DQNews - "Southland home sales highest since late ’06; median price up again" (7-15-09)

"A total of 23,262 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month. That was up 12.0 percent from 20,775 in May and up 29.0 percent from a revised 18,032 a year ago, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick"

NAHB - "Builder Confidence Rises Two Points In July" (7-16-09)

"Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes notched up two points in July to its highest level since September 2008, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. The HMI rose two points to 17 in July as builders saw an improvement in current sales conditions but continued to express concerns about the future."

DQNews - "Bay Area home sales and median price rise" (7-16-09)

"Home sales in the Bay Area jumped to their highest level in almost three years, the result of improved mortgage availability and a perception among potential buyers that prices have bottomed out. The median price paid for a home increased month-to-month for the third month in a row, a real estate information service reported. A total of 8,644 new and resale houses and condos sold across the nine-county Bay Area in June. That was up 16.1 percent from 7,447 in May and up 20.4 percent from 7,178 in June 2008, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick."

CBIA - "Riverside County is Latest Jurisdiction to Reduce Development Fees" (7-15-09)

"The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to lower development impact fees by 50 percent, which would reduce the cost to build a single-family home in unincorporated parts of the county by about $2,100. The reductions will be in effect for one year beginning August 15."

Bloomberg - "Foreclosure Filings in U.S. Reach Record 1.5 Million" (7-16-09)

"U.S. foreclosure filings hit a record in the first half, a sign that job losses and falling property prices deepened the housing recession, according to RealtyTrac Inc. More than 1.5 million properties received a default or auction notice or were seized by banks in the six months through June, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said today in a statement. That’s a 15 percent increase from the year earlier. One in 84 U.S. households received a filing."

Bloomberg - "Commercial-Mortgage Market Stays Shut Amid U.S. Aid" (7-16-09)

"The U.S. government’s program to jumpstart commercial real-estate lending will probably fail to produce any debt sales for a second straight month, thwarting efforts to revive the market for bonds backed by hotels, shopping malls and offices"

Bloomberg - "Marriott Falls on Profit Decline, Lower 2009 Forecast" (7-16-09)

"Marriott International Inc., the biggest U.S. hotel chain, fell the most since December in New York trading as second-quarter profit declined and the company lowered its profit forecast. Net income dropped to $84 million, or 23 cents a share, from $157 million, or 42 cents, a year earlier, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company said today in a statement. Marriott forecast 2009 earnings, excluding items, of up to 86 cents a share, lower than the $1.02 it estimated in April."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Mortgage Rates Fall to 5.14%, Freddie Mac Says" (7-16-09)

"Mortgage rates in the U.S. fell to the lowest since May as home-loan refinancings surged on lower borrowing costs. The average 30-year rate fell to 5.14 percent from 5.20 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac of McLean, Virginia, said today in a statement. The 15-year rate was 4.63 percent."

Bloomberg - "Mortgage-Bond Holders Seek Borrower Debt Reductions" (7-16-09)

"Mortgage-bond investors want more homeowners to be given aid that reduces the size of their debt below the value of their property, a Fortress Investment Group executive told Congress."