NAHB - "Builders Leading The Way In Green Building" (5-15-07)

"The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today told Congress how its members are bringing green building to the mainstream by developing affordable, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly construction techniques. Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, NAHB Green Building Subcommittee Chair Ray Tonjes, a custom builder from Austin, Texas, noted that the recent strength and growth of green building is due in large part to its voluntary nature, which provides builders and developers the flexibility that is essential for incorporating the principles of sustainable design."

NAHB - "Builder Confidence Slips Again In May" (5-15-07)

"Ongoing concerns about subprime-related problems in the mortgage market caused builder confidence about the state of housing demand to decline three more points in May, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. With a current reading of 30, the HMI has now returned to the lowest level in its current cycle, which was previously hit in September of 2006. 'Builders are feeling the impacts of tighter lending standards on current home sales as well as cancellations, and they are bracing for continued challenges ahead,' said NAHB President Brian Catalde, a home builder from El Segundo, Calif."

NAR - "Seven Out of 10 Voters Believe America is Not Prepared for a Natural Disaster" (5-15-07)

"America is not prepared for a catastrophic natural disaster, and Congress must take action now. That was the message delivered during the Insurance Availability in Disaster-Prone Areas session at the National Association of Realtors® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo today."

NAR - "NAR Says Eliminating "Phantom Tax" on Foreclosures is Good for Consumers" (5-15-07)

"The National Association of Realtors® commended Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) for introducing a bill today that would repeal a law that forces individuals to pay income tax when a portion of their mortgage loan is forgiven after a short sale or as part of a foreclosure. Since the mid-90s, NAR has actively engaged in efforts to change this law and is encouraged by the actions taken today by the Senate in S.1394, the Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act."

NAR - "NAR Subprime Lending Policy Advocates Responsible Lending Practices" (5-15-07)

"The National Association of Realtors® released its Enhanced Subprime Lending Policy, including Responsible Lending Principles, to hundreds of Realtors® today at the Regulatory Issues Forum, part of NAR’s Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo here. The policy addresses top national concerns, such as the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, the rising rate of foreclosures, and predatory lending."

NAR - "Realtors® Play "Hardball" in Washington" (5-15-07)

"Just as voters' voices will be heard next November, more than 7,500 Realtors® from across the country are in Washington, D.C., this week to voice their support for practical solutions to issues facing the real estate industry. As part of the Midyear agenda, Realtors® will meet with their elected officials to discuss small business health plans, protect consumers from banks in real estate, ensure a federal natural disaster policy, and advocate for subprime mortgage lending reforms and FHA modernization."

NAR - "First-Quarter Metro Home Prices & State Sales Show Broad Stabilization" (5-15-07)

"State existing-home sales in the first quarter generally are below a year ago but more states are improving than reported in the fourth quarter of 2006, and home prices in most areas show that conditions are favoring buyers, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors®."

MSN - "Mortgage brokers cashed in on U.S. housing bounty" (5-15-07)

"Money may not grow on trees but for a while it seemed to grow on houses, and Colleen Moorhead knew exactly where to turn when she needed to harvest some cash. With a few phone calls, broker Joyce DeAngelo could put Moorhead and her husband into a new mortgage and cut them a check. They used more than $100,000 in cash they netted from the refinancing for living expenses and renovations."

C Net - "Casey Serin: The world's most hated blogger?" (5-15-07)

"With scant income, assets, or business savvy, the would-be real-estate mogul managed to purchase eight homes in hopes of reselling them at a profit. Along the way, he's lost all of them, run up some $170,000 in credit card and credit line debt, and launched iamfacingforeclosure.com to share his woes with the world. (Editor's note: Serin's site was intermittently reachable Monday.) Financial exhibitionism, coupled with a lack of penitence for stiffing his creditors, has transformed the 24-year-old resident of this sleepy Sacramento suburb into a celebrity among fellow bloggers. But unlike other online celebrities, Serin's stardom comes from a unique source: "haters" who patronize his blog solely to learn what financial missteps he's made today."

Yahoo - "Home Depot 1Q Profit Drops 29.5 Percent" (5-15-07)

"The Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home improvement store chain, cited erratic weather and continued weakness in the housing market as it reported Tuesday a 29.5 percent drop in first-quarter profit on a slight increase in sales. The results fell short of Wall Street expectations, and Home Depot's shares slipped 26 cents to $39.27 in morning trading after tumbling 2.6 percent earlier in the session."

Bloomberg - "Mortgage Defaults Rise 62 Percent, RealtyTrac Reports" (5-15-07)

"Mortgages in foreclosure rose 62 percent in April and the number of Americans falling behind on home loans will climb this year as home prices fall and lending standards are tightened, RealtyTrac Inc. said. There were 147,708 notices of default, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions last month, led by California, Florida and Ohio, the Irvine, California-based seller of foreclosure data said today. The median U.S. home price fell 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter, according to a separate report by the National Association of Realtors."

NPR - "Former Ameriquest Workers Tell of Deception" (5-15-07)

"Some former employees of the nation's leading subprime lender say the company encouraged them to conceal rate terms and make fake fixed-loan documents that pushed customers into loans they couldn't afford."

Palm Beach Post - "Tug of War: Owners don't budge as houses sit unsold" (5-15-07)

"The region's once-sizzling housing market - which for nearly five years lured investors with double-digit gains, easy credit and 40-year-low interest rates - has simmered to a showdown. Indeed, some market watchers believe home prices are the object of a high-stakes tug of war between home buyers in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast armed with low interest rates, and home sellers who refuse to budge from boom-time home prices despite rising inventory, surging foreclosures and tightened credit standards."

The Herald Tribune - "'60 Minutes' puts Realtors on defensive" (5-15-07)

"Using an Internet-based business to slash real estate commissions gets the CBS "60 Minutes" treatment on Sunday, prompting the Sarasota Association of Realtors and its national counterpart to do some advance coaching of their agents."

Best Syndication - "No Closing Cost Mortgage Advertising Is A Lie!" (5-15-07)

"No Closing Cost and Flat Fee mortgage advertising in a word is a rip-off. So much so that California regulators outlawed the use of the phase in all mortgage advertising in their state. All state mortgage regulators should immediately adopted the same restriction if they truely want to protect mortgage consumers. Until then, the rest of the country is fair game. That means you! Read this carefully and learning to protect yourself. Not do so can cost you $20,000, $50,000 or even $100,000 over your mortgage paying lifetime."

Seeking Alpha - "Banks Face Growing Pressure on Home Prices" (5-15-07)

"One of the themes I've developed over the years was that of the Slow-Motion-Slow-Down: As rates ticked higher, home sales would slow, refis and MEW would decrease, inventory would build, and prices would come down."

eFinanceDirectory.com - "Update on the Subprime Bailout" (5-15-07)

"Billions of dollars have already been earmarked for people who got into trouble with subprime loans. The plans are risky, because administrators will be hard pressed to bail out the unfortunate borrowers who signed their lives away without rewarding the lenders who made the bad loans."

The Wall Street Journal - "Mortgage Woes Push Banks to Big Discounts" (5-15-07)

"A surge of foreclosures over the past year or so has left lenders struggling to sell a growing backlog of homes. Rather than relying on real-estate agents, the usual practice, some are turning to large-scale auctions to speed up the sale process."

Market Watch - "Banks tightening mortgage-lending standards: Fed" (5-15-07)

"U.S. banks dramatically tightened their standards for approving residential mortgages in the first quarter, the Federal Reserve said Monday. In particular, banks made it harder to get subprime residential mortgage loans and nontraditional loans such as interest-only loans, the Fed reported. All told, at least 23 of the 53 domestic banks surveyed, or 43%, tightened their mortgage lending standards, up from 16% in the fourth quarter. The latest data are not strictly comparable to previous numbers, because the Fed has changed the wording of its questionnaire."

Orange County Register - "46% say latest median price is "totally off" (5-15-07)

"Recent mid-month home-price reports from DataQuick shows the median resale price at what would be a new record high for a full month. The current record, $705,000, was set in April 2006. We asked visitors to the Lansner on Real Estate blog if this was a solid statistic, or just a statistical quirk? The 844 votes cast online, in what's an unscientific sample of public sentiment, said the recent median is ..."