NAR - "REALTORS® Go Green" (9-04-08)

"Forty percent of Realtors® report that green building is important to their business and clients, while 87 percent believe it will be of even more interest a year from now. NAR is engaged in various green building issues through initiatives like the Smart Growth Action Grants Program that helps Realtor® associations create livable communities. In addition, many state and local Realtor® associations are developing programs to teach members about energy-efficient and environmentally conscious home features."

The Sun - "Price wars in N. Fontana" (9-04-08)

"Price wars are being waged in north Fontana's upper middle-class neighborhoods as home builders drop prices, hoping to stave off multimilion-dollar losses. They're competing against one another, but collectively, their products are going up against bank-owned properties, foreclosures and short sales on homes that were built just two or three years ago around the corner."

Yahoo - "New York foreclosures up; Miami, LA market better" (9-04-08)

"New York home foreclosures rose in August from July, signaling a potential drop in prices, but the Los Angeles and Miami markets showed a slight improvement, real estate research website PropertyShark.com said on Wednesday."

Yahoo - "How the Housing Crash Hurts Your Retirement" (9-04-08)

"According to a recent report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington, D.C. think tank, the collapse of house prices that started in 2006 has wiped out more than $4 trillion in home equity, putting a sizable dent in the net worth of millions of baby boomers."

Yahoo - "U.S. House Price Decline Could Be Worse than Great Depression, Economist Shiller Says" (9-04-08)

"Home price declines are already approaching those in the Great Depression, when they plunged 30%t during the 1930s. With prices already down almost 20%, it's not a stretch to think we might exceed that drop this time around."

Bloomberg - "Merrill Discussed Selling Loans for $200 Million" (9-04-08)

"Merrill Lynch & Co., the third- largest U.S. securities firm, discussed selling mortgages and other debt to Korea Asset Management Corp. for less than $200 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said."

Yahoo - "Hovnanian reports wider 3Q loss" (9-04-08)

"Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal third-quarter loss more than doubled from a year ago as the homebuilder suffered steep declines in new home contracts and hefty markdowns on land values."

Bloomberg - "Toll Reports Fourth Straight Loss on Housing Slump" (9-04-08)

"For the fiscal third quarter ended July 31, Toll had a net loss of $29.3 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a profit of $26.5 million, or 16 cents, a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a loss of 35 cents a share in a Bloomberg survey."

Orange County Register - "More skip Calif. real estate licenses" (9-04-08)

"California Department of Real Estate figures show that the number of real estate licenses in the state dropped for an eighth month in a row in July. The state had 540,735 brokers and sales associates as of July — about 8,500 fewer than when the number of licenses peaked in November. The number of real estate licenses rose precipitously throughout the housing boom, and continued to build well after sales began tumbling in 2005 and agent earnings were slashed."

Orange County Register - "O.C. 7th riskiest place to make home loan" (9-04-08)

"Orange County rose two slots in the national ranking of riskiest places to make a home loan, hitting No. 7 in the third quarter up from No. 9 in Q2, reports First American CoreLogic. No. 1, again, is the Inland Empire and No. 2, also again, is Los Angeles."