NAHB - "NAHB 50+ Housing Council Recognizes 2007 Best Of 50+ Housing Award Winners" (6-5-07)

"The NAHB 50+ Housing Council, which has promoted excellence in the seniors housing industry for the past 15 years, presented gold and silver awards in 58 categories to current and on-the-boards projects from across the United States and as far away as Japan. Design categories covered a range of product types such as active adult, assisted living, continuing-care retirement community, clubhouse design, rental apartments and renovated seniors housing. Winners were also honored for excellence in marketing strategies focused on the mature market. Two Special Judges’ Awards for Innovation were also presented to projects that demonstrated extraordinary creativity and insight."

North County Times - "Real estate scam emerges -- 'Crash and inflate' method generally leads to foreclosure" (6-5-07)

"Real estate appraiser Todd R. Lackner's second job as mortgage fraud investigator began when he stumbled onto a suspicious-looking transaction while online one day last March, he said last week. Within weeks, he was chest-deep in dozens of investigations of suspected mortgage fraud, and was helping federal investigators get the goods on real estate scammers who commit what are known as inflated-sale and-crash schemes, Lackner said."

Yahoo - "A Look At U.S. Home Price Performance in 20 Markets" (6-5-07)

"S&P/Case Shiller recently released the March figures for median home prices in the 20 cities they analyze. As many of you know, the Chicago Merc trades futures contracts based on these home-price indices. Below we highlight the difference between the actual March home price figures and the contract price of the home-price futures expiring in May 2008. As shown, all eleven contracts are indicating increased weakness in the housing market. Las Vegas is expected to decline the most, while San Francisco is expected to decline the least."

Bloomberg - "Bernanke Says `Tighter' Lending to `Restrain' Housing" (6-5-07)

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said 'tighter' lending standards for mortgages will 'restrain' housing demand for longer than policy makers anticipated. The Fed chairman said the housing slump hasn't spilled over into other parts of the economy and he maintained a forecast for 'moderate' growth. Government and industry reports this month showed acceleration in job growth, manufacturing and personal spending and gains in services industries."

Bloomberg - "Treasuries Fall, Pushing Yields to Highest Level Since August" (6-5-07)

"Treasuries fell, pushing the benchmark 10-year note's yield to the highest level since August, after a private-sector survey showed U.S. service industry expansion last month reached the highest in more than a year. The yield on the 10-year note rose more than 4 basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 4.97 percent at 10:29 a.m. in New York, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. It was the highest since reaching 5 percent on Aug. 15. The price of the 4 1/2 percent security due in May 2017 declined 11/32, or $3.44 per $1,000 face amount, to 96 10/32."

Bloomberg - "Fannie, Freddie May Enrich Shareholders in Subprime's Shakeout" (6-5-07)

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the once- derided white elephants of the mortgage market, are benefiting from the subprime lending debacle and trampling just about anything in their way. The government-chartered companies, the biggest source of money for Americans buying houses, accounted for 46.9 percent of all mortgage bonds sold through April, newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance says. Their share rose from a record low 37.3 percent in last year's second quarter."

Realty Times - "Conditions Worsen For Summer Home Sales" (6-5-07)

"Home prices have fallen for the first time in 16 years according to the National Association of Realtors and the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index, but that's not the only bad news for buyers and sellers -- mortgage interest rates are rising, and quickly."

Forbes - "Home Builders Hit The Hill" (6-5-07)

"On Wednesday, 1,300 home builders will call on Capitol Hill as part of a legislative conference organized by their trade group, the National Association of Home Builders. They'll do so against a grim industry backdrop. 'For the first summer in many summers, we're not helping to keep unemployment numbers down,' says Jerry M. Howard, 51, the NAHB's chief executive. 'For the first time in six years, we are a drag on the economy rather than a plus.'"

New York Post - "HEDGE FUND BEAR-ISH ON SUBPRIME RELIEF" (6-5-07)

"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."

MSNBC - "ECB inflation fears make rate rise likely" (6-5-07)

"The European Central Bank is poised this week to raise its 2007 forecasts foreurozone inflation and growth, heightening the chances that further interest rate rises will follow an increase likely to be announced on Wednesday. An upwards revision to its eurozone inflation forecast would highlight the risk that the ECB will again this year fail to meet its target for price stability – an annual inflation rate 'below but close' to 2 per cent. Its last forecast, published in March, was for a rate in a range with a mid-point of 1.8 per cent."

Housing Predictor - "Foreclosures Will Affect 2 Million Homeowners" (6-5-07)

"Rooted in society’s insatiable desire for wealth and the pursuit of the American dream of home ownership, the fall out from the sub-prime loan market fiasco has evolved into the nation’s largest foreclosure crisis since the 1980's."

Patrick.net - "Factors Forcing Housing To Crash" (6-5-07)

"There are 2.2 million vacant houses -- or 2.8% of housing supply. Housing prices are dropping and every factor is accelerating the drop. Mortgage underwriting is tightening and will tighten more as foreclosures increase. Foreclosures are increasing and increasing dramatically in bubble areas.Foreclosure auctions are relatively unsuccessful and inventory is becoming REOs. Builders have 180,000 vacant new houses to sell"

Bloomberg - "Fed Faces Pressure to Raise Rates, Options Show" (6-5-07)

"In the options market where the savviest investors take apart conventional wisdom, the Federal Reserve is facing growing pressure to consider raising interest rates as soon as December. Options on Federal Fund futures at the Chicago Board of Trade indicate a 41 percent chance the central bank will lift its target rate for overnight loans between banks to 5.5 percent from the current 5.25 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A month ago, they showed no expectations for an increase."

Yahoo - "Paper Chase" (6-5-07)

"In 2006 Michelle Tucker, a 35-year-old UPS package processor and mother of two, was hit by a one-two punch. Her husband had surgery on his shoulder and was forced to stop taking construction jobs around town that helped pay the bills. Worse, the adjustable mortgage with the low teaser rate she took out on her three-bedroom home in Jacksonville, Fla. adjusted, now to 10%, nearly double her old rate. She defaulted. Soon after, the lender filed suit to foreclose."

LA Times - "'We Are Already In a Recession,' Says SoCal Housing Bear" (6-5-07)

"As bracing as a cold shower, this interview with SoCal housing bear Schahrzad Berkland is worth reading -- notably for the assertion, 'We are already in a recession.' (Aside: corporate economists generally can't be relied on tell you whether a recession is coming, or has arrived).

Real Estate Journal - "What's Wrong With This House? Finding a Good Home Inspector" (6-5-07)

"Buying a house means buying its problems. That's where home inspections come in. Many states and real-estate companies require sellers to disclose what they know about a home's problems, such as mice in the attic. But inspections, which are the buyer's responsibility, can reveal what the seller either doesn't know or isn't telling you. Big-ticket flaws can run the gamut from foundation cracks to a faulty septic system. Before closing on a property, buyers can ask sellers to fix problems, negotiate a credit for repair costs or agree to buy the house "as is." Walking away from the deal entirely can be a final option."