Case-Shiller Fails to Tame the Bears

Case-Shiller Fails to Tame the Bears
October 27, 2009, Wall Street Journal

In the U.S. housing market, every silver cloud still has a black lining. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price indexes that came out Tuesday showed that the rate of decline continues to slow. The 20-city index in August was down 11.3% from a year earlier.  By contrast, last December that index was down 18.5% from a year before. Affordability is vastly improved, providing an opportunity for some households that were priced out of the market as well as for cash-toting investors. Home prices have returned to quaint 2003 levels, according to Standard & Poor’s.

New Home Sales Fall 3.6 Percent
October 28, 2009, Associated Press

Sales of new homes dropped unexpectedly last month as the effects of a soon-to-expire tax credit for first-time owners started to wane. The Commerce Department says sales fell 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000 from a downwardly revised 417,000 in August. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 440,000. I t was the first decline since March. Sales in September were down 7.8 percent from a year ago. The median sales price of $204,800 was off 9.1 percent from $225,200 a year earlier, but up 2.5 percent from August's level of $199,900.

‘Civil Gideon’ Law Gets Off Ground in Golden State
October 28, 2009, Wall Street Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court, in its famed Gideon v. Wainwright case, unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Sixth Amendment to provide counsel in criminal cases for indigent defendants. For years, access-to-justice advocates and others have argued that such a right-to-counsel should extend to certain civil cases as well.  Those advocates have gotten their wish, at least in California. A new California law, signed this month by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, gives poor residents the right to an attorney in civil matters such as child custody and foreclosure. Click here for Tamara Audi’s story in the WSJ.