NAHB - "Builder Confidence Remains Unchanged In April" (4-15-08)

"Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes remained unchanged for a third consecutive month in April, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI held at 20, up marginally from the record low of 18 set in December of 2007 (the series began in January of 1985)."

NAHB - "Nation Now In Mild Recession, Says NAHB Chief Economist" (4-15-08)

"The deepening slump in the nation’s housing markets has seriously eroded consumer sentiment and pushed the economy into a mild recession, according to the chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)."

DQNews - "Southland home sales log tepid gain; record price drop" (4-15-08)

"A total of 12,808 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in March. That was up 18.8 percent from 10,777 the previous month but down 41.4 percent from 21,856 in March 2007, according to DataQuick Information Systems."

CBIA - "California New Home Market Stays Cold in February, CBIA Announces" (4-15-08)

"The monthly CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI) New Home Sales and Pricing Report showed that new home sales in February were 57 percent below February 2007. While a significant decline, the drop is a small improvement from the year-over-year decline of over 62% in January. During February, 3,191 homes and condominiums were sold in the subdivisions tracked by Costa Mesa-based HWMI, compared to 7,458 in February 2007. Sales of single family homes dropped by 52 percent, while sales of townhomes and 'plexes' – duplexes, triplexes, etc. – were down 48 percent and sales of condominiums were down 79 percent."

Bloomberg - "Swaps Tied to Losses Became `Frankenstein's Monster'" (4-15-08)

"The credit-default swap market has become a lesson in being careful what you wish for now that Wall Street has taken $245 billion of losses partly tied to such exotica. Rather than dispersing risk and lowering borrowing costs as former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan predicted, the contracts have exacerbated the debt crisis. What was intended as a way for lenders to protect against defaults spawned a market covering $45 trillion of bonds and loans where no one knows how much is traded and speculators who bet on deteriorating credit quality end up forcing that reality."