NAR - "REALTORS® Say RESPA Reform Too Confusing and Overly Expansive" (5-22-08)

"The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's proposed Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act reform 'tips the balance in favor of the largest financial industry players, opens the door to legal challenges, and does little if anything to benefit consumers,' according to the National Association of Realtors®."

NAR - "Permanent Loan Limit Increase would be good for Homeownership, Says NAR" (5-22-08)

"Making the temporary loan limit increases authorized by the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 permanent will give families in high-cost areas equal access to fair and affordable loans on a continuous basis, according to the National Association of Realtors®."

DQNews - "California April 2008 Home Sales" (5-22-08)

"A total of 31,150 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 26.8 percent from 24,565 in March and down 10.9 percent from 34,949 for April last year. While last month's total made for the slowest April since 1995 when 27,625 homes sold, it was the first month since August last year that wasn't a record low in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "MBA’s Agenda to Stabilize the Housing Market" (5-22-08)

"Congress and the Administration can help keep people in their homes by addressing policy issues in three areas: stabilizing the mortgage market, helping distressed borrowers and ensuring that the problems we see in today’s market do not recur. At the same time, it is important that Congress not take action like allowing bankruptcy cram downs that could further destabilize the market by increasing borrowing costs, promoting uncertainty or limiting the availability of credit."

Reuters - "Crunch turns back clock on mortgage lending" (5-22-08)

"As U.S. banks mop up the mess from billions of dollars of bad home loans, buyers are finding the days of cheap money are over and, in many cases, tougher versions of old lending rules now apply."

The Washington Post - "Fallout From a Bailout" (5-22-08)

"Politicians seeking to expand the role of government to help ease problems in the mortgage market face an inconvenient fact: Most Americans own their homes outright, meet their mortgage payments or are renters. As a consequence, mortgage relief never polls well. When people are asked whether they think government aid should be given to households failing to meet their mortgage obligations, a majority routinely says no. The average American, meeting the struggle to live within his or her means, bridles at the notion that those who are overextended should be helped."

Bloomberg - "Fed Signals Contraction Won't Spur Interest-Rate Cut" (5-22-08)

"Federal Reserve policy makers signaled that an economic contraction in the first half won't be enough to spur further interest-rate cuts because of a rising threat from inflation."

Yahoo - "S&P: Subprime delinquencies continue to climb" (5-22-08)

"Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said Thursday that subprime mortgages bundled into securities that were rated between 2005 and 2007 continue to increasingly default."

Bloomberg - "Citigroup's `Last Roman' CDO Shows Enron Accounting" (5-22-08)

"Citigroup Inc. created a $2.5 billion mortgage-backed security called Bonifacius Ltd. in August as capital markets seized up and panic swept Wall Street."

Bloomberg - "Cerberus Rues ResCap as Mortgages Put Brakes on Plans" (5-22-08)

"Cerberus Capital Management LP's $7.4 billion purchase of General Motors Corp.'s finance arm in 2006 also won control of a mortgage unit supplying a steady stream of cash to finance the auto lender. Then the home-loan money disappeared in a flood of subprime losses. Now the GMAC LLC unit, Residential Capital LLC, is fighting to avoid bankruptcy. ResCap has been forced to stop making loans to borrowers with poor credit histories after losses of $5.3 billion during the past six quarters. "

Bloomberg - "Hotel Deals May Fall More Than 50% on Credit Crunch" (5-22-08)

"Hotel investment fell to about $8 billion in the first quarter of 2008, after exceeding $20 billion a year earlier, Jones Lang LaSalle, the world's second-largest real-estate broker, said this month. The last time global hotel investment was below $50 billion was in 2005 when transactions totaled $47 billion, de Haast said."