Palm Beach Post - "Market won't bottom out until '09, analyst predicts" (12-21-07)

"The housing market won't 'hit bottom' until 2009 - a year later than previously predicted, the chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders said Thursday."

Yahoo - "SEC probing three dozen securitization cases: report" (12-21-07)

"U.S. regulators, led by the Securities and Exchange Commission, are probing how financial firms priced mortgage securities on their books and whether they should have told investors earlier about the declining value of those securities, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday."

Yahoo - "Tent city in suburbs is cost of home crisis" (12-21-07)

"Between railroad tracks and beneath the roar of departing planes sits 'tent city,' a terminus for homeless people. It is not, as might be expected, in a blighted city center, but in the once-booming suburbia of Southern California. The noisy, dusty camp sprang up in July with 20 residents and now numbers 200 people, including several children, growing as this region east of Los Angeles has been hit by the U.S. housing crisis."

MSNBC - "Bonuses on Wall Street surge 14 percent" (12-21-07)

"This might have been one of Wall Street's most dismal years in a decade, but that hasn't stopped bonus checks from rising an average of 14 percent. Four of the biggest U.S. investment banks — Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos. — will pay out about $49.6 billion in compensation this year. Of that, bonuses are traditionally estimated to represent 60 percent, or almost $30 billion."

CBIA - "New-Home Production Continues Decline in November, CBIA Announces" (12-21-07)

"Production of new housing in California declined further in November as homebuilders continued to take steps to reduce inventory before year-end, the California Building Industry Association reported today. Total housing starts in California, as measured by building permits issued, dropped 45 percent in November when compared to the same month a year ago to 5,498, according to housing permit data supplied by the Construction Industry Research Board. Production of single-family homes fell nearly 50 percent while construction of multifamily units decreased 36 percent when compared to November of 2006."

Los Angeles Times - "U.S. probes allegations that WaMu sought inflated appraisals" (12-21-07)

"Federal regulators are looking into allegations that mortgage lender Washington Mutual Inc. pressured First American Corp. of Santa Ana to inflate appraisals of homes nationwide."

Orange County Register - "O.C. rent growth slows, but no big concessions yet" (12-21-07)

"O.C. residential rent increases have slowed dramatically, but not enough to give tenants much negotiating room for give-backs, says the latest market analysis by Dallas-based Axiometrics Inc."

Orange County Register - "Mortgage rates climb in O.C." (12-21-07)

"Three types of local mortgage rates rose for the week ended Thursday, lead by jumbo rates, which are for loans greater than $417,000. The average rate on a 30-year fixed jumbo hit 6.97% with a one-point fee. I checked in with broker Lou Pacific in Mission Viejo who said daily rates were even higher Thursday. He saw jumbos quoted at 7.56% for a 30-year fixed with a one-point fee."

Real Estate Journal - "Foreclosure ActivityMay Have Peaked" (12-21-07)

"Foreclosure filings for November surged 68% from a year ago but dropped 10% from October, another sign that foreclosure activity overall may have peaked for the year, a foreclosure-listing service said. RealtyTrac Inc. Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said that November's 10% drop from October was the first double-digit monthly decrease observed since April 2006."