DQNews - "Southland home sales up, prices down; foreclosures now half the market" (10-20-08)

"A total of 20,497 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the six-county Southland in September, up 5.8 percent from 19,366 in August and up 64.6 percent from 12,455 in September 2007, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick, a real estate information service."

CBIA - "Housing Industry in California Fundamental to Economic Recovery" (10-20-08)

"The report found that new housing construction in California contributed nearly $40 billion dollars to the California economy in 2007, totaled more than 1 percent of the state’s output and supported over 266,000 jobs. While those numbers are still significant, they only represent a fraction of what the industry had contributed in previous years."

Bloomberg - "Paulson Says U.S. Has Sufficient Funds for Bank Plan" (10-20-08)

"Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the government has set aside enough money to buy stakes in every financial company that qualifies for the crisis program aimed at halting the credit freeze. 'Sufficient capital has been allocated so that all qualifying banks can participate,' Paulson said in Washington, announcing details on how banks can sign up for the funds. 'This program is designed to attract broad participation by healthy institutions and to do so in a way that attracts private capital to them as well.'"

Bloomberg - "U.S., Cuomo Open Credit Default Swap Investigation" (10-20-08)

"The U.S. government and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo opened a joint investigation into the $34.8 trillion credit-default swap market, the top federal prosecutor in New York said. The probe seeks to 'determine whether any federal laws have been violated' in the market for the swaps, which function as a kind of insurance contract for bond losses, and will complement an earlier inquiry by Cuomo's office, U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia in Manhattan said today in a statement."

Bloomberg - "Turmoil May Make Americans Savers, Worsening `Nasty' Recession" (10-20-08)

"The U.S. may be on its way to becoming a nation of savers, whether Americans like it or not. With home and stock prices declining and credit hard to come by, consumers who have fallen out of the savings habit are being forced to curb borrowing and rein in spending."

Orange County Register - "Number of O.C. distressed properties down 2.6%" (10-20-08)

"Home market watcher Steve Thomas at the recently renamed Altera Real Estate in Aliso Viejo reports that the number of O.C. distressed properties (homes listed by agents as foreclosures or short sales) was 5,453 last week, -144 vs. two weeks earlier or a -2.6% change."

Realty Times - "Washington Report: FHA Still Going Strong" (10-20-08)

"The country's top housing official has an urgent message for potential home buyers: You may have heard that the credit markets were 'frozen,' but FHA has been open for business throughout the credit squeeze, and so are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In fact, FHA's volume has tripled and the agency is now insuring well over a hundred thousand new loans a month."

Realty Times - "Not all Foreclosures are Created Equal" (10-20-08)

"Within the circle of foreclosures there are three basic categories to recognize, the first of these categories has investors buying before the foreclosure auction. The second area is buying homes directly at the auction. The third and final group is to buy after the auction is over, from the bank or an auction company. These bank owned properties are referred to as (REO's) real estate owned."