NAHB - "Housing Starts Decline 6.2 Percent In August" (9-17-08)

"Nationwide housing starts declined 6.2 percent in August as home builders continued to cut back on new construction in order to scale back their inventories and help pave the way for housing market recovery, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department today."

NAR - "Commercial Real Estate Pinched by Wall Street Woes" (9-17-08)

"Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said problems on Wall Street are affecting commercial real estate. 'Although capital remains available for residential loans, the credit crunch is pronounced in commercial lending,' he said. 'Combined with a slowing economy, the lack of credit is curtailing activity in the commercial real estate sectors. As a result, there’s been a slowdown in the net absorption of space, which is leading to higher vacancies and more modest rent growth.'"

CNN - "New housing construction at 17-year low" (9-17-08)

"Construction of new homes and apartments fell to its lowest level in 17 years last month, showing the country is still gripped by a severe housing downturn that has triggered billions of dollars of losses and is reshaping the structure of U.S. finance. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that housing construction dropped a surprise 6.2% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 895,000 units. That's the slowest building pace since January 1991, another period when housing was going through a painful correction."

DQNews - "Southland home sales post second annual gain; another record price drop" (9-17-08)

"The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties was $330,000 last month, down 5.2 percent from $348,000 in July and down a record 34 percent from $500,000 in August 2007, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Increase as Refinance Activity Surges In Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (9-17-08)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 12, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 661.7, an increase of 33.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 496.2 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 65.3 percent compared with the previous holiday-shortened week and was down 1.3 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."