NAR - "Existing-Home Sales Rise Again in February" (3-23-07)

"Existing-home sales rose strongly in February following a healthy gain in January, reaching the highest level since last April, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 3.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.69 million units in February from a downwardly revised level of 6.44 million in January, but are 3.6 percent below the 6.94 million-unit pace in February 2006. Last month’s increase was the biggest monthly rise in three years – sales also rose 3.9 percent in March 2004."

C.A.R. - "C.A.R. reports sales decrease 9.6 percent in February, median price of a home in California at $564,700, up 5.7 percent from year ago" (3-23-07)

"Home sales decreased 9.6 percent in February in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home increased 5.7 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today."

CNN - "Freddie Mac books $480M loss" (3-23-07)

"Freddie Mac, the No. 2 U.S. mortgage finance company, reported a fourth-quarter net loss on Friday as a decline in long-term interest rates affected the value of its loan assets. For full-year 2006, net income increased to $2.2 billion, or $2.84 per share. from $2.1 billion, or $2.75 a share, but the company took a $1.03 billion charge during the second half of 2006."

Yahoo! - "Existing Home Sales Rise 3.9 Percent" (3-23-07)

"Sales of existing homes rose in February by the largest amount in nearly three years, but worsening troubles in subprime mortgages were viewed as a roadblock to a full-fledged rebound. The National Association of Realtors reported Friday that existing home sales climbed 3.9 percent last month, pushed up by a milder-than-normal winter that boosted sales in areas of the country such as the Northeast."

CNN - "Countrywide not getting proper 'credit'" (3-23-07)

"Outside of people swinging hammers for a living, few fortunes are more closely tied to the housing market than Countrywide Financial's. And for years, that was just the way investors liked it. The nation's biggest mortgage lender rode low interest rates and soaring housing prices to annual revenue growth of some 40 percent over the last five years, sending its stock soaring 240 percent over that period."

CNN - "Home price slump helps spur sales" (3-23-07)

"Home sales jumped 3.9% last month, best gain since '04, but the gains came as sellers cut prices, even before subprime woes hit."

OC Register - "Teetering homeowners need to consider options" (3-23-07)

"Taking a loss on a sale before foreclosure can at least protect your credit and potentially save you money."

OC Register - "O.C. house prices down again" (3-23-07)

"Single-family home prices fell in Orange County last month, marking the sixth time since August that prices showed year-over-year declines, the California Association of Realtors reported today."

Money Week - "Is subprime today's dot-com?" (3-23-07)

"From bubble to bubble – it’s a painfully familiar saga. First equities, now housing. First denial, then grudging acceptance. It’s the pattern and its repetitive character that is so striking. For the second time in seven years, asset-dependent America has gone to excess. And once again, twin bubbles in a particular asset class and the real economy are in the process of bursting – most likely with greater-than-expected consequences for the US economy, a US-centric global economy, and world financial markets. "

E Finance Directory - "90 Percent of Appraisers Feel Pressure to Inflate Home Values" (3-23-07)

"Inflated home appraisals helped drive up home prices across the country to levels that couldn't be sustained. A new study finds that 90 percent of appraisers now feel pressure to inflate home values. Some are even being asked to turn in appraisals without looking for a home. Those who don't cooperate face negative ramifications from clients and employers alike."

Bloomberg - "Investors Absorb Worst of Subprime Rout, Markets Show (Update4)" (3-23-07)

"While everyone from Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, to Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund, have acknowledged that mortgage defaults may slow the economy, Wall Street's biggest securities firms aren't fretting. The ``subprime risk flare'' will likely subside by early April, said Jack Malvey, global head of fixed-income strategy at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc."