New Homes: Why Use an In-House Lender?, an article from RealtyTimes.com, reports that after actually finding your home, finding a mortgage is the second most important task you face.  When buying a new home, your builder may offer you an incentive to use one of their preferred lenders.  By using the in-house lender, it can take a chunk out of the money you need to come up with at closing time, or get you upgrades you otherwise may not have been able to add.  Why do builders sometimes "sweeten the pot," so to speak, for buyers to use a particular lender?  One reason is that builders need to try to have some "givens" and sense of accountability over the process when they are taking a considerable amount of risk in building and upgrading a new home to a buyer's specifications. 
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20080605_inhouselender.htm

Additional articles that you may find of interest:

Staying at home
http://www.gazette.com/articles/remodeling_37003___article.html/homes_building.html

The trick to getting a mortgage fixed
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/05/real_estate/art_of_workout/index.htm?postversion=2008060505

Housing downturn is a boon for some renters
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24972314/

Housing Supply Declined in May
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121263999540847883.html?mod=RealEstateMain_1

Local Banks Regain Mortgage Business
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121263038561546739.html?mod=RealEstateMain_1