September 21, 2007 (LPAC)--The "mother of all bubbles" which has produced record rates of home foreclosures in the United States, and threatens banks themselves with bankruptcies, has spread its contagion into Europe and Asia.

* As many as 250,000 British homeowners who have subprime loans could face higher mortgage payments and eventual foreclosures, after the near bankruptcy of the British mortgage lender Northern Rock. Mortgage lenders are imposing new restrictions on their loans. Subprime lending represents about one million, or nine percent, of the 11.7 million mortgages is Britain, The Guardian reports.

* Italy's Infrastructure Minister Antonio Di Pietro reported Sept. 20 that 3.6 million Italian families are "stressed" to make their mortgage payments. Di Pietro spoke at a national conference on housing policy yesterday in Rome.

* Midsize construction companies are collapsing, while the inventory of unsold apartments has risen by 11,000 units, and interest rates have hit a six-year high of five percent. While the largest builders, like Daewoo and Doosan have contracts in the Mideast, the mid-sized builders are being squeezed hard, the Financial Times reports.