Inman News - "Home-price slide approaches $4.5 trillion" (12-11-08)

"A University of California, Los Angeles, economic forecast report notes that U.S. home-price declines since 2006 amount to an estimated $4.5 trillion loss in wealth."

Associated Press - "Foreclosure activity drops to June levels" (12-11-08)

"The number of American homeowners dragged into the housing crisis fell last month to the lowest level since June as new state laws lengthened the foreclosure process, RealtyTrac reported Thursday"

San Francisco Chronicle - "U.S. regulator sees mortgage rate below 4%" (12-11-08)

"James Lockhart, whose agency oversees government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the comments at a meeting of Women in Housing & Finance, an industry group. He did not say how long it would take to achieve such a drop and has declined to provide a firm target for mortgage rates. Treasury Department officials have been considering a program to lower mortgage rates, which would not apply to refinanced loans. Real estate agents and builders have been lobbying intensely in Washington for government efforts to spur home sales amid a severe decline in the U.S. housing market."

Bloomberg - "UrbanAmerica Buys Offices, Distribution Center for $485 Million" (12-11-08)

"UrbanAmerica LP, a property investor focused on urban areas, bought 13 office buildings and one distribution center in cities across the U.S. for $485 million from Rubicon America Trust of Australia. The properties are almost entirely leased to U.S. government agencies and are located in cities including Washington, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston, Denver, San Diego and Huntsville, Alabama. They have 3.1 million square feet (288,000 square meters) of space, New York-based UrbanAmerica said today."

Bloomberg - "Fannie Mae-Related Records Sought in Grand Jury Criminal Probe" (12-11-08)

"Records involving Fannie Mae, the largest source of U.S. home-loan money, were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury as part of a criminal investigation into claims made in a $7 billion civil lawsuit against the company."

Bloomberg - "Bank of America to Cut 30,000 to 35,000 Positions" (12-11-08)

"Bank of America Corp., the third- largest U.S. bank, said it plans to cut 30,000 to 35,000 positions over the next three years because of its acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. and the weak economic environment."

Orange County Register - "O.C. property tax collections down $184 million" (12-11-08)

"Based on Wednesday’s pay window traffic and the amount collected in checks (roughly $90 million), Tax Collector expects to 'approach last year’s collection total.' That’s not good because total tax bills grew 4% vs. a year ago. And last year had worst lateness rate since 1992."

Orange County Register - "O.C. homes seen as 13% too cheap" (12-11-08)

"Yes, your eyes aren’t foggy. Economists from Global Insight and National City say their real estate math machines saw Orange County housing 'fairly valued' in third-quarter as values ran 13.2% below what — theorhetically — local homes should sell for. Global Insight/National City economists track home valuation nationwide by mixing pricing data with interest rate, income and other demographics data. And for the third-consecutive quarter, this pair’s concluded that O.C. homes sell for less than the assumed true value — this time by the largest undervaluation margin since 2001’s fourth quarter, just after the 9/11 terror attacks. See chart. Click on it to see larger version."