Inside Bay Area - "Report: Bay Area may face job losses" (6-19-07)

"A 2-year-old bill is about to come due for the Bay Area and the rest of California in the form of job losses triggered by the nose-dive in the housing market, a forecast being released today suggests. Experience points to a lag time of two years between a peak in home-building activity and a pronounced slowdown, or even job losses, for industries whose fortunes are linked to the housing market, according to researchers with the UCLA Anderson Forecast. The economists studied four cycles involving housing slumps and the after-effects on the job market. Somewhere around summer 2005, building permits in California hit a peak and then began to slump, said Ryan Ratcliff, an economist with UCLA Anderson."

NAHB - "Housing Starts Fall 2.1 Percent In May As Downswing Continues" (6-19-07)

"Housing starts fell 2.1 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.474 million units as the correction in the housing market continued, according to figures released by the Commerce Department today. Starts were down 24.2 percent from a year earlier. 'Builders still are cutting back on new production as they work down their inventories in the face of slack home buyer demand,' said Brian Catalde, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from El Segundo, Calif. 'According to recent NAHB Housing Market Index surveys, they are trimming prices and offering a variety of nonprice incentives to boost sales and limit cancellations.'"

MBA - "MBA Hails House Introduction of Legislation to Extend Terrorism Risk Insurance Program" (6-19-07)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today applauded the introduction of HR 2761 – the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act of 2007 - by Representative Michael Capuano (D-MA) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA). As introduced on June 18, HR 2761 provides for a ten year extension to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program at the Department of the Treasury. MBA is pleased to see the introduction of this bill and looks forward to working with Congress on a long-term solution."

The San Diego Union Tribune - "Housing slump's drag on state flagged" (6-19-07)

"The continuing downturn in the real estate market will result in sluggish economic growth in California through late 2008 and home sales may not stabilize until mid-2009, according to a report released today by one of the state's leading economic think tanks. Layoffs in construction and finance will drag job growth to below 1 percent for the next five quarters, said a report by the UCLA Anderson Forecast."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Housing Starts Fell in May to 1.474 Million Pace" (6-19-07)

"Housing starts in the U.S. fell in May, signaling the slump in home construction will continue to depress growth. Builders broke ground on new houses at an annual rate of 1.474 million, down 2.1 percent from 1.502 million the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Building permits rose 3 percent to 1.501 million from 1.457 million."

Yahoo - "Is That Gain on Your Home Really So Big?" (6-19-07)

"Here's a not-so-uncommon scenario these days: You bought your lovely home, be it a castle, bungalow or yurt, for $200,000 five years ago. Today, it's worth about $300,000. That's a tidy 50% total gain, or 8.5% on a compound annual basis. Right? Not so fast -- you've probably oversimplified matters. For example, think about what you've put into the home over the years. Some of those purported profits probably went to businesses like Home Depot (NYSE: HD - News), Lowe's (NYSE: LOW - News), or home-building supplier USG (NYSE: USG - News)."

CNN - "When the housing rebound comes" (6-19-07)

"If you're the sensitive type of homeowner, you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph, which recounts the unrelentingly grim news about home prices. At least 42 percent of major housing markets are in decline, with some projected to fall by double digits over the next five years. One alarming sign: The National Association of Realtors has reversed its usually sunny outlook and is now predicting a 1 percent drop nationwide in existing home prices in 2007, the first such prediction in the four decades since NAR started tracking prices."

Yahoo - "Adjusting to Higher Mortgage Payments" (6-19-07)

"Back in April, I wrote "Six Steps to Avoiding Foreclosure" as a practical guide for homeowners who are having trouble meeting their mortgage payments. The most important nugget of advice I gave in that column -- and something that not enough homeowners do -- is to take the initiative to call your lender as soon as you realize you have a problem. The same advice holds true if you have an adjustable rate mortgage that's going to reset to a higher interest rate -- which in turn will raise your monthly mortgage payment."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Economy: Housing Starts Fell, Signaling Prolonged Slump" (6-19-07)

Housing starts in the U.S. fell for the first time in four months in May as interest rates rose, suggesting no early end to the recession in residential real estate. Builders broke ground on new houses at an annual rate of 1.474 million, down 2.1 percent from the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Building permits increased 3 percent to 1.501 million. The worst housing recession in 16 years is restraining economic growth even as inflation is too high for the comfort of Federal Reserve officials. A jump in mortgage rates and a glut of unsold properties may further reduce demand in coming months, economists said."

Orange County Register - "Bixby Land closes on $345 million purchase of six O.C. properties" (6-19-07)

"Newport Beach-based Bixby Land Co. announced Tuesday it has finalized the purchase of six properties in Newport Beach, Irvine and Seal Beach that it's buying from Maguire Properties for about $345 million. The sales are the latest in a series of property flips that began when The Blackstone Group bought Equity Office Properties in February. The properties consist of 11 buildings at five locations, with a total of 816,000 square feet, the real estate investment and development firm said. In addition, the deal includes a developable 3.5-acre site in Irvine where Bixby plans to build a four-story office building consisting of about 100,000 square feet."

Orange County Register - "Arden Realty acquires 106 office buildings in O.C. and the West" (6-19-07)

"Arden Realty officials announced today the signing of an agreement to buy 38 properties in Orange County and five Western cities. The properties consist of 106 office buildings and 5.9 million square feet in Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake City. The properties made up the CarrAmerica West Coast Collection that Blackstone Group purchased last year."

Los Angeles Times - "Santa Monica Snapshot: North of Montana, $5 Million Is the New Normal" (6-19-07)

"Like Westside Bubble, we were surprised when listings broke through the $5-million barrier north of Montana in Santa Monica, and more surprised when the house in question sold above the asking price in, like, 11 minutes."

Real Estate Journal - "Luxury-Home Floor Plans That Are Popular With Buyers" (6-19-07)

"Even in a slow market for new homes, some luxury models are still proving popular with buyers. Nearly two years into the housing slowdown, builders report that their top-selling high-end homes feature less-conventional floor plans and more specialty rooms than previous models, even though the overall square footage in most cases has remained the same. Many of the most popular models, designed to fit onto smaller lots, feature angled walls or entryways that make interiors appear bigger; game rooms, sun rooms and other special-use spaces; and smaller formal living rooms."

Real Estate Journal - "How I Sold My House In Just Six Days" (6-19-07)

"When my agent listed my house on June 8, she included what I feared was too bold a directive: 'Seller will review all offers on June 14.' All offers? What if there were no offers? Such a technique was common during the real-estate boom. But more recently, I've mostly seen the tactic used when a home is in excellent shape -- a message that a lot of time (and possibly, money) was spent making the house move-in ready and that a buyer should act quickly. I wondered whether my place was really in such good shape and worried buyers might be scared away."