Fight in Congress Looms on Tax Break for Home Buyers

Fight in Congress Looms on Tax Break for Home Buyers
The New York Times

DALLAS — When Congress passed an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers last winter, it was intended as a dose of shock therapy during a crisis. Now the question is becoming whether the housing market can function without it.

As many as 40 percent of all home buyers this year will qualify for the credit. It is on track to cost the government $15 billion, more than twice the amount that was projected when Congress passed the stimulus bill in February.

Southern California's vital signs are improving
Los Angeles Times

Signs are increasing that an economic turnaround has begun in Southern California, even as residents and businesses continue to struggle in the worst downturn in decades.

The state's exports are growing as overseas consumers, especially those in Asia, are demanding computers, electronics and agricultural products from California. Tourists are starting to return to the region's hotels and beaches. And home prices appear to be stabilizing in some of the Southland's hardest-hit markets.

Fed Broadens Its Oversight To Include Subprime Lenders
The Washington Post

The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday that it will extend its regulatory umbrella to cover a group of lenders that includes several major originators of subprime loans, policing whether they follow federal laws that protect consumers of mortgages, credit cards and other financial products.

Federal banking regulators already oversee companies that own banks, known as holding companies, along with the banks themselves. Under the new policy, the Fed will extend the same oversight to other businesses owned by those holding companies, such as units that make home-equity loans.

Study: Federal mortgage reductions to save U.S. borrowers $11B
Denver Business Journal

Government action to reduce mortgage rates in the first half of 2009 should result in an estimated $11.5 billion in savings for borrowers, said a study released Tuesday.

According to First American CoreLogic, those savings should happen over the next five years, said a news release.

Party's Over: Wells Fargo Sacks Exec who Squatted in Malibu Mansion
DSNews

As expected, Cheronda Guyton’s novel solution to the problem of REO maintenance cost her a job, as Wells Fargo fired the vice president in charge of foreclosures for not-so-quietly living in a multi-million-dollar Malibu beach house that had been repossessed from victims of the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme.

“We deeply regret the activities that have taken place as they do not reflect the conduct we expect of our team members,” Wells Fargo said in a statement announcing the personnel move Sunday. “We continue to place the highest value on honesty, trust and integrity to guide our team members in making business decisions each day.”

Labor Market Replaces Housing as Main Threat to Economy, Report Says
DSNews

The labor market has replaced housing as the dark cloud on the economic horizon, Freddie Mac economists said, but there are hopeful signs even as the jobless rate continues to rise.

Unemployment in August jumped to 9.7 percent, the highest in more than 26 years, as the economy shed jobsfor the 20th month in a row and nonfarm payrolls fell by 216,000, the housing lender said in its September Economic Outlook.