Tuesday, July 22, 2008

SFGate.com - "State agency will lend to 1st-time home buyers" (7-22-08)

"A California agency is offering below-market-rate loans to first-time home buyers who purchase certain foreclosed properties in beleaguered areas, including parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The California Housing Finance Agency, which helps finance home ownership for people of modest means, has received a $200 million allocation of bond funds to use for the Community Stabilization Home Loan Program, which it estimates will help 800 to 1,000 Californians purchase their first home. The program is available only for specific foreclosed properties owned by one of the institutions participating in the program. The participating lenders - Wells Fargo, HomeEq, CitiMortgage and Fannie Mae - have agreed to price the properties at 12 percent below market value. CalHFA said other lenders are likely to join the program."

CBIA - "Housing Starts Continue Downward Trend in June, CBIA Announces" (7-22-08)

"According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board, homebuilders around the state obtained 6,443 building permits during June, down 10.8 percent from May and down 43.9 percent from June 2007. Single-family permits totaled 3,954, up 9.2 percent from May but down 54.9 percent from June 2007, while multifamily permits totaled 2,489, down 30.9 percent from May and 16.8 percent from June 2007."

DQNews - "Another Increase in California Foreclosure Activity" (7-22-08)

"Mortgage servicers recorded 121,341 'notices of default' during the April-through-June period. That was up 6.6 percent from a revised 113,809 for this year's first quarter, and up 124.9 percent from 53,943 in second-quarter 2007, according to DataQuick Information Systems."

Bloomberg - "Fannie, Freddie Rescue May Cost $25 Billion, CBO Says" (7-22-08)

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $25 billion over two years under a Bush administration plan to rescue the mortgage-finance companies, the Congressional Budget Office said. While the assessment is more pessimistic than Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's prediction that a bailout is unlikely, the CBO report may quell concerns among some lawmakers that the price tag would be higher."

Bloomberg - "NVR Says Second-Quarter Net Income Dropped 43 Percent" (7-22-08)

"Net income decreased to $51.3 million, or $8.64 a share, from $90.7 million, or $14.14, a year earlier, the Reston, Virginia- based company said today in a statement. The results exceeded the average estimate of $6.85 a share in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Shares rose as much as 7.1 percent. "

Orange County Register - "O.C. can’t keep fines for unlicensed real estate agents" (7-22-08)

"Orange County is unable to take advantage of a new law that lets counties keep a portion of the fines levied against people caught working as real estate agents without a license because it’s one of the few metropolitan counties in the state to resist setting up special fraud prosecution units and trust funds. The new law, signed Monday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is designed to beef up weak enforcement of real estate license laws."

Orange County Register - "Rents go flat at O.C.’s 3-bedroom townhomes" (7-22-08)

"RealFacts‘ second-quarter O.C. rent report shows that the average asking rents are typically rising the least for the bigger units at Orange County’s larger apartment complexes"

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