NAHB - "Home Price Changes Vary By Market, Latest Data Shows" (11-27-07)

"Home appreciation rates vary significantly among the nation’s top markets, according to the latest monthly S&P/Case-Shiller home price statistics that track the nation’s 20 largest metro areas. Among the top 20 markets surveyed by S&P/Case-Shiller, which represent more than 40 percent of the U.S. population, five showed positive home price appreciation rates over the past year, seven posted declines of less than 5 percent, and eight metro areas registered losses of between 5 and 10 percent."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "2008 Conforming Loan Limit $417,000" (11-27-07)

"Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Director James B. Lockhart today announced the maximum 2008 conforming loan limit for single-family mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will remain at the 2007 level of $417,000 for one-unit properties for most of the U.S. Higher limits apply to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as to properties with more than one unit."

MSN - "Getting rich off the subprime mess" (11-27-07)

"For months, Burry had been seeking ways to make money by betting big against the mortgage industry's reckless home-lending practices. And this call from a credit dealer at Deutsche Bank (DB, news, msgs) would finally set his plot in motion. As of last week, Burry's bet against the lenders had helped him quadruple an initial investment of roughly $80 million, according to my estimates. But these trades of a lifetime were by no means easy. They required the former Stanford University Medical Center neurology resident to combine nerves of steel with the conviction of a federal prosecutor. Not to mention his natural inclination as a skeptic."

Yahoo - "Citi Sells Stake to Abu Dhabi Fund" (11-27-07)

"The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will invest $7.5 billion in Citigroup, offering the nation's largest bank needed capital to offset big losses from mortgages and other investments. The cash from the sovereign investment fund of the Gulf Arab state, which has benefited from this year's surge in oil prices, will be convertible into no more than 4.9 percent of Citigroup Inc.'s equity. Citigroup characterized the investment as passive and said the fund will not be able to name any board members to the bank."

Bloomberg - "U.S. Mortgage Crisis Slams Property Values, Revenue" (11-27-07)

"The worst U.S. housing recession in 16 years will drive down property values by $1.2 trillion next year and slash tax revenue by more than $6.6 billion, according to a report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. California, the hardest-hit state, will suffer a $630.6 billion decrease in property values that will cut property tax revenue to local governments by almost $3 billion, the study estimated. The New York City region will see the greatest slowdown in economic output because of the mortgage crisis, according to the report."

Market Watch - "Home prices falling at record pace in third quarter" (11-27-07)

"U.S. home prices fell 4.5% in the year ending in the third quarter, according to the national Case-Shiller price index released by Standard & Poor's on Tuesday. Prices fell 1.7% compared with the second quarter. It's by far the largest price decline in the 20 years covered by the index. Prices had fallen 3.2% in the year ending in the second quarter. Prices fell in all 20 major cities in September compared with August, and were down 4.9% in the past year. Prices fell 5.5% year-over-year in the original 10-city index. The Case-Shiller index, which tracks multiple sales of the same homes, is considered by many observers to be the best gauge of national and metropolitan-area real-estate values."

Yahoo - "D.R. Horton Predicts '08 Worse Than '07" (11-27-07)

"D.R. Horton Inc.'s stock sank to its cheapest trade in four years Tuesday after the homebuilder's chief executive, Donald J. Tomnitz, predicted the housing market will worsen in 2008. Tomnitz's prediction, proffered at the JPMorgan Homebuilding and Building Products Conference at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, hinged on foreclosures."

Bloomberg - "Wells Fargo Sets $1.4 Billion Charge for Home Equity" (11-27-07)

"Wells Fargo & Co., the second- largest U.S. mortgage lender, will take a $1.4 billion pretax charge tied to increased losses on home equity loans. The stock fell more than 4 percent in extended trading. The fourth-quarter charge reflects 'the higher losses the company expects in this portfolio because of further deterioration in the outlook for the housing markets,' the San Francisco-based bank said in a statement. The bank cut off most home-equity loans originated by other financial institutions and mortgage companies and tightened standards on ones made by outside brokers."

Los Angeles Times - "Homeowners' big question: How low will prices go?" (11-27-07)

"'There is nowhere to go but down from here,' said Broida, a leasing broker for office space. 'I know it in my gut.' Few would argue. Southern California home prices have fallen for five straight months, according to data released this month, and are now down 12% from their peak last spring and summer."

Opinion Journal - "The Rise of Family-Friendly Cities" (11-27-07)

"If you talk with recruiters and developers in the nation's fastest growing regions, you find that the critical ability to lure skilled workers, long term, lies not with bright lights and nightclubs, but with ample economic opportunities, affordable housing and family friendly communities not too distant from work. 'People who come here tend to be people who have long commutes elsewhere, and who have young children,' notes Pat Riley, president of Alan Tate company, a large residential brokerage in Charlotte, N.C. 'They want to be somewhere where they don't miss their kids growing up because there's no time.'"

Real Estate Journal - "Housing Woes May Be The Grinch This Season" (11-27-07)

"Now, with mortgage delinquencies at record highs and mortgage-equity withdrawals well off the peak hit in the second half of 2006, the housing mess has begun to exact collateral damage on the larger consumer economy, beyond the furniture and home-improvement retailers that began to be squeezed a year ago. It is one of the main reasons that holiday sales are expected to be the weakest since the recession in the early part of the decade."