MSNBC - "Housing, Mortgage Troubles Will Hurt Calif. Economy" (4-2-07)

"California's economy will slow this year because of a 'double whammy' of a stagnant housing market and mortgage foreclosures, UCLA economists predicted Monday."

Realty Times - "Low Ball Offers Are Back" (4-2-07)

"Many parts of the country are currently experiencing an 'adjusting' market. Such an environment tends to bring out low ball offers. Considering that many -- indeed, probably most -- currently active agents have only been in the business during the past five years, i.e. during the good times, low ball offers are pretty much a new phenomenon to them. They merit some thought."

OC Register - "Percentage Change in Foreclosure in California" (4-2-07)

Bloomberg - "Subprime Mortgage Bond Sales Plunge in First Quarter (Update1)" (4-2-07)

"Sales of bonds backed by subprime mortgages are tumbling as investors and bankers, concerned about rising delinquency rates, pull back from what had been one of Wall Street's fastest growing businesses. About $79.3 billion of securities backed mainly by loans to people with poor credit or high amounts of debt were issued this year, down 37 percent from $125 billion in the same period last year, according to a March 30 Citigroup Inc. report. "

Bloomberg - "New Century, Biggest Subprime Casualty, Goes Bankrupt (Update2)" (4-2-07)

"New Century Financial Corp. became the biggest subprime mortgage company to go bankrupt after the lender, which specialized in loans to people with poor credit records, was overwhelmed by customer defaults. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection today in Wilmington, Delaware, from creditors that include Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. About 3,200 people, more than half the workforce, will lose their jobs at the Irvine, California- based company, which said it agreed to sell its mortgage billings and collections unit to Carrington Capital Management LLC for $139 million. "

Market Watch - "Mortgage crisis to hit holders of risky derivatives" (4-2-07)

"The shakeout in the subprime-mortgage business is inexorably worming its way through the credit markets that fueled the sector's rapid growth. So who ultimately holds the risk? Many experts point vaguely to Asian and especially Japanese investors who have been hungry for any assets yielding more than the almost-nonexistent interest rates offered by the world's second-largest economy in recent years."

LA Times - "Housing woes will be drag on state" (4-2-07)

"The real estate slowdown will be a major drag on California's economy this year, but not enough to pull the state into recession, UCLA economists said in their forecast to be released today. A jump in mortgage defaults and tightened lending standards, caused by the meltdown in the high-risk sub-prime lending market, will further slow home sales and result in more job losses, said economist Ryan Ratcliff, author of the California segment of the closely watched UCLA Anderson Forecast."

OC Register - "Let the borrower beware" (4-2-07)

"Officials say a growing number of 'foreclosure rescue scams' are targeting property owners who fall behind on their loans, siphoning off their equity and causing them to lose their houses."