Wednesday, October 22, 2008

NAHB - "Housing Stimulus 'Sorely Needed' As Downside Risks Pile Up, NAHB Chief Economist Says" (10-22-08)

"Congress should consider providing further 'sorely needed' economic stimulus to encourage homeownership and limit foreclosures in order to pull the U.S. economy out of recession, NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders said today at the association’s Fall Construction Forecast Conference. The steep decline in sales of new single-family homes should be coming to an end in early 2009, Seiders said, setting the stage for 'tepid' improvement in new residential construction later that year. However, he warned, that outcome has grown increasingly uncertain in light of the turmoil that has gripped world financial markets."

DQNews - "California September 2008 Home Sales" (10-22-08)

"An estimated 40,317 new and resale houses and condos sold statewide last month. That was up 6.1 percent from 37,988 in August and up 64.8 percent from 24,460 in September last year. California sales for the month of September have varied from last year's record low to a peak of 69,304 in 2003, while the average is 45,035. MDA DataQuick's statistics go back to 1988."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Decrease In Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (10-22-08)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 17, 2008. This week’s results include an adjustment to account for the Columbus Day holiday. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 408.1, a decrease of 16.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 489.3 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 25 percent compared with the previous week and was down 44 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."

Bloomberg - "CDO Cuts Show $1 Trillion Corporate-Debt Bets Toxic" (10-22-08)

"Investors are taking losses of up to 90 percent in the $1.2 trillion market for collateralized debt obligations tied to corporate credit as the failures of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Icelandic banks send shockwaves through the global financial system. The losses among banks, insurers and money managers may spark the next round of writedowns on CDOs after $660 billion in subprime-related losses. They may force lenders to post more reserves after governments worldwide announced $3 trillion in financial-industry rescue packages since last month, according to Barclays Capital."

Bloomberg - "Wells Fargo Chairman Prefers U.S. Plan to Buy Stakes" (10-22-08)

"Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman Richard Kovacevich said the U.S. Treasury's intention to buy stock in banks provides a better stimulus to escape the financial crisis than an earlier plan to purchase soured mortgage-related assets."

Bloomberg - "S&P 500 Dividends to Fall Most Since '58 This Quarter, S&P Says" (10-22-08)

"Dividend payments by companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index may plunge 10 percent this quarter, the biggest decline since 1958, as bank failures and slowing economic growth stifle payouts, S&P said. The firm also cut its estimated 2008 dividend from all S&P 500 companies to $28.05 from $28.85, representing the slowest annual growth since 2001, according to a statement. Financial companies in the index reduced their payouts 35 times in 2008, almost triple the past five years combined, said Howard Silverblatt, the senior index analyst at S&P."

Bloomberg - "Volatile Mortgage Rates to Persist Until Year-End, Analyst Says" (10-22-08)

"Gyrating U.S. residential mortgage rates show no signs of stabilizing, according to Keith Gumbinger, a mortgage-research analyst in Pompton Plains, New Jersey. Average rates for 30-year fixed mortgages jumped to 6.46 percent last week, the biggest one-week gain in more than 21 years, according to a survey by Freddie Mac, the McLean Virginia-based mortgage-finance company. That compares with a low of 5.78 percent last month and the year's high of 6.63 percent in July."

Bloomberg - "Paulson Plans to Step Up Relief for Homeowners, Buy Mortgages" (10-22-08)

"Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson aims to intensify efforts to stem record mortgage foreclosures, using part of the government's $700 billion financial-rescue fund to purchase home loans."

Bloomberg - "Wachovia Lost $24 Billion as Customers Drained Funds" (10-22-08)

"Wachovia Corp., the bank that came within hours of collapse last month, reported a $24 billion loss today and said business customers drained a quarter of their deposits as the lender sought a rescuer."

Bloomberg - "Pulte Homes Reports Eighth Straight Loss as Sales Slump Deepens" (10-22-08)

"Pulte Homes Inc., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported its eighth consecutive quarterly loss as the frozen credit markets reduced mortgage lending, deepening the housing recession. The third-quarter net loss narrowed to $280.4 million, or $1.11 a share, from $787.9 million, or $3.12, a year earlier, the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based company said today in a statement. The loss was more than analysts estimated. Revenue fell 37 percent to $1.56 billion from $2.5 billion a year ago."

Realty Times - "Builder Hardware Demand to Rise Through 2012" (10-22-08)

"Demand for builders' hardware (in inflation adjusted terms) in the United States will rise 2.1 percent per year through 2012, an improvement over the 1.2 percent annual gains of the period between 2002 and 2007, according to Builders' Hardware, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm. Gains in demand will be led by the recovery of the U.S. housing market, as housing completions rise from the low levels experienced by the industry in 2007. However, weak pricing, due to the decline of metal prices from the record highs experienced in 2008, and low-price imports will restrain value gains. Imports will account for nearly 42 percent of builders' hardware demand in 2012, up from 35 percent in 2007."

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