The Washington Post - "Views Diverge on How To Recast Fannie, Freddie" (12-22-08)

"Policymakers are looking to revamp the nation's home loan system next year after the collapse of U.S. housing and mortgage markets spurred the current economic crisis. Under one possible approach, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federally run companies that control half of the nation's $11 trillion mortgage market, would disappear, leaving lending primarily to private banks. Taxpayers would no longer be on the line for subsidizing home loans. But analysts say it could become much harder to get a mortgage -- at least one with a relatively low interest rate and a 30-year term."

Bloomberg - "Bonus Cash May Benefit Homeowners by Making December 13th Month" (12-22-08)

"Mortgage holders with cash from a bonus have a few days left to decide whether to make December the 13th month of the year. Making a January mortgage payment in December for extra tax savings or applying a lump-sum payment to a mortgage balance may make better use of the money than investing in the stock market this year. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is down 40 percent year to date."

Yahoo - "Property Developers Request Bailout" (12-22-08)

"Some of the biggest U.S. property developers are asking for government money in the face of $160 billion in maturing commercial mortgages next year, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. About $530 billion in commercial mortgages are due for refinancing over the next three years, with $160 billion due for payment next year, according to Foresight Analytics, the Journal reported."

Inman News - "Mortgage brokers sue to block RESPA" (12-22-08)

"The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is going to court to block implementation of changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), saying the Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to assess the impact on small businesses."

CBIA - "Housing Production Continues Decline in November, CBIA Announces" (12-22-08)

"According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board, just 4,544 permits were pulled throughout California during the month of November, down 17 percent when compared to the same month a year ago and up 8 percent from October due to a large increase in multifamily permits in Southern California. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the annual rate of production for single-family homes was just 23,300, the lowest on record."

NAR - "Existing-Home Sales Decline in Economic Uncertainty" (12-23-08)

"Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, iniums and co-ops – fell 8.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 4.49 million units in November from a downwardly revised level of 4.91 million in October, and are 10.6 percent below the 5.02 million-unit pace in November 2007."

DQNews - "California mortgage default filings drop amid procedural change" (12-23-08)

"The number of mortgage default notices filed against California homeowners fell last quarter for the first time in three years as a change in the state's formal foreclosure process took effect. If that procedural change hadn't kicked in during early September, indications are that third-quarter default filings would have been about the same as the record number filed in this year's second quarter, a real estate information service reported."

Bloomberg - "IndyMac Regulator Permitted Capital Backdating, Watchdog Says" (12-23-08)

"The Office of Thrift Supervision allowed IndyMac Bank to record $18 million of a $50 million infusion from its holding company on May 9 as first-quarter capital, Eric M. Thorson, the Treasury Department’s inspector general, wrote yesterday in a letter to U.S. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. IndyMac was closed by the OTS on July 11 after a run on deposits depleted its cash."

Bloomberg - "Moorlach Sees Up to 10 Municipal Bankruptcies in Coming Year" (12-23-08)

"The accountant who predicted the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy says as many as 10 insolvencies will roil the $2.7 trillion U.S. market for state, county and city debt next year as public finances worsen amid calls for federal aid to state and local governments."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Economy Shrank 0.5% Last Quarter, Most Since ’01" (12-23-08)

"The U.S. economy shrank in the third quarter at a 0.5 percent annual pace as the now year-old recession intensified. The contraction in gross domestic product from July through September, which matched the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, was the worst since 2001, according to revised figures from the Commerce Department today in Washington. Consumer spending fell the most in almost three decades."

Bloomberg - "CIT Rises on Approval for $2.33 Billion From Treasury" (12-23-08)

"CIT Group Inc., the commercial lender that ran short of cash this year, rose as much as 7.7 percent in New York trading after winning preliminary approval for a $2.33 billion infusion from the U.S. Treasury. The lender gained 20 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $4.38 at 9:33 a.m. today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Late yesterday, CIT said the Federal Reserve would allow the New York-based firm to become a bank holding company, making it eligible for funds from the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program. CIT ranked last year as the biggest U.S. independent commercial finance company."