Thursday, September 20, 2007

NAHB - "Builder Confidence In Condo Market Drops To Lowest Level In Five Years" (9-20-07)

"Despite reporting increased traffic by prospective buyers, inium builders and developers are extremely concerned about the current conditions in the condo market, according to the latest results of the Multifamily Condo Market Index (MCMI), released today by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The index lost 14 points in the second quarter of this year to stand at 18, which is 14 points lower than it was a year ago—and its lowest level since NAHB created the index five years ago."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Commercial/Multifamily Debt Outstanding Grows in Second Quarter, Now Exceeds $3.1 Trillion" (9-20-07)

"The level of commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew by 3.4 percent in the second quarter, exceeding $3.1 trillion, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) analysis of the Federal Reserve Board Flow of Funds data. The $3.121 trillion in commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding recorded by the Federal Reserve was an increase of $103.8 billion from the first quarter 2007. Multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew to $778 billion, an increase of $16.1 billion or 2.1 percent from the first quarter."

Yahoo - "Bear Stearns 3Q Profit Falls 62 Percent" (9-20-07)

"Bear Stearns Cos. said Thursday its profit plunged 62 percent in the third quarter as turbulence in the debt market and wrong-way bets on mortgages crunched the investment bank's credit portfolio and bond business."

MSN - "Are we headed for an epic bear market?" (9-20-07)

"Satyajit Das is laughing. It appears I have said something very funny, but I have no idea what it was. My only clue is that the laugh sounds somewhat pitying. One of the world's leading experts on credit derivatives, Das is the author of a 4,200-page reference work on the subject, among a half-dozen other tomes. As a developer and marketer of the exotic instruments himself over the past 30 years. He seemed like the ideal industry insider to help us get to the bottom of the recent debt crunch -- and I expected him to defend and explain the practice."

The San Diego Union Tribune - "Prices, home building both slide in August" (9-20-07)

"Consumer prices posted a rare decline in August, while the battered housing industry saw construction fall to the slowest pace in 12 years. The new economic reports yesterday were seen as justification for the Federal Reserve's bolder-than-expected cut in interest rates to try to ward off a recession. Analysts said the waning inflation pressures gave the Fed the room to cut interest rates while the continued severe downturn in housing gave the central bank a reason to move."

CNN - "Falling home prices hurt borrowers, neighbors" (9-20-07)

"If home prices fall as forecast, the $23 trillion housing market could lose $3 trillion in value by August 2008, a leading housing economist and former mortgage bank president told lawmakers on Wednesday. Between 1998 and early 2006, when housing prices peaked, home values rose 86 percent on an inflation-adjusted basis, Robert Shiller, a professor of economics at Yale University, said at a hearing about the subprime crisis held by Congress's Joint Economic Committee."


Market Watch - "Could a run on a bank happen in the U.S.?" (9-20-07)

"It seems like only a few weeks ago that bankers and financial gurus around the world were confidently predicting that the subprime mortgage mess in the U.S. was a local problem that would not affect the global markets."

Los Angeles Times - "Holiday sales to grow 4%, trade group predicts" (9-20-07)

"Holiday sales are expected to grow at the slowest pace in five years as shoppers worry about jobs, tight credit and slumping home prices, according to a forecast from the world's largest retail trade group. That could mean lower prices and big pre-Thanksgiving sales blitzes as merchants compete for a piece of the holiday budget."

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