NAHB - "Qualified Home Buyers Can Choose When to Claim Tax Credit" (4-2-09)

"With the deadline for filing federal tax returns fast approaching, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has made information available for qualified home buyers about how and when to claim the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit. The basic eligibility requirements for the credit are: the home must have been purchased on or after Jan. 1 and before Dec. 1, 2009; the buyer may not have owned a home in the three years prior to the purchase; and the buyer must have a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) less than $95,000 for single tax payers or $170,000 for married filers."

CAR - "C.A.R. launches Mortgage Protection Program" (4-2-09)

"Through the Housing Affordability Fund Mortgage Protection Program, first-time home buyers who lose their jobs due to layoffs may be eligible to receive up to $1,500 per month, for six months, to help make their mortgage payments. A qualified co-buyer also can participate in the program, and receive a monthly benefit of $750 per month for up to six months. Program benefits also include coverage for accidental disability and a $10,000 death benefit."

Chicago Tribune - "New study shows consumer loans delinquencies rise to 3.22 percent during 4th quarter" (4-2-09)

"The delinquency rate during the fourth quarter across multiple types of closed-end consumer loans increased to 3.22 percent, according to the ABA's consumer credit delinquency bulletin. The delinquency rate is the highest ever recorded since the ABA began tracking the rate in the mid 1970s."

Yahoo - "Home Prices: Low, But Still No Bargain" (4-2-09)

"The headline numbers are grim enough. January's Case-Shiller index showed a 19% slump from a year earlier. The usual suspects fared very badly: Phoenix was down a remarkable 35%. Las Vegas fell 32% and Miami 29%. The crash has really spread, too. Minneapolis is down 20% and Chicago 16%. San Francisco, which had held up pretty well, has now turned in spectacular fashion. Prices there have fallen 32% in the past year, worse even than San Diego or Los Angeles."

Bloomberg - "Mortgage Rates in U.S. Decline to Record Low of 4.78%" (4-2-09)

"The 30-year rate dropped to 4.78 percent from 4.85 percent a week earlier, the lowest since records began in 1971, Freddie Mac said today in a statement."

Bloomberg - "Commercial Property Defaults Rise as Equity Dries Up" (4-2-09)

"Delinquent loans climbed 43 percent in the first three months of this year to $65.9 billion, according to data from New York-based research firm Real Capital Analytics Inc. That’s up from $46 billion at the end of 2008."

Bloomberg - "Fannie, Freddie Need Less Aid With Accounting Change" (4-2-09)

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance companies that have taken $60 billion in taxpayer-funded capital, will have less need for additional aid under new accounting rules for losses, their regulator said."

Bloomberg - "FASB Eases Fair-Value Rules Amid Lawmaker Pressure" (4-2-09)

"The Financial Accounting Standards Board, pressured by U.S. lawmakers and financial companies, voted to relax fair-value accounting rules that Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. say don’t work when markets are inactive."

Bloomberg - "Geithner’s Non-Recourse Gift Keeps on Giving to Gross" (4-2-09)

"Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s plan to rid banks and markets of devalued assets may be a boon for Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross. The plan may reward investors with 20 percent annual returns on 'really toxic' mortgages bought at 45 cents on the dollar by allowing them to borrow six times their money with 'non-recourse' government-backed debt, New York-based Credit Suisse Group AG analysts Carl Lantz and Dominic Konstam wrote in a March 27 report. That loan would be worth 15 cents to an investor seeking the same return who can’t use borrowed money."

Bloomberg - "Wells Fargo Said to Start Funding Mortgage Bankers" (4-2-09)

"Wells Fargo & Co., the second- biggest U.S. home lender, is planning to open a unit that will provide funding to independent mortgage bankers, according to two people familiar with the matter."