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The first article, As housing market cools, home prices will dip, from MSNBC.com, reports that housing prices, slumping after a five year boom, are projected to fall in more than 100 of the nation's metropolitan areas, with the Northeast, Florida and California among the areas hardest hit, according to a new report from Moody's Economy.com, a private research firm. Moody's forecast that the median sales price for an existing home will decline by 3.6 percent in 2007. The 133 areas with slumping prices are concentrated in the states of California and Florida and the Northeast corridor from southern Maine to just south of Washington, D.C., as well as boom areas of Nevada and Arizona and some depressed sections of the Midwest such s Detroit. The report described the current environment as a "correction" and not a "crash", but it cautioned that there were downside risks that could make the slowdown more serious.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15120321/

The second article, Mortgage applications jump in latest week as interest rates stay down, from the USA TODAY, reports that applications for home mortgages jumped last week by 11.9% from the previous week as mortgage rates remain low. The application level is the highest since January. Long-term, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.24% last week, up slightly from 6.18% the week before but still substantially below recent highs in July. Pending homes sales also rose 4.3% in August, the first increase since May, the National Association of Realtors said on Monday. The refinancing boom continues, as the refinancing share of mortgage activity last week increased to 46.7% of applications, the highest since February 2005.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2006-10-04-mortgages_x.htm