NAR - "NAR Pushes for Homeownership Protection for Older Americans" (2-13-08)

"The National Association of Realtors® testified today that foreclosure rescue scams have caused major problems for many Americans and that older Americans and other vulnerable borrowers are frequently targets. NAR called for increased funding for programs that provide financial assistance, counseling and consumer education to borrowers to help them avoid foreclosures and foreclosure rescue scams."

NAR - "NAR Challenges HUD and Regulators to Quickly Implement Loan Limit Increases" (2-13-08)

"In a letter to HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson and OFHEO Director James Lockhart, NAR notes that failing to move quickly to allow Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA to increase their loan limits will prolong the nation’s mortgage crisis and make a recovery in the housing market more difficult."

CBIA - "CBIA President & CEO Hails Federal Action to Increase Conforming Loan Limits" (2-13-08)

"Today, California Building Industry Association (CBIA) President & CEO Robert Rivinius hailed the enactment of HR 5140, which increases limits for loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from $417,000 to as high as $729,750 in high-cost areas between now and December 31, 2008. The Association has been calling for these reforms for several years because California's median home price exceeded the limit, preventing hard-working Californians from access to government-backed loans, which are more stable and offer more favorable interest rates. California’s median home price as of December, 2007 was $475,460, according to the California Association of REALTORS®."

DQNews - "Southland home sales slowest for any month in 20 years" (2-13-08)

"A total of 9,983 new and resale houses and condos were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in January. That was down 24.6 percent from 13,240 for the previous month, and down 44.9 percent from 18,128 for January last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Decrease In Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (2-13-08)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 8, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 1063.5, a decrease of 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1086.6 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 0.4 percent compared with the previous week and was up 65 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."

The News Press - "Mortgagees rip ‘Band-Aid’" (2-13-08)

"Under the new program, six of the nation's largest financial institutions said they will begin contacting homeowners who are 90 or more days overdue on their monthly mortgage payments. The homeowners will be given the opportunity to put the foreclosure process on pause for 30 days while the lenders look for a way to make the mortgage more affordable. But people in Lee County - where the number of foreclosures jumped to a record 1,833 in January as prices have plunged over the past two years - had little good to say about the proposal."

Business Week - "The Housing Bust Shakes Up Rentals" (2-13-08)

"For many Americans, as property values sink and mortgage interest payments rise, the dream of homeownership has turned into a nightmare. In the past, however, one group of people who have tended to ride out real estate downturns are landlords, who can raise rents while potential buyers sit on the sidelines waiting for conditions to settle. But not this year. Rent growth in 2007 actually went flat in some metro areas hardest hit by the housing meltdown."

Bloomberg - "Auction-Bond Failures Roil Munis, Pushing Rates Up" (2-13-08)

"Bonds sold by U.S. municipal borrowers with rates set through periodic auctions failed to attract enough buyers as banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. that run the bidding won't commit their own capital to the debt."

Yahoo - "MGIC Swings to $1.5B Loss in 4Q" (2-13-08)

"Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. said it's looking for ways to boost capital after announcing it lost almost $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter as more homeowners struggled to make payments. The nation's largest mortgage insurer still doesn't see making money this year, if delinquencies and losses continue to rise and fewer homeowners get back on track with payments, chairman and chief executive Curt S. Culver said."

Market Watch - "Wait till 2009" (2-13-08)

"The housing market will not stabilize until late in 2008 at best, with sales, starts and prices continuing their slide through most of the year, economists attending the International Builders Show here said Wednesday."

Orange County Register - "Former drug ranch resurfaces as luxury retreat" (2-13-08)

"Real estate agents say the ranch is the biggest residential parcel on the Orange County market right now. It could also be one of the last big chunks of raw land available in Orange County."

Orange County Register - "Orange County home prices and sales, January 2008" (2-13-08)

"For the month of January, sales for all types of Orange County home sales decreased 46.4 percent. The median sales price decreased 13.3 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."

Real Estate Journal - "Buying Foreclosed HomesWithout Going the Auction Route" (2-13-08)

"You might think that it's an especially good time to get a deal on a foreclosed home at an auction. It isn't. Despite the growing number of foreclosures across the country, there are few bargains to be found at auctions. For one thing, you'll be competing against savvy local investors who know how to gauge a property's real value. What's more, many properties are mortgaged so steeply that banks often ask for bids that are higher than the properties are worth."

Bloomberg - "Fannie Mae Escrow Grab Exposes Shareholders to 24% Loss in Suit" (2-13-08)

"Fannie Mae, the largest source of U.S. home-loan money, faces a proposed class-action lawsuit over as much as $7 billion it earned on property owners' escrow accounts starting in the 1970s. The company violated government policy and breached its duty to about 4,000 owners of government insured moderate- and low-income housing, lawyer Mark Lanier claims in federal court in Texarkana, Texas. Fannie Mae should return gains of $3 billion to $7 billion, said Lanier, 47, with the Houston-based Lanier Law Firm. The higher figure is $7.20 a share, 24 percent of the company's market value. Fannie Mae says it acted legally."

The Wall Street Journal - "Buffett Offers To Be Reinsurer On Muni Bonds" (2-13-08)

"Warren Buffett's plan to reinsure hundreds of billions of dollars of municipal bonds already guaranteed by struggling bond insurers helped lift the stock market -- but the offer isn't likely to improve the insurers' credit ratings or their future prospects."