Bank of America today announced that it will exit the wholesale mortgage business in order to devote increased energy to its expanding retail channels.

"We will be fulfilling all of our contractual obligations to you and your customers. You will receive formal, written notification of the termination of our Wholesale Broker Agreement by end of day Friday, October 26 with an effective termination date of November 25, 2007. During this transition period, please be assured that our sales and fulfillment teams will continue to provide you with the exceptional level of service you’ve come to expect. If you have any questions during this time, please contact your account executive.

We thank you for your business and wish you continued success. "

The outlook for house prices is getting even gloomier as traders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange bet on steep price declines and the number of homes for sale grows.

Traders on the CME expect home prices in 10 major cities to drop an average of about 10% from mid-2007 to November 2011, according to an analysis by Tradition Financial Services Inc., New York, of prices for housing futures traded on the exchange.

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