Monday, June 23, 2008

Ventura Couny Star - "Foreclosures considered for shelters" (6-21-08)

"Nearly 40 financial, government, nonprofit and religious officials met earlier this week in Ventura to explore the idea of developing housing such as emergency shelters, transitional programs and long-term leases for families. Officials said such a program could not only get the homeless off the streets, but also stabilize real estate prices by lowering the number of unsold houses."

CNN - "States take a whack at foreclosures" (6-21-08)

"While Congress has talked for a year about a federal response to the foreclosure crisis, attorneys general have been busy helping troubled homeowners at the state level. AGs are filing lawsuits, lobbying legislatures for tougher mortgage lender laws, and partnering with mortgage servicers and community development groups to help rescue homeowners from foreclosures. Their efforts have paid off. While the Mortgage Bankers Association says a million homes were in foreclosure in the first three months of 2008, one community advocate says that number would have been larger if the AGs weren't involved."

North County Times - "HOUSING: High-end neighborhoods also suffering" (6-21-08)

"From the start of a housing recession that has sent average real estate prices in North County plummeting, some housing analysts said expensive neighborhoods would persevere, dodging steep declines. That's no longer true. Several homes in one of North County's ritzier regions, the San Diego neighborhoods of Rancho Penasquitos and Rancho Bernardo, have tumbled 30 percent in value."

CNN - "Why Bush, Congress may make housing deal" (6-21-08)

"Bush has threatened a veto. But lawmakers in both parties say the housing legislation is a political imperative, and negotiators see the makings of a summertime bargain. For one, the measure contains elements that Bush long has demanded. They include modernizing the Depression-era Federal Housing Administration and creating a new regulator for the government-sponsored mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."

The San Diego Union Tribune - "Mortgage rates on rise, as are fears for housing" (6-22-08)

"As if the local housing market weren't bad enough, there's another storm cloud on the horizon: rising mortgage rates. The interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged more than 6.4 percent last week, rising from 6.3 percent the previous week and an average of 5.8 percent during the first quarter."

Orange County Register - "O.C. builders drop house prices, raise condos" (6-22-08)

"Costa Mesa-based Hanley Wood Market Intelligence reports that the median contract price O.C. builders got for a newly built house fell 8.5% in April to $988,500, vs. $1.08 million in April 2007. The number of contracts also tumbled, declining 35.5% from April 2007 to 89. But builders’ condo prices were up vs. April of last year, rising 3.2% to $453,000, Hanley Wood reported in a recent release from the California Building Industry Association."

Orange County Register - "Subprime and punishment" (6-22-08)

"On Thursday, former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin were indicted for securities fraud and conspiracy — and Cioffi for insider trading too. Their indictment is the first subprime-related charge by federal investigators since the mortgage meltdown began more than a year ago."

Fresno Bee - "Mortgage crisis: Other shoe is poised to drop" (6-22-08)

"An adjustable-rate mortgage bubble is coming to the central San Joaquin Valley's housing market, and the tens of thousands of homeowners who hold those mortgages should prepare for the rate increases to come. That's the word from mortgage counselors worried that the easy lending practices of the housing boom years are about to lead to a lot of pain for borrowers."

No comments: