The San Diego Union Tribune - "AP analysis: recession' grip eases in April" (6-8-09)

"The AP calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on each county's rate of unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy, with lower numbers indicating less economic pain. The average Stress score dipped to 9.7 in April, from 10.3 in March. In April 2008, the national average was 5.9."

Bloomberg - "Bernanke Conundrum Threatens Housing on Mortgage Rate" (6-8-09)

"The biggest price swings in Treasury bonds this year are undermining Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s efforts to cap consumer borrowing rates and pull the economy out of the worst recession in five decades. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.90 percent last week as volatility in government bonds hit a six-month high, according to Merrill Lynch & Co.’s MOVE Index of options prices. Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages jumped to 5.45 percent from as low as 4.85 percent in April, according to Bankrate.com in North Palm Beach, Florida. Costs for homebuyers are now higher than in December."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Home Prices May Fall for Years, Shiller Says: Chart of Day" (6-8-09)

"U.S. housing prices are in the midst of a decline that may last for years, according to Robert J. Shiller, a finance professor at Yale University."

Bloomberg - "Modifications May Reduce Foreclosures to 6.4 Million" (6-8-09)

"Additional U.S. home foreclosures will probably total 6.4 million by mid-2011, about 2.5 million less than if mortgages weren’t being reworked to aid borrowers, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts."

Bloomberg - "Gross Reduces Mortgage Holdings to Lowest in a Year" (6-8-09)

"Bill Gross, manager of Pacific Investment Management Co.’s $157 billion Total Return Fund, reduced his holdings of mortgage debt to the lowest in a year. Pimco’s founder and co-chief investment officer cut the holdings to 61 percent in May from 64 percent in April, according to the Newport Beach, California-based company’s Web site. Gross also reduced his holdings of government-related debt to 25 percent, while boosting the investment grade holdings to 18 percent"

Bloomberg - "Freddie Mac Reinstates Mortgage Refinancing Fees" (6-8-09)

"Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance company under government control, reinstated fees for homeowners looking to refinance loans under President Barack Obama’s Making Home Affordable plan. Freddie Mac, for participants in Obama’s program, had waived the upfront fees it charges lenders based on consumers’ credit scores and home equity. Those costs can now total as much as 2 percent of a loan’s balance, according to a June 5 notice to lenders by McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac."

Bloomberg - "Regulator Says Mortgage Aimed at Elderly May Be Risky" (6-8-09)

"Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan said a type of mortgage sold to older homeowners may pose the same risk as subprime loans, and that his agency was slow to act as rising foreclosures led the market to collapse."

Orange County Register - "Nearly half of home prices slashed in 1 Irvine ZIP" (6-8-09)

" Irvine ZIPs saw price reductions ranging from 21% of homes in 92604 to 43% in 92618. The only O.C. ZIP code that saw a higher percentage of price reductions was 92861, which includes Villa Park. There, 58% of homes currently for sale have seen price reductions."