NAHB - "Builders Applaud HUD’s Clear Guidance on Accessibility Requirements" (6-8-07)

"The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced yesterday that multifamily builders can rest assured they are complying with all applicable accessibility requirements when following the 2006 edition of the International Building Code (IBC) and the 2003 edition of the International Code Council (ICC) A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities. HUD’s safe harbor endorsement was announced by Kim Kendrick, HUD’s assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Spring Board of Directors meeting."

The San Diego Union-Tribune - "Fear of inflation, Fed remarks take toll on markets" (6-8-07)

"Not long ago, Wall Street trembled when it looked as if the slowing U.S. economy might be getting worse. But now, anxiety over the potential for higher inflation, driven by a strong global economy, is preoccupying investors. Yesterday, that fear took its toll on stocks and bonds again. Share prices saw their steepest three-day decline since markets dropped around the world in February, and the interest rate on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose above 5 percent for the first time since last summer."

USA Today - "Rules 'hiding' trillions in debt" (6-8-07)

"The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The loss reflects a continued deterioration in the finances of Social Security and government retirement programs for civil servants and military personnel. The loss — equal to $11,434 per household — is more than Americans paid in income taxes in 2006."

Yahoo - "Money & Happiness" (6-8-07)

"In the midst of the current housing downturn, I've noticed more media stories bashing homeownership as a bad investment. As one Wall Street Journal article noted, 'economic studies have demonstrated over and over that houses (1) cost more than most people make when they sell and (2) rarely match the long-term returns of stocks or other investments.'"

Yahoo - "Where foreclosure risk is highest" (6-8-07)

"Home owners in the Rust Belt are in more danger of falling critically behind on mortgage payments than anywhere else in the United States, according to a recent study. First American CoreLogic, which provides property information and analysis, monitors 379 locations around the nation. Nine of its top 10 risk spots were in former Midwestern industrial centers."

Birmingham Business Journal - "Mortgage companies struggling" (6-8-07)

"More than half of the mortgage companies in Birmingham have closed as a result of the subprime mortgage-lending industry, revealed a study commissioned by Birmingham's Henger Rast Mortgage Corp. As of May 2007, 284 of the 522 mortgage companies that operated between 2005 and 2007 in Jefferson and Shelby counties have either closed, bankrupted or dissolved, with 153 of those closing in the last six months, the study showed."

Bloomberg - "10-Year Treasuries Head for Biggest Weekly Decline in Two Years" (6-8-07)

"U.S. Treasury 10-year notes are poised for their biggest weekly decline in more than two years, even after recovering from early losses today, on concern that faster economic growth will lead central banks to raise interest rates. Ten-year notes, whose yields determine interest rates on mortgages and corporate bonds, had their biggest slump in more than three years yesterday. The yield touched 5.25 percent earlier today, matching the highest since May 2002."

Bloomberg - "Is Inflation Coming Back or Just Filling a Void?" (6-8-07)

"All of a sudden, inflation is back. At least that's what one would be led to believe based on a resurgence of inflation articles, if not the re-emergence of That 70s Scourge itself. It seems that global growth is turning up the heat on prices. Remember those billion Chinese and Indian workers being inducted into the industrial labor force, offering their services cheaply to any and all bidders? That excess capacity is now gone, based on what I read."

Seeking Alpha - "Housing Prosperity Just Around Corner? I Don't Think So" (6-8-07)

"I can't help but note the similarities between the dotcom-crash rhetoric/predictions back in 2000 and the housing-crash rhetoric/predictions in the last 12 months. Housing obviously won't experience as deep a correction as the dotcoms did, but I haven't heard a single persuasive argument explaining why this downturn won't look like every previous housing downturn: i.e., will last a lot longer and drop much farther than most people think--until price/rent and price/income ratios return to or below their long-term trend. Instead, all I hear are arguments like this one, which are based not on long-term historical trends, but on short-term bubble-year pricing and price trends (arguments I am very familiar with, having made similar ones in late 2000 and early 2001)"

New York Post - "HEDGE FUND BEAR-ISH ON SUBPRIME RELIEF" (6-8-07)

"A big hedge fund on one whopper of a winning streak is picking a bitter fight with Bear Stearns over whether renegotiating loans for homeowners struggling with subprime mortgages is fair play. Paulson & Co., an $11 billion hedge fund, has written regulators over concerns that Bear and other investment banks may be engaged 'in market manipulation" when the banks' mortgage-issuance units modify loans so that homeowners can avoid foreclosure.'"

Yahoo - "Federal Mortgage Reform Unlikely in 2007" (6-8-07)

"Homeowners unable to pay monthly mortgage bills and facing foreclosure shouldn't count on help from Washington this year. Regulators and lawmakers seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach as they confront the fallout from several years of lenders making too many home loans to people with inadequate credit."

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis - "Monte Carlo Simulation of CDOs (Part 1)" (6-8-07)

"Most people have unanswered questions on their minds. Not me. Right now I have two answered questions on my mind. 1. Who's rating the rating companies? 2. Who's the ultimate guarantor of CDOs when the derivative boom collapses?"

LewRockwell.com - "Ben Bernanke's Post-Horse Barn Door-Locking Strategy for Real Estate" (6-8-07)

"Ben Bernanke's June 5, 2007 speech on the real estate market was an exercise in futility. He did not refer to the obvious: his predecessor's monetary policy, which created a real estate bubble. Instead, he promised new regulatory measures, which are in fact the old measures, which failed to prevent the bubble. He admitted that the present economic slowdown was heavily dependent on the fall in the real estate market: about one percentage point."

Yahoo - "Meritage Homes Warns on 2007 Outlook" (6-8-07)

"Homebuilder Meritage Homes Corp. said Wednesday it expects to fall short of its previous 2007 guidance as a result of weaker-than-expected April and May home sales. According to preliminary figures, net sales for the first two months of the second quarter were about 21 percent lower than the same period last year, Meritage said. In addition, cancellations increased to 36 percent of gross orders from 27 percent in the first quarter, the company said."

Orange County Register - "Ohio sues two O.C. real estate firms over appraisals" (6-8-07)

"Ohio, the state with the third highest number of foreclosures, sued 10 real estate companies – including two based in Orange County – for improperly pressuring appraisers to inflate home values. The companies, based in Ohio, California, Arizona and New York, are accused of setting specific estimated values on properties and communicating a desired price to appraisers, according to the lawsuits filed by Attorney General Marc Dann on Thursday. In Ohio, it's illegal to influence an appraiser. Those sued include seven mortgage brokers, two lenders and an appraiser."

Los Angeles Times - "Are Realtors Really Worth the 6%? New Study Says No." (6-8-07)

"Are Realtors Really Worth It? A new study from Northwestern University concludes: No, not quite. Here's how The New York Times previewed the study today: 'The conclusion, in a study to be released today based on home-sales data from 1998 to 2004 in Madison, Wis., is that people in that city who sold their homes through real estate agents typically did not get a higher sale price than people who sold their homes themselves. When the agent’s commission is factored in, the for-sale-by-owner people came out ahead financially.'"

Real Estate Journal - "As Insurers Flee Coast, States Face New Threat" (6-8-07)

"As hurricane season gets under way, a dramatic shift in the way homeowners insure against disasters could pose a big financial risk in several coastal states. These last-resort insurers, which cover people the private sector won't, issued more than two million policies to homeowners and businesses in hurricane-prone states last year, about twice as many as in 2001. Over that same five-year period, their total liability for potential claims has increased roughly threefold, topping $650 billion. Meanwhile, a separate federal flood-insurance program has seen its liability jump by two-thirds since 2001 to just over $1 trillion."