DQNews.com - "California May 2007 Home Sales" (6-15-07)

"A total of 36,975 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That's up 5.8 percent from 34,949 for April, and down 31.7 percent from 54,099 for May 2006. Last month's sales made for the slowest May since 1995 when 32,223 homes were sold. May sales from 1988 to 2007 range from 32,952 in 1993 to 67,958 in 2004. The average is 48,780. On a year-over-year basis, sales have declined the last 20 months."

MBA - "Freddie Mac Offers Guidance Regarding 2007 Area Median Income Changes" (6-15-07)

"On February 17, 2005, Freddie Mac introduced Home Possible Mortgages to help its Sellers meet the needs of more low- to moderate-income borrowers. The Home Possible Mortgage suite has successfully provided low-down payment options and credit flexibility to assist these borrowers. The suite also provides features such as higher debt payment-to-income ratios and extended temporary subsidy buydown plans for firefighters, law enforcement officers, healthcare workers and teachers—borrowers who live in the communities they support—and to members of the armed forces."

Voice of America - "Bankers Says More Problems Ahead for Slumping US Housing Market" (6-15-07)

"The bankers' association predicts overall growth in the U.S. economy will be 2.1 percent in 2007. That is less than the 3.2 percent growth of 2006. But bank economists do not foresee an outright decline or recession either this year or next. Stockbroker Scott Brown of St. Petersburg, Florida, says the growth deceleration is mainly the result of weakness in the housing sector. Brown says home owners are seeing a painful correction from the buying frenzy that in many areas sent home prices soaring between 2000 and 2005."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Economy: Core Prices Ease, Letting Fed Hold Rate" (6-15-07)

"A measure of U.S. consumer prices rose less than forecast in May, evidence that ebbing inflationary pressures may allow the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged this year. The 0.1 percent increase in core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy costs, followed a 0.2 percent rise the prior month, the Labor Department said in Washington today. Separately, the University of Michigan reported that consumer confidence fell, and Fed figures gave conflicting signals on the strength of manufacturing."

CNN - "Overheated housing markets cool down" (6-15-07)

"Some of the nation's most overheated housing markets may be cooling off to more reasonable levels following their unprecedented run-up in the first half of the decade. According to a report from the financial service companies, National City Corp and Global Insight, the number of single-family homes they judged overvalued in the United States fell from 17 percent in the last quarter of 2006 to 14 percent in the quarter ended March 31."

DQNews.com - "Bay Area home sales drop, prices up" (6-15-07)

"Bay Area homes continued to sell at their slowest pace in 12 years last month, as the median sales price edged up to a new peak, a real estate information service reported. A total of 8,080 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area in May. That was up 8.5 percent from 7,447 in April, and down 18.7 percent from 9,935 for May a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems."

The Boston Globe - "Mortgage rates rise toward 5-year high" (6-15-07)

"Mortgage rates are nearing a five-year high, raising the cost of home ownership for buyers by hundreds or thousands of dollars a year at a time when real estate markets are struggling with tepid demand and a surplus of houses for sale. The average rate for a traditional 30-year fixed mortgage jumped to 6.74 percent, from 6.53 percent a week ago, Freddie Mac, one of the nation's largest mortgage investors, said yesterday in its weekly market survey. That was the biggest one-week jump since 2004, and in just one month rates have come up by more than one-half a percentage point."

Seeking Alpha - "FTC Confirms That Most Homebuyers Couldn't Identify Mortgage Amount" (6-15-07)

"Tim Iacono submits: Today's LA Times report of a study by the Federal Trade Commission confirms what many observers may have suspected about mortgage lending disclosure during the housing boom a couple years back - even if home buyers cared about the price they were paying, they had only a fifty-fifty chance of finding it on their loan documents."

Reuters - "Home builders pare down to weather storm" (6-15-07)

"There is no good news for some the largest home building companies in the United States. 'We do think if you're dumb enough to buy a home builder (share), you ought to buy us,' Ryland Group Inc.(RYL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer R. Chad Dreier, told an investor audience at the JP Morgan Basics and Industrials Conference this week."

CNN - "An era of cheap money - gone" (6-15-07)

"This month's rise in global interest rates is probably a sign of the beginning of the end of an era of supercheap money - a change with profound implications for the recent record-setting stock rally, the buyout boom and economic growth worldwide. The question now is how much more rates might rise in the United States and elsewhere, and how that will affect world markets - and hundreds of millions of investors and consumers from Tokyo to Frankfurt to New York."

Market Watch - "Adjustable-rate mortgages going sour" (6-15-07)

"The mortgage bankers came out with their latest survey on mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures on Thursday, showing a small rise in the percentage of homeowners who are in the process of losing their homes because they aren't paying the mortgage. At the end of the quarter, 1.28% of all loans were in the foreclosure process, up from 1.19% in the fourth quarter. See full story. For those who have fixed-rate loans, or who passed the strict criteria to get a loan from the FHA or VA, foreclosure and delinquency rates actually fell. But those who took out adjustable-rate loans fell further behind."

Los Angeles Times - "'60 Minutes' Effect? Overwhelmed Redfin Stops Accepting New Listings" (6-15-07)

"Redfin, the discount online real estate brokerage, announced tonight that it has stopped accepting new listings, saying it has been overwhelmed by an unexpected spike in listings in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The company was recently featured on the CBS news show '60 Minutes.' Redfin made the announcement on its corporate blog Friday in a post titled 'A Crazy Decision': 'From June 16 to July 8, Redfin is not accepting new listing customers. You can submit listing information now if you'd like, but we will not contact you or list your property until July 9. If Redfin has already committed to listing your property, you can be sure that we will continue to meet your highest expectations.'"

Real Estate Journal - "Race to the Finish: Will the Seller's Home Be Ready for Open House?" (6-15-07)

"I'm familiar with some staging basics, such as cleaning out clutter and leaving as little as possible in small closets. It was interesting to see my personal belongings rearranged to 'depersonalize' my home -- and render it 'merchandised.' Here's some staging tactics we used"