Sacramento Bee - "Golden State losing folks as old Dust Bowl beckons" (6-14-09)

"From 2004 through 2007, about 275,000 Californians left the Golden State for the old Dust BowlOklahoma and Texas, twice the number that left those two states for California, recent Internal Revenue Service figures show. In fact, the mid-South gained more residents from California during those four years than either Oregon, Nevada or Arizona. The trend continued into 2008." states of

KCBS - "Calif. Foreclosure Moratorium" (6-15-09)

"Starting today, banks in California cannot foreclose a mortgage without either renegotiating the loan or giving the homeowner three months notice. There have been more than 365,000 foreclosures in California since 2007, with many more already scheduled."

Wall Street Journal - "Details Set for Remake of Financial Regulations" (6-15-09)

"President Barack Obama is expected Wednesday to propose the most sweeping reorganization of financial-market supervision since the 1930s, a revamp that would touch almost every corner of banking from how mortgages are underwritten to the way exotic financial instruments are traded."

Washington Post - "A New Financial Foundation" (6-15-09)

"In developing its proposals, the administration has focused on five key problems in our existing regulatory regime -- problems that, we believe, played a direct role in producing or magnifying the current crisis. First, existing regulation focuses on the safety and soundness of individual institutions but not the stability of the system as a whole. As a result, institutions were not required to maintain sufficient capital or liquidity to keep them safe in times of system-wide stress. In a world in which the troubles of a few large firms can put the entire system at risk, that approach is insufficient."

NAHB - "Builder Caution Reflects Fragile Housing Market In June" (6-15-09)

"Indicating that single-family home builders remain cautious and concerned about the fragile state of today’s economy and housing market, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) declined one point to 15 in June."

Inman - "Report: Signs of real estate stability" (6-15-09)

"Radar Logic cited sales data from the National Association of Realtors trade group and from another monthly price index, the Standard and Poor's/Case-Shiller price index for 20 U.S. metro areas, as evidence for market improvements -- while noting that the operators of the Case-Shiller index do not believe a deceleration in downward price trends constitutes evidence for a recovery."

Bloomberg - "Extended Stay Chain Files for Bankruptcy, Hit by Debt" (6-15-09)

"The Spartanburg, South Carolina-based chain, with more than 680 properties in 44 states, collapsed two years after Lightstone Group LLC purchased the company with $7.4 billion in financing. The company said it had $7.1 billion in assets and $7.6 billion in debts at the end of last year, according to papers filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York."

Bloomberg - "Mortgage-Bond Yields Fall for Third Day, Pointing to Rate Drop" (6-15-09)

"Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage securities fell for a third day from the highest level since the Federal Reserve said it would buy home-loan bonds, suggesting interest rates on home loans may decline."

Orange County Register - "O.C. super agent ranked 2nd in U.S. in home sales dollars" (6-15-09)

"John McMonigle’s Newport Beach-based team sold $485 million worth of real estate in 2008, according to a survey of over 7,000 brokersage firms, Realtor groups and other sources."

Orange County Register - "Surf City broker is O.C.’s top agent" (6-15-09)

"Foreclosures have made Huntington Beach broker Tom Moon Orange County’s top salesman in the 12-month period ending on March 31, a Brea-based consulting firm reported recently. Moon, who specializes in representing banks in selling repossessed homes, shepherded 376 transactions through the system, more than any other agent in the county, said Pat Veling, president of Real Data Strategies."

NAHB - "Housing Starts And Permits Post Gains In May" (6-16-09)

"Nationwide housing starts rebounded in May from record lows in the previous month, posting a 17.2 percent gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 532,000 units, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures released today. While driven largely by a double-digit gain in the volatile multifamily sector, the uptick also reflected a substantial gain on the single-family side and applied consistently to all regions of the country."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Home Prices to Fall 14% More, Deutsche Says" (6-16-09)

"U.S. home prices may fall another 14 percent, led by the New York and Orange County, California, metropolitan areas, before reaching a bottom as an increase in unemployment offsets lower prices, Deutsche Bank AG said."

Bloomberg - "Fed’s Commercial Real Estate Aid May Have Few Deals for Start" (6-16-09)

"The Federal Reserve may have few, if any, securities deals for the start of its program to aid the commercial real estate market and head off more losses at U.S. banks. Today is the first monthly deadline for investors to apply for loans to buy new commercial mortgage-backed securities through the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF. No issuers have publicly announced debt that’s eligible for the program. The Fed has made $25.2 billion in TALF loans for other securities, including those backed by auto and credit-card debt."

CNN - "5 new tools for homebuyers" (6-16-09)

"You're driving down a street and see a really pretty home with a For Sale sign on the front lawn. You write down the broker's information and can't wait to get home to take a look at the listing details. If you have an iPhone, you can get the information on the spot. Zillow.com released a free iPhone app last month, enabling consumers to get the low-down on more than 88 million homes - and not just the ones for sale. The app is GPS-powered so the map follows you as you stroll, with price estimates popping up along the way. Pass a sale sign and you can access pricing, number of bedroom and baths, square footage and other info."

Orange County Register - "How to finance a condo (no, it’s not like a house)" (6-16-09)

"There are several different issues that arise for condo buyers versus those looking to purchase what we label as a Single Family Residence, or SFR. First and foremost, the Home Owners Association (HOA) will be examined as part of the approval process. Before funding a loan the lender wants assurance the HOA is in good financial shape."

Orange County Register - "Does $1,000 make a difference on a $1.4 million home? "(6-16-09)

"Listing agent Chris Marple said that there is a tactic behind the small incremental deduction process, that the sellers are motivated and want to appeal to people looking in specific price ranges."

Orange County Register - "Mortgage giants USA own $100-plus billion of junk" (6-16-09)

"Two-thirds of the AAA-rated private-label MBS purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been downgraded to “junk,” the GSEs’ regulator told a congressional panel, and only a small portion is still rated AAA. Federal Housing Finance Agency director James Lockhart told a House Financial Services subcommittee the two government sponsored enterprises have $171.3 billion in PLS backed by alt-A, subprime and other mortgages in their investment portfolios. Only 3% remain AAA and not on downward watch, Mr. Lockhart said. Another 11% remain AAA-rated but are on downgrade watch as of May 28."

Orange County Register - "Housing recovery set to begin, forecast says" (6-16-09)

"The lion’s share of the housing decline is behind us, the UCLA Anderson Forecast reports today. U.S. home prices have fallen 31% from the peak and are still falling. But home prices should start rising again by late 2009 or early 2010, the forecast said."

CBIA - "CBIA Chairman Horace Hogan's Remarks During Press Conference on State of the Industry at PCBC" (6-17-09)

"In 2008, housing starts were the lowest ever recorded. Builders pulled just 65,000 permits last year. 33,000 single family and 32,000 multifamily. To put that in context, just four years ago we pulled 212,000 permits, and we need to build about 240,000 units every year to keep pace with population growth."

DQNews - "Southland median sale price inches up for first time since ‘07" (6-17-09)

"Southern California home sales rose for the 11th consecutive month in May as sales of $500,000-plus homes started to come back. The median price paid increased slightly from the prior month for the first time since July 2007, the result of a shift in market activity where sales of deeply discounted foreclosures waned and mid- to high-end purchases rose, a real estate information service reported."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (6-17-09)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending June 12, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 514.4, a decrease of 15.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 611.0 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 15.8 percent compared with the previous week and increased 0.3 percent compared with the same week one year earlier."

Mercury News - "Foreclosures rising in Santa Clara County" (6-17-09)

"Foreclosures increased sharply in Silicon Valley last month, according to a report released Tuesday, and some experts said they are likely to keep climbing despite widespread efforts to keep people from losing their homes.There were 480 foreclosures in Santa Clara County in May, up 63 percent compared with April, according to ForeclosureRadar, a Discovery Bay company that tracks California foreclosure activity."

Wall Street Journal - "Loan Redos Get Tangled in Thicket of Red Tape" (6-17-09)

"Clobbered by the recession, millions of homeowners are asking for help from mortgage lenders like J.P. Morgan's Chase unit, the nation's third-largest servicer of mortgages behind Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. Large and small banks have responded with programs that reduce interest rates, stretch out payments and provide other assistance. These efforts are getting a boost from the Obama administration's housing-rescue plan, which gives lenders financial incentives to modify as many as nine million mortgages"

Bloomberg - "Carlyle, Blackstone, TPG Said to Weigh Buying First Republic " (6-17-09)

"Carlyle and Blackstone, the largest private-equity firms, and David Bonderman’s TPG may partner with First Republic Chairman James H. Herbert II, said one of the people, declining to be identified because the discussions are private. Bank of America, the biggest U.S. lender by assets, is selling businesses to raise capital after receiving $45 billion in government rescue funds."

Bloomberg - "Mortgage Yields Climb for First Day in Five; Rates May Rise" (6-17-09)

"Yields on Washington-based Fannie Mae’s current-coupon 30- year fixed-rate mortgage bonds climbed 0.08 percentage point to 4.66 percent as of 5 p.m. in New York, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Yields are down from 5.07 percent on June 10, the highest level since the Federal Reserve announced plans to buy home-loan bonds in November."

New York Times - "JPMorgan and 9 Other Banks Repay TARP Money" (6-17-09)

"JPMorgan Chase and nine other big banks said Wednesday that they had repaid the federal assistance money that they had received in the fall during the height of the financial crisis. JPMorgan said it had returned $25 billion, with interest, to the government — money that the bank’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, has said it never needed in the first place."

DS News - "UFA: Riskiest Mortgages Are Behind Us" (6-17-09)

"In UFA’s most recent report, the company's worst-case scenario assumes the gross domestic product (GDP) will decline five percent for two years, followed by two more years of positive one percent growth before returning to trend growth. The GDP is used by economists as a basic measure of an economy's performance, and UFA explains that the worst-case snapshot used in its analysis is much more severe than any of the post-war recessions, however, it's far rosier than the economic situation of the Great Depression in the 1930s."