NAHB - "Builders Urge Congress To Support Market-Driven Green Building" (7-11-07)

"The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today told Congress how its members have been in the forefront during the past decade in promoting and developing energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly construction techniques for the mainstream home builder. 'More than 100,000 homes have been built and certified by voluntary, builder-supported green building programs around the country since the mid-1990s,' Bob Jones, vice president and secretary of NAHB and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said in testimony before the House Small Business Committee. 'The green movement in residential construction derives much of its strength from its voluntary nature, which provides builders and developers the flexibility that is essential for incorporating the principles of sustainable design.'"

NAR - "Home Prices Expected to Recover in 2008 As Inventories Decline" (7-11-07)

"Home prices are expected to recover in 2008 with existing-home sales picking up late this year and new-home sales rising early next year, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®. Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said a good buyers’ market has evolved. 'Buyers now have an overwhelming advantage given the wide selection of homes available in many markets,' he said. 'But with profit margins coming under pressure, homebuilders will limit new construction well into 2008. This should help the overall inventory level to move steadily into a more balanced state.'"

MBA - "Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey" (7-11-07)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 6, 2007. This week’s results include an adjustment to account for the Independence Day holiday. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 626.2, an increase of 1.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 619.4 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 19.1 percent compared with the previous week and was up 25.3 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. The Refinance Index decreased 3.0 percent to 1636.9 from 1687.2 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3.8 percent to 453.9 from 437.3 one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted Conventional Index increased 1.2 percent to 918.2 from 907.2 the previous week, and the seasonally adjusted Government Index decreased 0.1 percent to 139.3 from 139.5 the previous week."

MBA - "David Schultz Joins MBA as Senior Director of Education Operations" (7-11-07)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today announced the appointment of David Schultz as Senior Director of Education Operations for CampusMBA, MBA’s award-winning educational arm. David previously served as the Director of Workplace Learning and Performance for Sawyer Realty Holdings, a real estate investment firm specializing in multifamily housing ownership and property management. In this capacity, David was responsible for leading all organizational development and effectiveness initiatives while managing certification programs, onboarding, and leadership development activities. Additionally, David served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1991 - 1994."

Yahoo - "The Rundown on REITs" (7-11-07)

"'What do you think about REITs?' That's a question I have been asked fairly frequently over the past few weeks. Rightfully so, since this asset class, which skyrocketed in the past few years, now appears to have fallen on hard times. Year to date through July 6, the Standard & Poor's Composite 1500 index gained 8.5%, while the majority of the six real estate investment trust indexes declined from approximately 3% to 6.5%. This erosion in performance has caused many to ask: 'Is this the beginning of the correction in real estate stocks?'"

FXStreet.com - "US: The subprime story re-erupts" (7-11-07)

"Standard & Poor’s yesterday downgraded the outlook on USD 12bn of subprime-related debt, while Moody’s cut the ratings of USD 5.2bn of debt. The USD 12bn put on negative outlook by S&P corresponds to just over 2% of US residential-mortgage-backed securities. These are securities based on subprime debt originating in the latter part of 2005 and in 2006. Moreover, S&P indicated that they were looking at changes to the rating methodology for CDOs too. The amount of debt affected by the downgrades is not large compared to the total market, but for many investors it is another drop of water in the Chinese water torture of continuing bad news on the US housing market in general and subprime debt in particular."

Bloomberg - "Bond Risk Soars Most in Three Years on Subprime Debt Downgrades" (7-11-07)

"Corporate bond risk soared in Europe by the most in at least three years as debt rating downgrades on U.S. subprime securities triggered a worldwide selloff, according to traders of credit-default swaps. Europe's iTraxx Crossover Index of 50 companies from Italian automaker Fiat SpA to betting group Ladbrokes Plc in London jumped as much as 41,500 euros to 308,000 euros, the biggest daily move since the index was created three years ago, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The CDX North America Investment-Grade Index of credit-default swaps on 125 companies increased $2,500 to $50,750, the highest in 19 months, Deutsche Bank AG prices show."

Bank Net 360 - "Study Finds High-Income Blacks Get Expensive Mortgages" (7-11-07)

"Black and Hispanic consumers with higher incomes are getting mortgage loans with above-market rates, according to a study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. The Washington, D.C.-based organization found that in 2005 blacks in 171 metropolitan areas were at least twice as likely as whites to receive expensive loans. The report also concluded that while the disparity among blacks and whites existed at all income levels, it was more severe at higher income levels, rather than lower ones."

Bloomberg - "Subprime Losses Drub Debt Securities as Ratings Drop" (7-11-07)

"On Wall Street, where the $800 billion market for mortgage securities backed by subprime loans is coming unhinged, traders are belatedly acknowledging what they see isn't what they get. As delinquencies on home loans to people with poor or meager credit surged to a 10-year high this year, no one buying, selling or rating the bonds collateralized by these bad debts bothered to quantify the losses. Now the bubble is bursting and there is no agreement on how much money has vanished: $52 billion, according to an estimate from Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group earlier this week that followed a $90 billion assessment from Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG."

Bloomberg - "Bear Can Unwind Funds in `Orderly Fashion,' SEC Says" (7-11-07)

"The funds' near-meltdown sparked concern that Bear Stearns would be forced to unload billions of dollars of securities at fire-sale prices. The New York-based firm eventually bailed out one of the funds with $1.6 billion in emergency financing. Bear Stearns said yesterday the second fund cut its debt in half to $600 million after negotiating with creditors and selling assets. Shares of Bear Stearns, which dropped 4.1 percent yesterday on concern it may face losses on mortgage bonds, rose 97 cents to $138.93 in 12:40 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading."

Bloomberg - "SEC Asserts Authority to Sue Hedge Funds for Fraud" (7-11-07)

"The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new rules ensuring it can sue hedge funds for misleading investors, following a court ruling that put in doubt the regulator's authority over the $1.6 trillion industry. The SEC barred hedge funds from lying about investing strategies, performance, a manager's experience and the risks of putting money in a fund. SEC commissioners unanimously approved the rule in a public meeting in Washington today."

Bloomberg - "Steel, Warsh Don't See `Systemic Risk' From Subprime" (7-11-07)

"The U.S. Treasury Department's top domestic-finance official and a Federal Reserve governor said investor losses from subprime-mortgage delinquencies aren't posing broader risks to the financial system. Robert Steel, a Treasury undersecretary, said at a House Financial Services Committee hearing today that the sell-off in subprime securities 'does not seem to be a systemic issue.' The Fed's Kevin Warsh told the same panel that the losses 'don't appear to be raising, to this point, systemic risk issues.'"

Bloomberg - "U.S. Homebuilding Slump Will Last Through Next Year" (7-11-07)

"U.S. home sales and prices will fall further in 2007 and the housing slump will persist into next year as builders curtail production, the National Association of Realtors said. The group reduced its sales forecast today for the seventh consecutive month and said existing home sales will fall 5.6 percent to 6.11 million in 2007. Prices will drop 1.4 percent. In 2008, single-family housing starts will probably fall to their lowest since 1995, the Realtors said in a statement."

Orange County Register - "Listing deletes homes' days-on-market data" (7-11-07)

"Home shoppers in Orange County and other parts of Southern California will no longer know how long a residence has been on the market unless they ask. The Southern California Multiple Listing Service has stopped providing "days-on-market" data in client reports. That decision has sparked some speculation in the blogosphere that the MLS is trying to hide details about old listings while driving more traffic to real estate agents."

CNN - "Housing slump gets longer, and longer ..." (7-11-07)

"The slump in home sales and prices will be deeper and last longer than previously expected, according to the latest forecast Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors. The trade group is now looking for flat prices for existing homes in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the first quarter of 2007, and a more year-over-year declines for new home. The group's previous monthly forecast had projected that both new and existing home prices would start to rebound to show a year-over-year rise in the first quarter of 2008."

Market Watch - "Home builders drowning in losses, subprime fallout" (7-11-07)

"Two of the largest residential builders this week warned that they expected to post quarterly losses driven mainly by impairment charges. Additionally, a pair of widely followed ratings agencies said they planned to downgrade billions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed bonds threatened by the subprime mess."

Orange County Register - "Housing weakness worries push down indexes" (7-11-07)

"Stocks slid Tuesday as the subprime mortgage crisis escalated, undermining banking shares while Home Depot Inc. and other housing-related companies lowered their outlooks. Standard & Poor's roiled financial markets when it said it may cut ratings on $12 billion of subprime-related debt on forecasts of more delinquent and defaulted home loans. Shares of investment banks and mortgage companies were especially hard hit while U.S. Treasury bonds benefited from the flow of funds out of riskier assets. The S&P index of financial shares fell 2.2 percent, its worst one-day performance since mid-March."

Los Angeles Times - "When is it time to cut the price?" (7-11-07)

"Good morning. Pop quiz for sellers out there: If your property is sitting on the market, how long do you wait before reducing the price? Sixty days? One hundred days? Two hundred days? Would you believe... 300 days? That's what just happened at 2812 Elm Ave. in Manhattan Beach, according to the ever watchful Manhattan Beach Confidential: 'The obstinacy of the sellers has been on full public display since Sept. 13, 2006, when they began at $1.769m and then never budged.... The sellers wanted their $1.769m in part because they paid almost $1.6m in June 2005.... The new price is $1.699m, down $70k of the $185k extra the sellers had sought.'"

Los Angeles Times - "Why expensive houses are selling" (7-11-07)

"Leonhardt cites the usual suspects in explaining the strong market for homes at $1 million and above: The rich are getting richer, rich foreigners are buying U.S. real estate, and the credit squeeze is much more hurtful to buyers in lower price ranges."