Broker Universe - "California Resales Fall 22.7%" (8-30-07)

"The sales of existing single-family detached homes in California were down 22.7% in July from the level recorded a year earlier, according to the California Association of Realtors. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of closed-escrow resales totaled 350,980 in July, down from the 453,980-unit rate recorded in July 2006, CAR reported. The median price of an existing single-family detached home in California totaled $586,030 in July, up 3.2% from a revised $567,860 a year earlier, the association said."

MBA - "OFHEO House Price Index Shows Smallest Quarterly Increase Since 1994" (8-30-07)

"U.S. home prices increased only slightly in the second quarter of 2007 according to the OFHEO House Price Index (HPI). The HPI, which is based on data from sales and refinance transactions, was 0.1 percent higher in the second quarter than in the first quarter of 2007. This is below the revised growth rate of 0.6 percent for the previous quarter and the lowest since the fourth quarter of 1994. Prices in the second quarter of 2007 were 3.2 percent higher than they were in the same quarter of 2006, the lowest annual price change since the 1996-97 period."

MBA - "Ginnie Mae" (8-30-07)

"Ginnie Mae is eliminating the restriction on the size of mortgage loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that can be pooled in mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Ginnie Mae. Effective with pools issued on or after September 1, 2007, Ginnie Mae will no longer limit the size of VA loans to the maximum original loan amount for conforming loans. Conforming loans are mortgage loans that meet the purchase criteria of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, pursuant to Section 302(b)(2) of the National Housing Act, and Section 305(a)(2) of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act, respectively."

Yahoo - "Bernanke: Looking to help homeowners" (8-30-07)

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is suggesting that policymakers look for ways to encourage a wider range of mortgages geared for low income and other borrowers who have been hard hit by the housing slump and credit crunch. Bernanke, in a letter to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., that was released Wednesday, said the Fed is keeping close tabs on financial markets and is "prepared to act as needed" to ensure spreading credit problems that have rocked Wall Street in recent weeks don't hurt the economy. It's a message the central bank has been sending as the markets have grown more turbulent."

Reuters - "Fed not rushing to bail out investors with rate cut: report" (8-30-07)

"The U.S. Federal Reserve is not rushing to cut benchmark interest rates because it wants to break investors of the view that the central bank is there to bail them out, an article in the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday. Fed watcher Greg Ip, without quoting specific sources, said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was keen to draw a distinction between keeping financial markets ticking over and ensuring a sound economy."

Bloomberg - "Commercial Paper Extends Slump on Asset-Backed Woes" (8-30-07)

"The U.S. commercial paper market shrank for a third week, extending the biggest slump in at least seven years and signaling that the Federal Reserve's attempts to lower borrowing costs have had a limited impact so far. Asset-backed commercial paper, which accounted for half the market, tumbled $59.4 billion to $998 billion in the week ended yesterday, the lowest since December, according to the Federal Reserve. Total short-term debt maturing in 270 days or less fell $62.8 billion to a seasonally adjusted $1.98 trillion."

Bloomberg - "Britain's Housing Lenders Tighten Subprime Credit" (8-30-07)

"U.K. lenders responsible for 12 percent of the nation's mortgages are tightening standards for loans on house purchases, withdrawing offers and raising the cost for borrowers with less than perfect credit. Merrill Lynch & Co.'s Mortgages Plc unit said yesterday that it raised its interest rates. Northern Rock Plc, the Newcastle upon Tyne building society that had 8.4 percent of the market last year, and Residential Capital Corp.'s GMAC-RFC unit, with a 3.5 percent share, said they stopped some offers and lifted costs for others. Deutsche Bank AG did the same, while two lenders backed by Investec Plc have stopped all subprime loans."

Bloomberg - "Freddie Mac Net Drops on Provision for Housing Slump" (8-30-07)

"Freddie Mac, the second-biggest U.S. mortgage finance company, reported quarterly profit fell 45 percent after setting aside $320 million for losses as the housing slump deepened. Freddie Mac shares fell the most in more than two years after net income declined to $764 million, or $1.02 a share, from $1.4 billion, or $1.93, a year earlier. Revenue dropped 4.8 percent to $2.26 billion, McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac said today in a statement."

Bloomberg - "Thornburg Sells $500 Million of Preferred Shares" (8-30-07)

"Thornburg Mortgage Inc., the jumbo- mortgage specialist that was forced to stop making new loans, sold $500 million of convertible preferred stock to help alleviate a shortage of cash. Proceeds from the sale will help the Santa Fe, New Mexico- based company resume loan origination and the purchase of mortgage-backed securities, Thornburg said in a statement. The sale was completed four hours after it was announced, spurring a rally of as much as 17 percent in Thornburg shares on the New York Stock Exchange."

Bloomberg - "Bernanke May Hear Call for Fed Activism on Regulation" (8-30-07)

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may be urged to consider tighter regulation as he and his counterparts clean up the financial mess from U.S. subprime- mortgage defaults. The central bank's hands-off approach to using interest rates to pop asset bubbles and reluctance to impose new rules will come under scrutiny as policy makers and economists from around the world gather for the annual symposium organized by the Kansas City Fed bank starting today in Jackson Hole, Wyoming."

Market Watch - "Investment homes are major part of defaults" (8-30-07)

"Mortgages for investment properties constitute a major chunk of defaults in four states with the fastest-rising rates of seriously delinquent loans, according to data released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgages on non-owner occupied properties in Nevada accounted for 32% of prime mortgage defaults as of June 30 as well as for 24% of subprime loan defaults, the MBA said."

Bloomberg - "H&R Block Loss Doubles on Costs to Fund Mortgage Unit" (8-30-07)

"H&R Block Inc., the biggest U.S. tax- preparer, said first-quarter losses more than doubled on costs to finance its money-losing subprime mortgage unit. The net loss for the fiscal quarter, which ended July 31, was $302.6 million, or 93 cents a share, compared with $131.4 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier, Kansas City, Missouri-based H&R Block said today in a statement. Losses excluding the mortgage unit were 34 cents a share, in line with the 35-cent average of seven analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg."

CNN - "Flippers fuel foreclosures" (8-30-07)

"Flippers and other speculators investing in single-family homes helped drive up prices in many hot housing markets during the boom. Now they're contributing heavily to mortgage delinquencies in several of those markets. Defaults in non-owner occupied houses are driving defaults in four of the states with the fastest rising default rates in the nation, according to a report released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association."

Real Estate Journal - "Home Prices Slide As Pullback Shows No Signs of Slowing" (8-30-07)

"The decline in U.S. home prices accelerated in the second quarter as a glut of unsold homes and tighter lending standards continued to weigh on the market. Home prices nationwide tumbled an average 3.2% from a year earlier, according to an index compiled by Standard & Poor's Corp. The decline was sharper than the year-to-year decline in the first quarter, when the S&P/Case-Shiller national home-price index dropped 1.6%."