NAR - "Realtors® Urge Congress to Help 'HOPE For Homeowners'" (2-3-09)

"The National Association of Realtors^® today announced its support for new legislation introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., that is designed to ease loan modifications and improve refinancing options for America’s troubled homeowners by revamping the HOPE for Homeowners program."

NAR - "Pending Home Sales Show Healthy Gain" (2-3-09)

"The Pending Home Sales Index,¹ a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in December, rose 6.3 percent to 87.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 82.5 in November, and is 2.1 percent higher than December 2007 when it was 85.9"

NAR - "Realtors® Welcome Renewed Efforts Toward Housing Stabilization" (2-3-09)

"Congress and the U.S. Department of the Treasury must enact legislative and regulatory priorities to stabilize the housing market and help stop the U.S. financial market’s rapid deterioration, and on Friday, five freshman U.S. senators took decisive action toward this goal."

DQNews - "Million-dollar home sales plummet in Golden State" (2-3-09)

"A total of 24,436 Golden State homes sold for a million dollars or more last year. That was down 42.5 percent from 42,506 in 2007. It was the lowest sales count since 20,595 were sold in 2003. In 2006 the $1 million-plus total was 50,010, in 2005 it was 54,773, and in 2004 it was 36,990, according to MDA DataQuick."

CBIA - "California Homebuilding Depression Expected to Deepen in 2009, CBIA Announces" (2-3-09)

"The Association is forecasting just 63,400 units will be produced in 2009, a 3 percent decrease from the record-low 65,380 units produced in 2008. In comparison, the low point of the homebuilding recession in the early 1990s was 84,656 units in 1993, while the worst year during the recession of the early 1980s was 85,656 in 1982. To meet the need for new housing generated by population growth, the state estimates builders should produce about 220,000 new homes and apartments annually."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Property Owners Lost $3.3 Trillion in Home Value" (2-3-09)

"The U.S. housing market lost $3.3 trillion in value last year and almost one in six owners with mortgages owed more than their homes were worth as the economy went into recession, Zillow.com said. The median estimated home price declined 11.6 percent in 2008 to $192,119 and homeowners lost $1.4 trillion in value in the fourth quarter alone, the Seattle-based real estate data service said in a report today."

Bloomberg - "Fed Extends Emergency-Loan Programs, Swaps to Oct. 30" (2-3-09)

"The Federal Reserve extended its emergency-lending programs and foreign currency-swap lines by six months through Oct. 30, citing 'continuing substantial strains in many financial markets.'"

Bloomberg - "Obama’s Foreclosure Plan May Back Rewritten Loans" (2-3-09)

"The Obama administration is considering government guarantees for home loans modified by their servicers, seeking to stem the record surge of foreclosures that’s hammering U.S. property values. The proposal, which may also have the taxpayer share in the cost of reducing mortgage payments, is aimed at shielding lenders from default after they loosen loan terms for struggling borrowers. Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan, who regulates national banks, said yesterday that 'working out the details of it is still something that’s ongoing.'"

Bloomberg - "D.R. Horton Leads Homebuilders Higher as Loss Narrows" (2-3-09)

"D.R. Horton Inc., the third-largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, rose 21 percent after reporting its smallest loss in five quarters. The net loss for the fiscal first-quarter narrowed to $62.6 million, or 20 cents a share, from $128.8 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said today in a statement. The company beat the average analyst forecast for a net loss of 56 cents, according to 12 estimates in a Bloomberg survey."

Bloomberg - "Record 19 Million U.S. Homes Stood Vacant in 2008" (2-3-09)

"A record 19 million U.S. homes stood empty at the end of 2008 and homeownership fell to an eight-year low as banks seized homes faster than they could sell them. The number of vacant homes climbed 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter from the same period a year ago, the U.S. Census Bureau said in a report today. The share of empty homes that are for sale rose to 2.9 percent, the most in data that goes back to 1956. The homeownership rate fell to 67.5 percent, matching the rate in the first quarter of 2001."

Bloomberg - "CMBS Loans at Risk as U.S. Rents Decline, Reis Says" (2-3-09)

"Securitized loans on U.S. offices, apartments and commercial properties are at greater risk of default after rents fell in 43 percent of buildings of all types in the fourth quarter, up from an average 25 percent in the first nine months of 2008, research firm Reis Inc. said."