CHICAGO: Jillayne Schlicke’s father used to tell her that mortgage banking was the “highest calling of all” because it involved helping people live the American dream of homeownership.

“I learned how to spell ‘mortgage’ when I was about 6 years old. It was on a flash card,” said Schlicke, the daughter of two mortgage bankers and co-executive director of the Ethical Lending Foundation near Seattle.

As a widening crisis over non-traditional and subprime mortgages gone bad threatens to force millions of people out of their homes, Schlicke worries that mortgage brokers are well on their way to overtaking used car salesmen on the list of professions least trusted by consumers.

The U.S. housing slump has cast a shadow over the Naples housing market, once one of the hottest real estate markets in the country - but there is little sign the boom has turned to all-out bust.

Billed as a subtropical paradise, it has seemed almost immune to recent concerns about a slowing U.S. economy and fallout from a gathering wave of foreclosures on properties bought with subprime loans - Florida mortgages for those with poor credit histories.

Naples real estate prices saw a wild run-up earlier this decade, with some studies showing an increase in home prices of as much as 140 percent between 2001 and last summer.

NICEVILLE — Debbie Lewis is “The Christmas Lady” — even at this time of year she sports a Christmas pin to stay in the spirit.

But Niceville City Manager Lannie Corbin wants to curtail one aspect of her enthusiasm — he has told Lewis, a real-estate agent, and her husband that they must stop letting people park and walk through their annual holiday display.

Citing safety issues and neighbors’ complaints, Corbin sent Lewis a letter dated Feb. 23 telling her that the activities are “not appropriate residential use.”

Fourth-quarter home prices declined in 23 percent of metro areas included in a study released today, while the total number of overvalued housing units dropped.

The “House Prices in America” study revealed that 72 of 317 metro areas studied experienced price declines in the fourth quarter, up from 65 metro areas with price declines in third-quarter 2006. The study was prepared by economic information company Global Insight and financial holding company National City Corp.

Metro areas studied in the report account for 77 percent of existing single-family housing units and 86 percent of related real estate value. The study is based on a historical evaluation of house prices, interest rates, household income, and population densities, among other data.

Subprime lender NovaStar Financial Inc. will cut 17 percent of its workforce, laying off 350 workers at its Kansas City, Mo., headquarters, and at operations centers in California and Ohio.

The job cuts, to be completed by the second quarter, target NovaStar’s wholesale loan originations and do not affect loan servicing, the company said. The layoffs are expected to cost the company up to $3.1 million this quarter but reduce long-term costs.

In their annual report to shareholders, NovaStar executives said performance of its 2006 loans had dropped to “unacceptable levels,” blaming the downturn in the housing market and the company’s own underwriting guidelines and tolerance for inflated appraisals. The company reported profits declined from $132.5 million in 2005 to $66.3 million in 2006.