NAHB - "Home Price Data Shows Housing Solid Long-Term Investment" (11-8-07)

"While the latest S&P/Case-Shiller home price statistics for 20 of the nation’s largest metro markets showed a 4.4 percent year-over-year decline, a closer examination of the data reveals that on average, these same markets appreciated in value by more than 50 percent over the past five years. 'It’s important to keep things in perspective,' said Brian Catalde, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from El Segundo, Calif. 'The current housing price correction is most pronounced in the once super-heated markets in California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona. In most other markets, price declines have been pretty modest.' For example, in Chicago, home prices declined 1.3 percent between August 2006 and August 2007, while posting a 34.2 percent gain for the five-year period between August 2002 and August 2007."

Mortgage Bankers Association - "MBA Calls for Improved Transparency and Accountability for Residential Mortgage Brokers" (11-8-07)

"The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG) today approved a resolution calling for more transparency and accountability, as well as increased net worth and bonding requirements for residential mortgage brokers."

CNN - "Toll Brothers sales plunge" (11-8-07)

"Luxury home builder Toll Brothers issued preliminary fourth-quarter results Thursday that showed a sharp drop in the number of new homes sold and an even deeper plunge in the average price of the home it was able to sell, as buyers canceled orders for its more expensive offerings. Toll Brothers (Charts, Fortune 500) did not report earnings, but said overall revenue was down 36 percent to $1.17 billion, in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 31, while the pipeline of new business fell even more sharply."

Reuters - "Bernanke-Govt could relieve GSEs of jumbo mortgage risk" (11-8-07)

"Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday the federal government could relieve some of the credit risk of jumbo mortgage purchases from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to preserve their safety and soundness. Answering questions before Congress' Joint Economic Committee, Bernanke said that if the two housing finance giants are allowed to temporarily invest in jumbo mortgages above their $417,000 limit, it was imporrtant not to increase their credit risks."

Reuters - "Merrill reveals $6.3 billion more in subprime-CDO exposure" (11-8-07)

"Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its total exposure to risky collateralized debt obligations and subprime mortgages is $27.2 billion, or about $6.3 billion more than what the company disclosed late last month. Merrill's larger figure is mostly because of a deeper level of disclosure surrounding its banking operations. For the first time, the world's largest brokerage disclosed $5.7 billion worth of exposure to U.S. subprime mortgages at Merrill Lynch Bank USA, a Utah-chartered industrial bank, and Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust Co., a full-service thrift."

Bloomberg - "Fitch May Cut Private CDO Ratings in Insurers Review" (11-8-07)

"Fitch Ratings said it may cut some of the private AAA ratings it assigns to collateralized debt obligations as part of a review of companies that insure the securities including MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc. Fitch is assessing $100 billion of CDOs based on asset- backed bonds it doesn't publicly rate. The new private CDO ratings will be used to determine the potential for CDO losses to erode the capital of bond insurers."

Bloomberg - "Bankruptcy Law Backfires as Foreclosures Offset Gains" (11-8-07)

"Washington Mutual Inc. got what it wanted in 2005: A revised bankruptcy code that no longer lets people walk away from credit card bills. The largest U.S. savings and loan didn't count on a housing recession. The new bankruptcy laws are helping drive foreclosures to a record as homeowners default on mortgages and struggle to pay credit card debts that might have been wiped out under the old code, said Jay Westbrook, a professor of business law at the University of Texas Law School in Austin and a former adviser to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank."