NAR - "Pending Home Sales Rise, Housing Affordability Near Record" (5-4-09)

"The Pending Home Sales Index,¹ a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in March, increased 3.2 percent to 84.6 from a level of 82.0 in February, and is 1.1 percent higher than March 2008 when it was 83.7."

Chicago Tribune - "Latest economic reports offer hope that recession easing in US" (5-4-09)

"Construction spending and pending home sales both fared better than expected in March, and private economists saw the reports as further evidence that the overall economy is stabilizing after its bleakest stretch in a half-century. If so, the economy might be able to mount a recovery in the second half of 2009. Wall Street took the same view. All the major stock indexes jumped more than 2 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 3.39 percent, showing a gain for 2009."

Bloomberg - "Treasuries Little Changed as Fed Buyback Tempers Supply Concern" (5-4-09)

"Treasuries were little changed as the Federal Reserve bought $8.5 billion in debt, the largest amount since the central bank began purchasing government securities in March to drive borrowing rates lower. The acquisition helped to temper concern that the $71 billion in notes and bonds set to be sold later this week would push yields higher. Ten-year notes have declined for six straight weeks, the longest losing streak in almost two years, as the Treasury sells record amounts to finance bank bailouts, fiscal stimulus programs and a record budget deficit."

Bloomberg - "D.R. Horton Reports Eighth Quarterly Loss on Slump" (5-4-09)

"D.R. Horton Inc., the largest U.S. homebuilder by market value, reported its eighth straight quarterly loss as banks cut lending and new home sales lagged behind sales of existing homes and foreclosures. The fiscal second-quarter net loss narrowed to $108.6 million, or 34 cents a share, from $1.31 billion, or $4.14, a year earlier, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said today in a statement."

Bloomberg - "KB Home Chief Sees Southern California Price Floor" (5-4-09)

"KB Home Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mezger said home prices in Southern California have begun to stabilize, allowing his company’s newly built houses to compete with existing homes, including foreclosures."

Bloomberg - "Mortgage Bonds May Drop on ‘Less Generous’ Fed, Barclays Says" (5-4-09)

"A rally among prime-jumbo and Alt-A mortgage bonds may end as new details of the Federal Reserve’s lending program for new commercial-mortgage securities suggest the central bank may be 'less generous' than expected in financing buyers of older home-loan debt, Barclays Capital said."

Orange County Register - "62% fewer O.C. foreclosures for sale" (5-4-09)

"As a percent of all listed homes for sale, distressed properties were 35.9% of the market last week. 49% of the homes listed for sale under $1 million were 'distressed.' 6% of the million-dollar listings were 'distressed.' 3,724 distressed homes on the market — 37% off of the peak of 5,950 in August 2008."

The Federal Reserve Board - "The April 2009 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey
on Bank Lending Practices" (5-4-09)

"In the April survey, the net percentages of respondents that reported having tightened their business lending policies over the previous three months, although continuing to be very elevated, edged down for the second consecutive survey. In contrast, somewhat larger net percentages of domestic banks than in the January survey reported having tightened credit standards on residential mortgages. The net percentage of domestic respondents that reported having tightened their lending policies on credit card loans remained about unchanged from the January survey, whereas the net percentage that reported having tightened their policies on other consumer loans fell."