The Bakersfield Californian - "Developers prepare for housing market surge" (2-29-08

"Quietly, developers and investors throughout Kern County are setting aside land, preparing for the day when the market for new homes turns and buyers are poised to snap them up. Last year, more than 11,000 lots received the green light from city and county planning commissions, the first approvals to move forward. Some projects will then require an OK from the Bakersfield City Council or Kern County Board of Supervisors."

The California - "Feds take action against real estate group" (2-29-08)

"A federal agency alleged Wednesday that three Murrieta-area men sucked $11 million from 75 amateur investors they recruited through networks of church friends and military comrades and then left a trail of more than 100 foreclosed houses in their wake. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Riverside by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, seeks a federal court order barring James Duncan, Hendrix Montecastro and Maurice McLeod from continuing to offer the sort of investments that it alleges to be fraud."

Bloomberg - "Vacant Homes in U.S. Climb to Most Since 1970s With Ghost Towns" (2-29-08)

"Almost 200,000 newly constructed single-family homes are sitting empty in the U.S., the most since Commerce Department statistics began in 1973. Partially completed developments reduce revenue for cities and towns and hurt businesses, said Nicolas Retsinas, the director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Rising foreclosures and falling property values may cut tax revenue by more than $6.6 billion for 10 states, including New York, California and Florida, the U.S. Conference of Mayors said in a November report."

Bloomberg - "Financial Firms Face $600 Billion of Losses, UBS Says" (2-29-08)

"Financial firms will likely see their losses reach at least $600 billion as the crisis triggered by the collapse of subprime mortgages batters banks, brokers and insurers, UBS AG analysts said. Banks and brokers stand to lose $350 billion, according to estimates from the global banking unit of UBS, the world's largest wealth manager. Financial institutions have so far disclosed more than $181 billion of writedowns and credit losses."

Bloomberg - "Paulson Says He Favors `Strong' U.S. Dollar, as Currency Slides" (2-29-08)

"The U.S. currency yesterday fell to a record low of $1.5229 versus the euro, as a slowing American economy encouraged bets the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again. The dollar also reached a 2 1/2-year low of 104.58 yen. Paulson's language recalls phrases he used in November, when the currency was in a three-month decline against the euro and also weakening against the yen."

CNBC - "Ambac Bailout Hits Snag, Though Talks Continue" (2-29-08)

"The bailout of troubled bond insurer Ambac has hit a significant snag, after rating agencies demanded more capital from the consortium of banks involved in the bailout effort, CNBC has learned. People close to the deal are confident that it will still happen, because the banks and the rating agencies are aware that, if it collapse, there will be a huge decline in the stock market."

Bloomberg - "Auto, Home Buys `Won't Happen' as Rates Don't Budge" (2-29-08)

"Consumers like Valerie Jacobsen aren't getting much of a break on borrowing costs even after five months of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Jacobsen, 30, wants to refinance her 7.25 percent first and 8.5 percent second mortgages into one loan at a lower cost. To cut the payments enough to recoup her $3,000 in closing costs, she needs a rate well below 6 percent. She wasn't ready when costs dipped in January and now they're back at levels that make her plan too expensive, the Austin, Minnesota, resident says."

Orange County Register - "O.C. real estate/finance jobs off 10% from peak" (2-29-08)

"State job counters released their revised job stats, and the new math finds extra agony in O.C.’s real estate and finance businesses. By your blogger’s analysis of this new count, local bosses in real estate/finance work have cut a total 26,000 workers, or 10%, from the O.C. property-related industries since employment in these niches peaked in September 2006. The true pain is likely greater as many real estate/finance workers are self-employed or contractors who aren’t in the state’s tally."

Orange County Register - "Mid-Feb. O.C. home sales off 49%" (2-29-08)

"DataQuick’s freshest stats show this will certainly be the 29th straight month where buyers bought fewer O.C. homes than the year-ago period as mid-February O.C. home sales were off 49% from a year ago. If that pace for the 22 business days ended Feb. 13 holds for the full month, this month will mark the steepest year-over-year sales drop in DataQuick’s books that date to 1988. Pricing, off 14% from a year ago, runs at early 2004 levels."

Real Estate Journal - "Foundations Look to Allay U.S. Foreclosure Crisis" (2-29-08)

"Some of the nation's wealthiest philanthropies are turning their attention to the growing foreclosure crisis, which some fear could usher in the type of urban blight that devastated pockets of American cities in the 1970s and 1980s."