San Francisco Chronicle - "Bay Area cities issue fewer housing permits" (6-6-08)

"Amid the worst housing downturn since the Depression, fewer units are being built, exacerbating the Bay Area's critical need for places to live, a government group said Thursday. Cities in the nine Bay Area counties issued 22,843 permits in 2007, down 24 percent from an annual average of 29,978 issued from 1999 through 2006, according to the Association of Bay Area Governments. Particularly striking was that most of the permits were for housing designed for affluent populations."

Inside Bay Area - "Bank of America wins approval to buy Countrywide" (6-6-08)

"In its order, the Fed board said that after the proposed deal Bank of America would remain the largest depository institution in the country, controlling approximately $773.4 billion in deposits, which represent 10.9 percent of total insured bank deposits in the country."

Bloomberg - "AIG Declines as U.S Regulators Probe Swaps Accounting" (6-6-08)

"American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer, led the Dow Jones Industrial Average lower as regulators examine the firm's accounting before it booked record losses on derivatives tied to subprime mortgages."

Bloomberg - "Frank-Dodd Rescue Prolongs Housing Crisis by Deferring Defaults" (6-6-08)

"Proposals advancing in the Senate and House of Representatives would call for the federal government to insure as much as $300 billion in refinanced mortgages, potentially saving up to 2 million borrowers from foreclosure, according to one of the sponsors, Representative Barney Frank. Declining home prices will mean that one-third of those borrowers will default again, prolonging the deepest housing crisis since the 1930s, said Michael Carliner, former economist at the National Association of Home Builders in Washington."

Bloomberg - "GE Money Hires Citigroup, JPMorgan for Wizard Sale" (6-6-08)

"General Electric Co. hired Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to advise on the sale of its Wizard mortgage unit in Australia as part of a broader plan to pull back in consumer finance. The banks will assess a sale, joint venture or partnership for Wizard, which GE Money bought in 2004, according to Geoff Lynch, a GE Money spokesman in Melbourne. A sale may fetch more than A$500 million ($479 million) for Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, two people with knowledge of the matter said."

Bloomberg - "Hint of Housing Recovery Finding Fidelity National" (6-6-08)

"Fidelity National Financial Inc. has beaten every stock in the KBW Insurance Index this year by attracting investors who want to bet on a U.S. housing recovery without owning assets tainted by subprime mortgages."

Orange County Register - "O.C. houses off $199,000 from peak in mid-May" (6-6-08)

"Latest homebuying stats from DataQuick, for the 22 business days ended May 20, show modest sales strength, with O.C. deals closed still running above 2,000 residences — a level not seen from September to March. (Psst! That’s still not great. The 1988-2007 monthly average is 3,793!)"

Realty Times - "Long-Term Rates Nearly Unchanged in Freddie Mac Weekly Survey" (6-6-08)

"Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.09 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending June 5, 2008, up very slightly from last week when it averaged 6.08 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.53 percent."