value (CLTV) of 90% and an interest rate of roughly Prime + 1%."

"For a home-equity installment second mortgage loan, the non-bank lenders are quite willing to do a CLTV of 100% at a fixed rate of 10% and a term of 20 years. This leaves no cushion in case of a home price decline. The mortgage broker explained that borrowers are willing to take this kind of loan because they want the money now and don't care about the interest rate."

"Since non-bank lenders don't take deposits, they are forced to use lines of credit obtained from banks to provide funding for their loans. In a housing downturn or liquidity crunch, the banks could pull the line of credit and essentially put the non-banker lender — large or small — out of business."

"An article published a year ago explained that an office of one non-bank lender had a sign which read 'If the customer does not buy from us, it's your fault, not theirs … BE OBSESSED.' The author went on to state that many of the clients of one non-bank lender have 'no savings, poor credit, or low income – sometimes all three.' That sounds much like the sub-prime borrower of a dozen years ago.'"

From Patch Illinois. "Attached luxury home sales were down 68 percent in the Near West Side in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time frame last year, according to a quarterly RE/MAX luxury housing report. Luxury homes are those listed for more than $1 million. Only eight attached units were sold in the first few months of this year."

"Other neighborhoods also saw a sluggish first quarter: attached luxury sales fell 42 percent in Lincoln Park to 11 units, 36 percent in the Loop to 7 units and 60 percent in the Near South Side to 6 units, RE/MAX reported."

From Mansion Global on New York. "New York City’s so-called 'mansion tax' will increase from a flat 1% surcharge on all home sales over $1 million to a progressive tax starting at 1.25% on homes between $2 million to $3 million up to 3.9% on those $25 million or more."

"While the letter of the law sticks buyers with the bill, it’s more likely that in today’s sluggish housing market, sellers (and developers) will bear the cost of the tax hike in the form of price reductions, more concessions and sluggish sales, experts say."

"'In a soft market, where the seller is already weaker than the buyer in terms of negotiating, it’s going to come out of the hide of the sellers,' said Jonathan Miller, chief executive of Manhattan-based appraisal firm Miller Samuel."

The Real Deal on Florida. "A lender that financed construction of a Hollywood condo-hotel in Hollywood filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the developer claiming $40.06 million of delinquent debt. Madison Realty Capital loaned $70 million to the developer in 2016 to finance construction of Costa Hollywood Beach Resort at 777 North Ocean Drive in Hollywood, which opened last October."

"According to the lawsuit, Costa Hollywood Property Owner defaulted on the loan from Madison Realty in April 2017, but the lender entered a forbearance agreement and extended the term of the loan. Madison Realty claims that the developer defaulted again by failing to fully repay the $40.06 principal balance on the loan by its maturity date on Dec. 20, 2018."