CBIA - "2008 Housing Production in California Was the Lowest on Record, CBIA Announces" (1-29-09)

"CBIA said just 65,380 permits were issued statewide last year for new homes, condominiums, townhomes and apartments, down 42 percent from 2007 and down a staggering 69 percent - 147,580 units – compared to 2004, the peak of the current cycle."

Wall Street Journal - "New-Home Sales Tumbled in December" (1-29-09)

"Sales of single-family homes decreased by 14.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 331,000, the Commerce Department said Thursday. November new-home sales fell 4.4% to an annual rate to 388,000; originally, the government said November sales dropped 2.9% to 407,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires forecast a 2.9% decrease in December sales to a 395,000 annual rate. The drop was the fifth in a row."

Luce Forward - "SEC Rules Sale of Tenant in Common (TIC) Interests Must Comply With Securities Law" (1-29-09)

"A TIC is an ownership structure where two or more persons own undivided interests in a single piece of real property, such as an office or retail building. Through the modern TIC model, small real estate investors have the ability to purchase fractional interests in institutional quality property allowing them to take advantage of the tax free exchange rules under IRC Section 1031 by exchanging currently held real estate for their TIC interests."

Los Angeles Times - "Record number of Americans getting jobless benefits" (1-29-09)

"The number of Americans receiving jobless benefits set a record, the federal government announced today, even as more companies said they would dial back their workforces. The grim labor market numbers came during a week when tens of thousands of employees received pink slips and the House of Representatives approved a $819-billion stimulus package that now heads to the Senate."

Yahoo - "'No bad bank please,' says analyst Whitney" (1-29-09)

"The idea of creating a 'bad bank' is unlikely to address the root problem of contracting system capital as simply removing 'toxic' assets from bank balance sheets would not cause banks to increase lending, veteran banking analyst Meredith Whitney said. President Barack Obama's administration is increasingly focused on the possible creation of a 'bad bank' that would let U.S. financial institutions move toxic assets off their books and could potentially take trillions of dollars of assets off banks' balance sheets."

Yahoo - "30-year mortgage rates fall this week" (1-29-09)

"The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dipped to 5.10 percent this week from 5.12 percent last week. At this time last year, the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.68 percent. Mortgage rates have been declining since the Federal Reserve said in late November it would buy up to $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities to get banks to lend more money in hopes of bolstering the troubled housing market. Rates hit 4.96 percent two weeks ago, the lowest level since Freddie Mac started its survey in April 1971."

Bloomberg - "Starwood Says ‘Significant’ Dividend Cut Likely on Forecast" (1-29-09)

"Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the third-largest U.S. lodging company, said it will probably have to cut its dividend this year after projecting that 2009 earnings will decline."

Bloomberg - "Fed Buys Mortgage Bonds, Confronts Treasury Yields" (1-29-09)

"The Federal Reserve bought $16.8 billion of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage bonds, as the central bank’s program aimed at keeping home-loan rates low confronts rising Treasury yields. "

Bloomberg - "Wells Fargo Boosts Loans as Rivals Struggle in Crisis" (1-29-09)

"Wells Fargo & Co., the biggest bank on the U.S. West Coast, is using the year-old U.S. recession and deepening financial crisis as a chance to boost lending and take customers from troubled competitors. While JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. reduced lending in the fourth quarter by a combined $86.4 billion, Wells Fargo said yesterday that loans increased $9.7 billion in the period, not including assets acquired in the purchase of Wachovia Corp"