Wednesday, December 17, 2008

NAR - "Commercial Real Estate Outlook Dampened" (12-17-08)

"Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there are serious structural problems in commercial lending. 'Although access to residential mortgages has improved, the opposite is true for commercial loans,' he said. 'We need liquidity for commercial mortgage-backed securities not only to free the market, but also to rollover existing debt. At the same time, the loss of jobs has had a significant impact on the demand for commercial space.'"

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Increase, Driven by Refinances in Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (12-17-08)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 12, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 841.4, an increase of 2.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 817.7 one week earlier, which was revised from 796.8.* On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 2.9 percent compared with the previous week and was up 37.3 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."

CAR - "C.A.R. releases housing market report" (12-16-08)

"Sales generally improved over last year in all parts of the state, with significant price declines leading to sharp increases in the Central Valley and Southern California. Sales of existing detached homes hit bottom in the last quarter of 2007, and have since risen in year to year comparisons. Following two years of steep declines exceeding 20 percent, annual sales in the California housing market are expected to increase 12 percent to 395,600 in 2008, with a further 12.5 percent annual increase projected for 2009. The increase in sales is largely attributed to the growth in the absorption of distressed properties with mark-downs in prices."

Bloomberg - "AIG Writedowns May Rise $30 Billion on Swaps Not in U.S. Rescue" (12-17-08)

"American International Group Inc., which already has suffered more than $60 billion in writedowns and losses, may have to absorb almost $30 billion more because of flaws in the way its holdings are valued."

Bloomberg - "Credit Crisis Cost Tops $1 Trillion With Morgan Stanley’s Loss" (12-17-08)

"Losses and writedowns from the credit crisis surpassed $1 trillion today, and show little sign of ending, as Morgan Stanley marked down the value of mortgages and leveraged loans. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s markdowns this week bring losses by financial firms in the U.S. to $678 billion since last year, while European banks and insurers have written down a further $300 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Firms have raised about $928 billion to replenish capital, and cut about 239,000 jobs across the industry."

Bloomberg - "Banks Show No Signs of Easing in Step With Fed’s Cuts" (12-17-08)

"For all their efforts to liquefy credit markets, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury show no signs of ending the 18-month freeze, as evidenced by the unprecedented gap between what banks and the U.S. government pay to borrow money."

Bloomberg - "Dollar Falls Most Against Euro Since 1999 Debut on Fed’s Rate" (12-17-08)

"The dollar declined the most against the euro since the 15-nation currency’s 1999 debut and sank to a 13-year low versus the yen as near-zero interest rates and rising budget deficits led traders to abandon the greenback. The greenback extended its drop against a gauge of currencies of six U.S. trading partners, falling 11 percent from a 2 1/2-year high reached Nov. 21. Investors including hedge funds reversed bets that the dollar will appreciate to minimize losses as the end of the year approached, traders said."

Bloomberg - "Macy’s Jumps Most Since 1992 on Credit Deal Change" (12-17-08)

"Macy’s Inc., the second-largest U.S. department-store company, jumped the most in almost 17 years in New York trading after it negotiated a more flexible bank-credit agreement to remove doubts about its ability to pay off $950 million in debt maturing next year. The size of the $2 billion credit facility, led by Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the maturity date of Aug. 31, 2012, are unchanged, Macy’s said today in a statement. The facility remains untapped, the Cincinnati-based company said"

Orange County Register - "Bad house, car debts mount in O.C." (12-17-08)

"TransUnion, one of the big three credit bureaus, reports that delinquencies rose in the third quarter on homes and cars in Orange County but remained flat on credit cards. The ratio of home loans 60-days past due climbed to 4.6% in September, up from 3.9% in June and 1.8% a year ago."

Orange County Register - "SoCal rent hikes running at 8-year lows" (12-17-08)

"Southern California annual rent hikes appear to be settling in at the mid-4% range, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics latest consumer price index. The area saw rents increase 4.3% between November 2007 and last month, down from 4.4% in September and October. A year ago in November, rents were rising at a 6% annual pace."

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