CBIA - "California New Home Market Still Struggling, CBIA Announces" (1-15-08)

"The pace of home sales at California new-home communities in November continued to be dramatically lower than it was a year ago, the California Building Industry Association reported today. The monthly CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI) New Home Sales and Pricing Report showed that new home sales in November were nearly 55 percent below sales in November 2006, down from the 46 percent year-over-year decline seen in October."

DQNews - "Continued nose-dive for Southland home sales" (1-15-08)

"The remarkably low level of home sales in Southern California persisted last month as sellers, buyers and lending institutions continued to hold their collective breath amid market turmoil. A total of 13,240 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in December. That was up 0.5 percent from 13,173 for the previous month, and down 45.3 percent from 24,209 for December last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems"

Mortgage Bankers Association - "MBA’s “Stop the Cram Down Resource Center” Puts a Price Tag on Bankruptcy Reform" (1-15-08)

"A proposed change in the bankruptcy law that would allow bankruptcy judges to unilaterally change the terms of mortgage contracts would cost home buyers across the country hundreds of dollars every month and thousands of dollars a year, according to a new resource on MBA’s website: www.mortgagebankers.org/stopthecramdown."

The San Diego Union Tribune - "Consumers hit brakes on spending" (1-15-08)

"More evidence of a dramatic slowdown in consumer spending surfaced yesterday, as Sears Holdings warned that a drop in sales would result in a profit shortfall and the world's largest retail trade group issued a downbeat sales forecast for 2008. Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the nation's economic activity, had been showing resilience even as gas prices rose and the housing market fell. But recent data point to a sharper pullback, a trend that may tip the economy into recession."

Reuters - "Greenspan to join New York hedge fund firm" (1-15-08)

"Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is set to join hedge-fund firm Paulson & Co. as an adviser, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. New York-based Paulson, with assets of $28 billion, is set to make the announcement on Tuesday, the report said. Greenspan has been criticized by some for keeping the trendsetting federal funds rate at a low 1 percent from June 2003 through June 2004, which some say contributed to a housing bubble that is now bursting."

Market Watch - "This is not your father's recession" (1-15-08)

"In the past, when the U.S. economy ran into trouble, there were tried and true remedies that policymakers could implement in order to turn things around. The Federal Reserve would swing into action by cutting interest rates and injecting additional liquidity into the banking system. Then, with a lag traceable only to the normal workings of the political process, the Congress and the president would join in by cutting taxes and increasing government spending. And on those rare occasions when this softness would occur in a year divisible by four (a presidential election year), the political process would miraculously go into overdrive, since it became a question of saving one's own political skin as well."

Orange County Register - "A really tough year for O.C. housing" (1-15-08)

"'We've never had a period of time where the momentum for sales just stopped,' said Bob Chapman, past president of the Newport Beach Association of Realtors. The mortgage market was the engine for the selling market, Chapman said. In 2007, the engine stopped running."

Los Angeles Times - "Home sales seen bottoming in '08" (1-15-08)

"U.S. existing-home sales will reach a bottom in 2008 as buyers find it tougher to get mortgages, according to a forecast by the Mortgage Bankers Assn., the industry's largest trade group. Sales of previously owned homes probably will drop to an 11-year low of 4.94 million from 5.68 million last year and then increase to 5.12 million in 2009, the Washington-based group said Monday. New-home sales are likely to tumble 15% this year to 666,000 before rising 6.6% in 2009."

Orange County Register - "Orange County home prices and sales, December" (1-15-08)

"For December, sales for all types of Orange County home decreased 42 percent. The median sales price decreased 10.3 percent. The median is where half the homes sold for more and half for less. Types of homes selling, as well as home value changes, cause the median to change."