Are mortgage rates affecting U.S. mortgage applications? The short answer most likely is yes. Mortgage applications tumbled to a 7 month low, with refinancing loans down 30%, according to Reuters. This is clearly not a good sign for the housing market.

Kenneth Rosen from the University of California says that mortgage rates are just one factor causing the drop. He adds that high unemployment, concerns for job security, and problems with buyers being unable to sell their existing homes are also affecting the market.

How does the consumer feel about the economy? In a word, lousy. The Conference Board, an industry group, reported that consumer confidence dropped to 49.3 in June, from a reading of 54.8 in May. Economists had expected it to be 55.

Here's another piece of bad news. Only 17.4% of consumers felt that more jobs would appear in the coming months, also down from 19.3% in May.

Early estimates of a contraction in the U.K. economy were not enough. First quarter 2009 estimates were revisited, showing a 2.4% fall in gross domestic product from the last quarter of 2008 to 2009. This downward revision made the first three months of the year the worst since people wore skinny ties, hated communism, and bore nicknames like "Buzz."

In the second quarter of 1958, U.K. GDP plummeted 2.6%, though the 2.4% threshold matches the depths hit in 1979. The original 2009 Q1 estimate was -1.9%, according to the Office for National Statistics in London.

When the housing market was at its peak in 2006, KB Home's sales topped $3 billion in one quarter. The company has struggled since, as the worst housing market in generations has led to a decline in housing starts of more than 75% from the peak to the present.

Markets were mixed and downish Tuesday, but there was some good news to be found.

Housing starts and building permits soared, causing a big pop in shares to battered homebuilders. Whether this is a false start or a real jump, its hard to get anything but good news out of a housing market so beaten down.

On the industrial side, the Produce Price Index remained relatively stable, walking the narrow path between two evils -- deflation and inflation.

The median price for existing homes in California gained 1.4% in April, posting an increase for a second month in a row. The bold are calling this the bottom (or close to it), though another financial market surprise could change the rules as it did six months ago. However, if the small uptick is real, it could mean that the worst is behind us, as some use the California residential real estate market as a leading indicator for the broader economy.

Still wondering whether the housing market has bottomed? Well, the next couple of days should offer some clues, as pending home sales numbers for April are due out later this morning, and home builders Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) and Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) will be releasing their quarterly results. While both are expected to have narrowed their losses, their revenues are expected to have shrunk by half, as well.

In one of the least enlightening stories you'll ever see, The Wall Street Journal's normally insightful "Ahead of the Tape" column reports (subscription required) that "A full recovery for housing, and maybe the broader economy, depends on a third step: Prices must stop falling. On that front, as with other economic data, the "second derivative" is improving -- things are still getting worse, but at a slower rate."

That's right: In order for the real estate market to be good again, real estate prices have to stop crashing. In a related story, The Washington Nationals will need to start winning baseball games if they are to have a shot at playing in the post-season.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL), a builder of luxury homes, issued some preliminary revenue results for its second quarter and six-month period. Now, there isn't a lot of surprising stuff here. Things are down, to be certain. What you possibly might be surprised by is the way the stock is trading. As I write this, shares of Toll Brothers have shed about 1% of their value. While that might sound logical because of the presented data, I do have to say that, to me at least, the fact that the shares haven't plunged on the news is almost an encouraging sign.