NAR - "Existing-Home Sales Slip in March" (4-22-08)

"Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – were down 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (1) of 4.93 million units in March from a level of 5.03 million in February, and remain 19.3 percent below the 6.11 million-unit pace in March 2007. A rise in condo sales in March was offset by a drop in single-family sales. Regionally, sales rose in the Northeast and West but fell in the Midwest and South."

DQNews - "Another Jump in California Foreclosure Activity" (4-22-08)

"The number of California homes going into foreclosure jumped last quarter to its highest level in more than 15 years, as the market continued to works its way through declining home values and a pool of at-risk mortgages that were originated in 2005 and 2006, a real estate information service reported. Lending institutions sent homeowners 113,676 default notices during the January-to-March period. That was up by 39.4 percent from 81,550 the previous quarter, and up 143.1 percent from 46,760 for first-quarter 2007, according to DataQuick Information Systems."

The San Diego Union Tribune - "Banks report more disheartening results" (4-22-08)

"Nine months after the crisis in the American mortgage market began to tear through the financial world, the cost to banks, in terms of their own sinking investments, is approaching $300 billion. To shore up their weakened finances, one bank after another is racing to raise capital – a total of $160 billion so far. The pain is far from over. Even the most optimistic forecasters say banks will suffer billions of dollars in additional write-downs on mortgage investments and other debt in the months ahead. The final figure for the banks' write-downs could eventually exceed $750 billion – twice some early estimates – if the economy sinks into a prolonged recession, some analysts say."

Bloomberg - "Bobbleheads Get Cynical in Lawsuits Over Muni Swaps" (4-22-08)

"Several state and local bond issuers are suing their dealers and underwriters in class-action lawsuits piggybacking on the Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into bid- rigging in the municipal market. The lawsuits, which began sprouting in March and now number at least four, don't say anything new. They resemble the various news stories that have appeared on the subject in recent years, almost all of which were based upon Internal Revenue Service letters to issuers. These were usually revealed only as part of 'material-event notices' that issuers have to send out if the IRS comes calling."

CNN - "Many problems with mortgage bailouts" (4-22-08)

"Congress appears eager to help more than a million homeowners facing foreclosure, but a proposal aimed at fixing the battered housing market could instead end up as the latest blow to a recovery. An ambitious plan proposed by Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd calls for up to $300 billion in loan guarantees from the Federal Housing Administration to refinance loans that homeowners can't afford as long as the original lender reduces the principal on the loan to 85% of the home's current market value."

Orange County Register - "Downey’s problematic assets increase by $521 million in Q1" (4-22-08)

"Downey Financial continues to see loans go sour even as it refinances some folks out of loans that allow them to defer interest and principal payments to the future. Its total nonperforming assets rose by $521 million in the first quarter to $1.562 billion and represented 11.9% of total assets, vs. 0.9% a year ago."

Orange County Register - "Calif. home prices down 22.48%, nation’s worst" (4-22-08)

"First American LoanPerformance says California home prices were falling at a 22.48% annual pace in late March, again, worst in the nation. Next in this dubious line was Florida (-17.41%), then Nevada (-16.67%), Arizona (-16.32%), and Ohio (-10.78%.) California has been at the bottom of this national ranking since May."