NAHB - "Builder Confidence Rises In September" (9-16-08)

"Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose for the first time in seven months this September, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI gained two points to 18, rising from its record low of the previous two months."

NAHB - "RESPA Proposal Would Harm Housing Affordability" (9-16-08)

"A Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposal relating to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) “would result in significant increases in home purchase costs and undermine critical financing support at a time of severe mortgage and housing market turbulence,” according to the nation’s home builders."

Bloomberg - "Mortgage Seekers Find Rates Are Down, Credit Tighter" (9-16-08)

"U.S. mortgage rates are dropping. Good luck getting a loan. Existing home prices have fallen 7.7 percent since their July 2006 high and rates dropped below 6 percent last week for the first time in more than three months. The obstacle for people ready to buy is finding a willing lender, said Suzanne Bach, senior vice president of New York-based Guardhill Financial Corp., and an 18-year home lending veteran."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Mortgage Rates May Wreak Havoc After Libor Gain" (9-16-08)

"About 6 million U.S. mortgages, including almost all subprime home loans and 41 percent of prime ARMs, are linked to the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, according to First American CoreLogic in Santa Ana, California. Today's daily rate more than doubled, with smaller gains in the one-week and one-month rates, as lenders demanded higher compensation for risk after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed and the value of American International Group Inc. fell 84 percent in a week."

Bloomberg - "WaMu Rises After Saying Rating Downgrade Won't Be `Material'" (9-16-08)

"Washington Mutual Inc., the biggest U.S. savings and loan, rose in New York after the company said it doesn't expect a 'material' effect from Standard & Poor's decision to cut the lender's credit rating to junk. WaMu rose 47 cents, or 24 percent, to $2.47 at 10:49 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock slumped 27 percent yesterday and had lost half its value since Sept. 8."

Orange County Register - "Impac Mortgage narrows loss to $31 million" (9-16-08)

"Impac Mortgage on Monday finally got around to releasing its earnings for the first half of the year, reporting a loss of $31 million, down from $274 million a year earlier. The Newport Beach-based company, the last of O.C.’s sizable mortgage companies (those that make or own home loans but don’t take consumer deposits) still standing, said it’s looking to raise money for 'strategic initiatives, which may include strategic acquisitions.'"

Orange County Register - "SoCal rent hikes lowest in 8 years" (9-16-08)

"Rent increases in the Orange County-Los Angeles-Riverside area dropped below 5% in March, and have stayed in the 4% range ever since, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The last time rents hikes were under 5% that long was in the seven months from September ‘02 to March ‘03, but the lowest they got in that stretch was 4.7%."

Orange County Register - "Pimco real estate fund tanks" (9-16-08)

"Shares of PCM Fund, a bond fund specializing in loans made on commercial properties run by Pimco in Newport Beach, plunged in recent days to all-time lows. This AM, as investors around the global fled many assets viewed as risky, PCM traded as low at $7.41, or 14% below Monday’s closing price of $8.59. That price was the lowest close since PCM started in 1993."