NAR - "Congressman Frank Notes REALTORS®' Importance to Economic Stability" (5-15-08)

"The House passed a bipartisan bill last week that should have a major impact on the housing and mortgage industry. 'As the leading advocate for housing issues, NAR applauds Chairman Frank’s leadership and we hope that the Senate will move quickly to finalize a bill and send it to President Bush, regardless of his stated objections to some parts of the legislation,' said NAR President Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif."

NAHB - "Builder Confidence Edges Downward In May" (5-15-08)

"Home builders remained considerably downbeat as market conditions continued to erode in May, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI fell a single point to 19, bringing it within one point of the record low 18 set in December 2007 (the series began in January of 1985)."

CBIA - "California New Home Market Close to the Bottom, CBIA Announces" (5-15-08)

"While the pace of sales at California new-home communities continued to remain slow in March, year-over-year sales declines are steadily shrinking, adding to mounting evidence that the bottom of the current housing cycle is near, the California Building Industry Association reported today. The monthly CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (HWMI) New Home Sales and Pricing Report showed that new home sales in March were 49 percent below March 2007. While a significant decline, the drop is an improvement from the year-over-year decline of over 57 percent in February."

The Washington Post - "Luxury Foreclosures" (5-15-08)

"In Loudoun County, 60 houses priced over $750,000 are among the 932 foreclosures and short sales -- an exit strategy of selling the house at a loss with the bank's blessing to avoid foreclosure."

CNN - "U.S. still world's most competitive economy - survey" (5-15-08)

"The United States topped world competitiveness rankings for the 15th straight year, but its economy is showing the same signs of weakness that sank booming Japan in the early 1990s, according to an annual survey released Thursday. Asian tigers Singapore and Hong Kong ranked just behind the U.S., as they did last year. Switzerland jumped two places to fourth, while Luxembourg rounded out the top five most competitive national economies, said the Lausanne, Switzerland-based IMD business school, publisher of the World Competitiveness Yearbook."

Washington Post - "Alice in Housing Land" (5-15-08)

"Perhaps some lenders who were lied to were culpably indifferent to dishonesty because they planned to sell to others mortgages that the lenders knew were risky. But the victimization narrative that is turning turbulence in the housing market into a morality tale involves borrowers victimized by "predatory" lenders. The narrative remains murky because there is scant information about the percentage of currently distressed borrowers who were untruthful about their incomes or net worth when talking to lenders."

CNN - "Why more homeowners aren't getting help" (5-15-08)

"Nationwide, as home prices plummet and foreclosures rise, thousands of Americans at risk of losing their home are trying to work out new loans. In Washington, Congress is debating a massive rescue aimed at 500,000 people. And all of the efforts to keep people in their homes run through the mortgage servicers, who are responsible for deciding which troubled borrowers will get more affordable mortgages."

CNN - "Housing rescue stokes partisan split" (5-15-08)

"The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to debate and possibly vote Thursday on a housing bill sponsored by Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. The Senate proposal has been propelled by mounting concern about foreclosures. But its prospects have turned murky as some Republican senators have come out against the bill."

Bloomberg - "Bernanke Urges `Hunkering' Banks to Raise Capital" (5-15-08)

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke pushed banks to keep raising capital in the aftermath of losses from the credit crisis to avert deeper damage to the U.S. economy.
'Firms are hunkering down,' Bernanke said at a conference in Chicago today. 'They have at least partially replaced the losses with new capital raising, but not entirely. They are being rather conservative in making new loans, which has implications for the broader economy.'"

Bloomberg - "Fed Adds Liquidity and Economy Avoids Recession" (5-15-08)

"The Federal Reserve is supplying the financial system with more than $150 billion in cash, a liquidity cushion that has helped keep enough credit flowing to ensure the economy's growth. After another auction of term funds on May 19, the amount of cash from the Fed will probably top $175 billion. And if the system needs still more, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in a May 13 speech, the Fed stands ready to supply it."