KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Saturday June 18 Housing and Economic stories

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Lawmakers kill measure banning bribes of lawmakers - (www.latimes.com) Legislators cite the cost of enforcing the restrictions and broader rules being considered by the state Fair Political Practices Commission. But supporters say it shows their unwillingness to police themselves. Companies lobbying state lawmakers for favorable treatment can continue to shower them with tickets to Disneyland, Dodgers games and rock concerts after legislators scuttled a bill Thursday that would have banned such gifts. Members of a state Senate committee cited the $204,000 annual cost of enforcing such restrictions among the reasons they abandoned the proposal. Chagrined supporters of a ban said the lawmakers showed their unwillingness to police themselves and take measures that would help restore public faith in government. "The score is lobbyists 1, public 0," said Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause. State Sen. Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo) said his proposal would not have been a cost burden. He cited comments by the state's former ethics czar that any expense was likely to have been covered by fines collected from violators. "Once again, the Legislature failed to act on good-government reforms to improve the culture and transparency in the Capitol," said Blakeslee, who also supported an unsuccessful proposal to regulate automated political calls. "Instead, Sacramento yet again killed reform bills behind closed doors."

Realtor indicted in alleged Hurricane Ike fraud - (www.yourhoustonnews.com) A prominent Bellaire Realtor and his brother are under federal indictment for alleged fraud involving about $1 million in Hurricane Ike disaster relief funds. Jon August Holverson, the owner of Bayou City Properties, and his brother, Jeffrey Holverson, have been indicted for conspiring to obtain about $1 million in disaster relief funds by fraudulent means and for making false statements in connection with their application for emergency funds that were authorized under a Presidential Disaster Declaration. The announcement came from U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno, along with the Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General, Special Agent in Charge Scott Dennis and Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, and Houston Special Agent in Charge Ronald Moore.

Mobius Says Financial Crisis "Around The Corner" - (www.bloomberg.com) Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management’s emerging markets group, said another financial crisis is inevitable because the causes of the previous one haven’t been resolved. “There is definitely going to be another financial crisis around the corner because we haven’t solved any of the things that caused the previous crisis,” Mobius said at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo today in response to a question about price swings. “Are the derivatives regulated? No. Are you still getting growth in derivatives? Yes.” The total value of derivatives in the world exceeds total global gross domestic product by a factor of 10, said Mobius, who oversees more than $50 billion. With that volume of bets in different directions, volatility and equity market crises will occur, he said. The global financial crisis three years ago was caused in part by the proliferation of derivative products tied to U.S. home loans that ceased performing, triggering hundreds of billions of dollars in writedowns and leading to the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008. The MSCI AC World Index of developed and emerging market stocks tumbled 46 percent between Lehman’s downfall and the market bottom on March 9, 2009.

Real estate industry blocks information in Canada too - (www.theglobeandmail.com) The Competition Bureau is picking a fresh fight with the real estate industry, this time over how crucial market data is being kept away from consumers by the country’s largest real estate board. The federal watchdog has launched a lawsuit against the Toronto Real Estate Board, arguing that it prevents brokers from sharing information with their customers over the Internet. The challenge is the latest salvo in the bureau's battle with the nation’s real estate agents, who have come under increasing scrutiny as their commission-based payouts have grown along with the price of homes. The Toronto board allows agents to provide their customers with all sorts of important data about a home that are not available on the public website Realtor.ca, such as the number of days a property has been on the market and previous selling prices. The information is essential for any home buyer, because it tells a deeper story about the local market and the home’s history than a simple listing.

Pending House Sales Plunge 11.6%; NAR Blames Everything But Themselves - (Mish at globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun blames banks for "holding onto huge cash reserves" as the primary reason for the latest plunge in housing. He also cites the weather, oil prices, a temporary soft patch, and everything but motherhood and apple pie. Please consider April Pending Home Sales Drop After Two Monthly Gains. Pending home sales fell in April with regional variations following increases in February and March, with unusual weather and economic softness adding to ongoing problems that are hobbling a recovery, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, dropped 11.6 percent to 81.9 in April from a downwardly revised 92.6 in March. The index is 26.5 percent below a cyclical peak of 111.5 in April 2010 when buyers were rushing to beat the contract deadline for the home buyer tax credit.