CAR - "C.A.R. reports sales decrease 33.4 percent, median home price falls 16.5 percent" (1-29-08)

"Home sales decreased 33.4 percent in December in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 16.5 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today. December is typically one of the slower months for sales, and the liquidity crunch continued to dampen sales beyond the normal seasonal decrease,” said C.A.R. President William E. Brown. Even so, seasonally adjusted sales edged above 300,000 homes for the first time since August 2007."

CNN - "Home ownership in record plunge" (1-29-08)

"The housing and mortgage meltdown caused the biggest one-year drop in the rate of homeownership on record, according to government figures released Tuesday. The decline, while expected, is yet another indication of the housing market's sudden and dramatic turn. The Census Bureau report showed that home owners accounted for 67.8% of occupied homes in the fourth quarter, down 1.1 points from a year earlier. It's the largest year-over-year drop recorded in the report."

CNN - "Foreclosures up 75% in 2007" (1-29-08)

"The number of foreclosures soared in 2007, with 405,000 households losing their home, according to a report released Tuesday. That's up 51 percent from the 268,532 homes that were repossessed in 2006. Total foreclosure filings soared 97% in December alone compared with December of 2006, according to RealtyTrac, an online seller of foreclosure properties. For the year, total filings - which include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions - grew 75%."

Reuters - "Countrywide: 1 in 3 subprime mortgages delinquent" (1-29-08)

"Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, on Tuesday said more than one in three subprime mortgages were delinquent at year-end in the $1.48 billion portfolio of home loans it services. Countrywide said borrowers were delinquent on 33.64 percent of subprime loans it serviced as of December 31, up from 29.08 percent in September. It also said borrowers were at least 90 days late on payments on 17.25 percent of subprime mortgages."

Reuters - "Goldman, Morgan Stanley probed on subprime" (1-29-08)

"Investigators are seeking information from Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley, Wall Street's largest banks by market value, regarding their activities related to subprime mortgages. In its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Goldman said it was cooperating with requests from governmental agencies and self-regulatory organizations for information about securitizations, collateralized debt obligations and synthetic products related to subprime mortgages."

Orange County Register - "S&P puts LA/OC home-price dip at 12%" (1-29-08)

"L.A./O.C. home prices fell 11.9% in the year ended in November, by the math of S&P/Case-Shiller indexes. That’s the worst depreciation rate in this database that dates to 1987, as this chart shows. The only good news in this may be that of the 20 major U.S. markets these guys track, five have suffered deeper one-year losses than L.A./O.C. A 20-city composite index is off 7.7% in the same year."

Los Angeles Times - "LA: America's biggest bubble, biggest price drops" (1-29-08)

"According to Case-Shiller data, L.A. still has America's biggest housing price gains since 2000 (aka America's biggest housing bubble), but L.A. prices are falling faster than any other city in America."

Real Estate Journal - "Elements of Mortgage-Relief Plan Still Need to Be Worked Out" (1-29-08)

"The government's plan to rev up the home-mortgage market could lower borrowing costs for a wide swath of Americans, from middle-class families in high-cost cities to those who may be facing foreclosure, but many crucial details of the plan remain to be worked out. Congressional leaders and the Bush administration announced the plan Thursday as part of a broader set of moves aimed at juicing the economy. The mortgage relief would allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase or guarantee loans of as much as 125% of an area's median home price, with a cap placed at roughly $730,000, according to House Democrats. Some House Republicans, though, are trying to push that number down to $625,000. The current limit is $417,000."