CNN - "Beware the $7,500 'tax credit'" (8-18-08)

"Washington policy makers and housing industry insiders hope a new tax credit for first-time home buyers will get the moribund housing market moving again. But most analysts agree that the program is more of a band-aid than a cure-all for the battered real estate market. What's more, others are quick to point out that the credit must be repaid, which means it's actually an interest-free loan that could get some homeowners in trouble."

DQNews - "Southland home sales post annual gain -- prices drop again" (8-18-08)

"A total of 20,329 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 16.7 percent from 17,424 the previous month and up 13.8 percent from 17,867 for July a year ago, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick."

Los Angeles Times - "Why buying at the peak was a brilliant move" (8-18-08)

"If you bought a house in L.A. in the summer of 2007, paid peak prices and have watched your home's value drop by 33%, you have to admit: You made a really bad financial move, right? Er, wrong, according to a contrarian opinion piece in today's L.A. Times that argues that buying L.A. real estate in 2007 -- even at peak prices -- was 'a smart investment.'"

NAHB - "Builder Confidence Holds Steady In August" (8-18-08)

"Anticipating positive impacts of newly enacted housing stimulus legislation, single-family home builders registered some improvement in their outlook for home sales in the next six months, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for August, released today. The overall confidence measure held even this month at 16, while the component gauging sales expectations rose two points to 25."

Bloomberg - "Cuomo Auction-Rate Accords May Exclude Some Holders" (8-18-08)

"In the last two weeks, Cuomo reached agreements with Citigroup Inc., UBS AG, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia Corp. to begin buying back $42 billion of the debt they sold directly to individuals. The accords don't extend to investors holding most of the remaining $160 billion bought through mutual fund firms or brokers that didn't underwrite the debt."

Bloomberg - "Bernanke Tries to Define What Institutions Fed Could Let Fail" (8-18-08)

"In the year since credit markets seized up, the 54-year- old Federal Reserve chairman has repeatedly expanded the central bank's protective role, turning its balance sheet into a parking lot for Wall Street's hard-to-finance bonds and offering loans through its discount window to investment banks and mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The lack of clearly defined limits may put the Fed's independence at risk as Congress discovers that its $900 billion portfolio can be used for emergency bailouts that might otherwise require politically sensitive appropriations and taxes."

Bloomberg - "Fannie, Freddie Fall on Likely Need for a Bailout" (8-18-08)

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumbled to about 18-year lows in New York trading on concern the government will be forced to bail out the mortgage-finance companies, wiping out common stockholders. Fannie and Freddie each fell as much as 19 percent after Barron's said the Bush administration anticipates the government- chartered companies will fail to raise the equity capital they need, prompting the U.S. Treasury to step in. Fannie is down 84 percent this year. Freddie has fallen 86 percent."

Bloomberg - "Lowe's Profit Beats Estimates as Tax Rebates Spent" (8-18-08)

"Lowe's Cos., the world's second- largest home-improvement retailer, reported profit that fell less than some analysts estimated after consumers spent their tax-rebate checks. Second-quarter net income dropped 7.9 percent to $938 million, or 64 cents a share, beating analysts' projections by 8 cents. Full-year profit may reach $1.56 a share, Lowe's said today, a smaller decline than the retailer had thought"

Realty Times - "Selling your Home Vacant or Furnished?" (8-18-08)

"What is the cost of leaving house vacant? The 'cost' for making the decision to leave a home vacant can result in a lower selling price or a longer time on the market. It is proven that homes that show well are the ones that generate the most market interest from qualified buyers. You want your home to make an emotional connection to the buyer; vacant homes do not usually accomplish this goal."