Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Decrease In Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (2-20-08)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 15, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 822.8, a decrease of 22.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1063.5 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 21.2 percent compared with the previous week and was up 33.9 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."

CBIA - "California Still Leads Nation in Unaffordability" (2-20-08)

"Despite falling home prices throughout most of the state, California remains the nation’s least affordable market for housing in the fourth quarter of 2007, the California Building Industry Association reported today. The quarterly NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index, compiled by CBIA’s sister organization, the National Association of Home Builders, found that homes were more affordable in all of the state’s 28 metropolitan areas when compared to the third quarter, but because home prices have fallen throughout the nation, California still leads in unaffordability."

NAR - "Fourth Quarter Commercial Real Estate Index Eases" (2-20-08)

"The Commercial Leading Indicator for Brokerage Activity1 slipped 0.4 percent to an index of 120.1 in the fourth quarter from a reading of 120.6 in the third quarter, but remains 0.1 above the fourth quarter of 2006 when it stood at 119.9. This is the second straight quarterly dip after reaching a record of 120.7 in the second quarter of 2007. The index showed nine consecutive quarterly gains prior to these declines; NAR’s track of the index dates back to 1990."

NAHB - "Housing Starts Remain Virtually Flat in January" (2-20-08)

"Total housing starts remained virtually unchanged in January although single-family builders continued to pull in the reins on new-home production, according to newly released data from the U.S. Commerce Department. Starts rose by 0.8 percent for the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.01 million units, with single-family production down 5.2 percent to a rate of 743,000 units and multifamily production – which tends to display significant month-to-month volatility – up 22.3 percent to a 269,000-unit rate that was still well below the previous quarterly average."

CNN - "New single-family homes at 17-year low" (2-20-08)

"New construction of single-family homes fell to a 17-year low in January, according to a government report on the battered housing market released Wednesday. At the same time, a pickup in apartments and condo construction resulted in a rare gain for housing starts overall. Starts of single-family homes fell to an annual rate of 743,000 in the tenth straight monthly decline."

Bloomberg - "Standard Chartered Abandons Funding $7.15 Billion SIV" (2-20-08)

"Standard Chartered Plc abandoned a plan to bail out its $7.15 billion Whistlejacket Capital Ltd. structured investment vehicle, the largest bank-run SIV to collapse because of ``continuing deterioration'' in markets. HSBC Holdings Plc and Citigroup Inc. led banks bailing out their SIVs, funds that use short-term borrowing to buy higher- yielding assets, after the collapse of U.S. subprime mortgages caused investors to shun debt securities that couldn't be valued. SIV assets have shrunk by $100 billion from $400 billion since August, according to Moody's Investors Service."

Bloomberg - "Wall Street Abandons Neediest Clients, Cuts Credit" (2-20-08)

"A year ago $20 million would have gotten Luminent Mortgage Capital Inc. access to $640 million in loans to buy top-rated mortgage-backed securities. Now that much cash gets the firm no more than $80 million. Wall Street firms, reeling from $146 billion in losses on their debt holdings, are fueling a credit crisis by clamping down on lending to investors and hedge funds that use borrowed money to buy securities. By pulling back, Barclays Plc, Bank of America Corp., and Merrill Lynch & Co. are contributing to reduced demand and lower prices throughout the fixed-income world."

CNN - "Subprime loans defaulting even before resets" (2-20-08)

"For months, we've fretted about the Armageddon that will hit when subprime adjustable rate mortgages start resetting to much higher interest rates. What's happening is even worse: Many of these loans are defaulting well before their rates increase. Defaults for subprime loans issued in 2007 - none of which have reset yet - hit 11.2 percent in November. That represents perhaps 300,000 households, and is twice the default rate that 2006 loans had 10 months after being issued, according to Friedman, Billings Ramsey analyst Michael Youngblood."

Orange County Register - "Has housing lost its investment appeal?" (2-20-08)

"It will be several years before the current housing surplus is absorbed. Although nominal home prices will eventually bottom, inflation is likely to outpace home prices for decades to come. The idea that a home is your best long term investment will once again be relegated to the dust bin of speculative fads. By the time this housing bust bottoms, baby boomers will be selling their houses in high cost areas to fund their retirement. As with every asset, there will be periodic profit opportunities that last a few years, but for the next decade or two, homeownership is consumption, not investment."

Orange County Register - "SoCal rents rise at 5.9% annual rate in January" (2-20-08)

"More news today points to a softer local rental market. The January Consumer Price Index report for LA-OC-Riverside showed the cost of renting a residence increasing at a 5.9% annual pace after hitting 6% or more for four months.That was also an improvement for renters over January 2007, when rents spiked 6.2% over the previous year. A separate Bureau of Labor Statistics measure that looks at an owner’s costs was up 4.2% in January, the same as December."