Bloomberg - "House Lust Isn't to Blame for U.S. Property Funk" (4-7-08)

"McGinn, who recently published a book on the topic, points to a convergence of personal economics and good old-fashioned status-seeking as one of the root causes of the crisis. More likely, it went much deeper, as a combination of the American Dream and a mass amnesia of economic reality took hold."

Bloomberg - "Wasteful $29 Billion Tax Cut Won't Help Housing" (4-7-08)

"the revenue loss due to the foreclosure purchase credit and the new standard deduction would be chicken feed compared with a third provision. More than $25 billion would be handed out to homebuilders over a three-year period in the form of rebates of income taxes paid during the height of the housing boom. The proposal would let homebuilders carry net-operating losses incurred in 2008 and 2009 for four years instead of just two as the tax code now allows."

Reuters - "Investors, not Fed, to blame for crisis-Greenspan" (4-7-08)

"Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has defended himself from charges that easy U.S. monetary policy created the current credit crisis by inflating a housing bubble, and instead blamed professional investors. In an article in Monday's Financial Times newspaper, Greenspan wrote that the housing bubble which inflated between 2001 and 2006 had not been unique to the United States."

Bloomberg - "Washington Mutual Rises 29% on Possible TPG Support" (4-7-08)

"Washington Mutual Inc., the largest U.S. savings and loan, rallied the most in almost 25 years in New York trading as a group led by David Bonderman's TPG Inc. considers a $5 billion investment in the Seattle-based company. An agreement with the TPG group could be announced within days, said a person familiar with the discussions, who declined to be identified. Washington Mutual, which lost 67 percent of its market value in the past 12 months, needs the funds after reporting more than $3 billion of home-mortgage writedowns and loan losses."

Bloomberg - "Citigroup, Eight Companies to Help Ohio Homeowners" (4-7-08)

"Citigroup Inc., HSBC Finance Corp. and seven other companies agreed to help delinquent homeowners in Ohio avoid foreclosure in the first such accord between a state and home-loan servicers, Governor Ted Strickland said. The companies pledged to make an effort to modify terms on adjustable-rate and subprime mortgages, contact at-risk borrowers as soon as possible, and report progress to the state. The non-binding agreements were reached about five months after Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann issued more than a dozen subpoenas to mortgage companies."

Orange County Register - "O.C. distressed properties for sale up 42% in ‘08" (4-7-08)

"Home market watcher Steve Thomas at Re/Max Real Estate Services in Aliso Viejo reports that the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales) was 5,335 last week, +114 vs. two weeks earlier or a +2.2% change. As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 34.5% of the market last week vs. 33.4% two weeks earlier."

Orange County Register - "WaMu poised to get $5B in cash from TPG" (4-7-08)

"Washington Mutual Inc., the country's largest savings and loan, is close to landing a $5 billion cash infusion from private equity group TPG and other investors, a person familiar with the matter said Monday."

Orange County Register - "O.C. home demand rises for 1st time in 18 months" (4-7-08)

"Deals to buy O.C. existing homes and condos are now above year-ago levels for the first time since Sept. 22, 2005, says the math of Steve Thomas at Re/Max Real Estate Services in Aliso Viejo. As of last Thursday, there were 2,285 deals created in the past 30 days, Thomas’ definition of demand. That’s 159 better (7%) than a year ago."