Wednesday April 30 Housing and Economic stories

Top Stories:

U.S. Foreclosure Filings Double in First Quarter, Led by Nevada - (www.bloomberg.com) - California cities had six of the top 10 highest metropolitan area foreclosure rates. Stockton ranked first at one filing for every 30 households, almost seven times the national average. The city of more than 285,000 people claims to be California's 13th- largest. Riverside/San Bernardino was second in foreclosures at one for every 38 households. Bakersfield was fourth, Sacramento was fifth, San Diego was ninth and Oakland ranked tenth.
Vacant homes in U.S. set new record high - (www.dallasnews.com) - On Monday, the Census Bureau reported that the number of vacant homes for sale has hit a record high. The report shows that 2.9% of U.S. homes -- excluding rental properties -- were vacant and up for sale in the first quarter. That translates to about 2.28 million properties - the highest quarterly number on record since 1956.
Condo is Tower of Solitude - (www.tampabay.com) – Worth repeating this story. Condo owner has almost the entire hi-rise to himself.
Maintenance is slow. Not long ago, Johnny clogged the garbage chute with pizza boxes, and when no one showed up to fix the problem, he dragged a concrete block five flights up and dropped it in the chute. When that failed, he tried another. "It just exploded," he says. The pool isn't heated. Johnny suspects it's because there aren't enough residents to justify the bills. He did figure out how to activate the waterfall, which pours down from Disneyfied bluffs. Still, instead of mingling beauties on lounge chairs and late-night Red Bull-and-vodka parties, the only real action on pool deck is the occasional Realtor networking social. Yay.
S&P delivers blow to CDOs - (www.ft.com)
FHLB banks advances hit record high in 1st qtr - (www.reuters.com) - Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and the Federal Housing Administration have become favored vehicles of the Bush administration as it makes efforts to stem surging mortgage defaults, falling home prices and rising foreclosures
Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix house prices plummet by at least 20% - (money.cnn.com) GMAC Posts $589 Million Loss on Home Lending Woes - (www.bloomberg.com)
Countrywide Reports $893 Million Loss From Bad Loans - (www.bloomberg.com)
Foreclosed properties going for much less - (www.signonsandiego.com) – Foreclosed properties are often selling for $100K or more less so that brings down all home values.
Real estate guru may go to prision - (www.denverpost.com)
Middle class taps nest eggs to keep overpriced houses - (www.reuters.com)
A 27-year-old ponders walking away - (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
More on Catching the Bottom in Housing - (Charles Hugh Smith)
Buffett says recession may be worse than feared - (news.yahoo.com)


Other Stories:

Loan Industry Fighting Rules on Mortgages - (www.nytimes.com)
Rising Property Taxes Pinch Houseowners - (finance.yahoo.com)
Bringing a check to the table - (patrick.net)

Dollar's fall forces new standard of frugality - (www.sfgate.com)
'Tax rebate' checks: short-term benefits, long-term troubles - (www.csmonitor.com)
Expensive houses starting to show weakness - (www.nctimes.com)
Mortgage crisis hits prime borrowers in NH - (www.unionleader.com)

U.S. Stocks Decline as Consumer Confidence, Home Prices Fall - (www.bloomberg.com)
Dollar Rises to Three-Week High on Bets Fed Will Signal Pause - (www.bloomberg.com)
18.6 million houses empty because prices still too high - (www.bloomberg.com)
Why Not Let Markets Set Prices? - (www.europac.net)
Inflated Appraisals May Become a Crime of the Past - (www.efinancedirectory.com)
Builders say whatever gets them money - (patrick.net)
So many scams, so few watchdogs - (www.tampabay.com)
House Sales, Inventory Chart - (www.seekingalpha.com)
S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. Home-Price Index Fell 12.7% - (www.bloomberg.com)
Consumer Confidence in U.S. Fell to Five-Year Low - (www.bloomberg.com)
Truckers protest high gasoline prices - (www.ap.com)
Fed's Bailout Is Questioned By Ex-Staffer - (online.wsj.com)
Philadelphia Fed chief is hawkish on inflation - (www.philly.com)
Tip-dependent workers feeling the slump - (www.latimes.com)
Good credit, bad loans - (money.cnn.com)
Survey finds millionaires singing the recession blues, too - (www.rockymountainnews.com)
A Credit-Card Crackdown - (online.wsj.com)
Amid High Oil Prices, Danger Signs in Production - (www.nytimes.com)
Coal price hikes boost electric rates, more increases coming - (www.chicagotribune.com)

GM to cut production of light trucks, SUVs - (www.latimes.com)
Fuel costs force airlines to change strategy - (www.dallasnews.com)
Inside Citi, a Hedge-Fund Push Blows Up - (online.wsj.com)
Deutsche Bank Says It Had First Loss in Five Years - (www.bloomberg.com)
Gasoline costs force service firms to raise prices - (www.latimes.com)
Papers' circulation declines continue - (www.chicagotribune.com)

Germany's inflation dip brings relief for ECB - (www.ft.com)
Europe faces 'inflationary shock,' EU official says - (www.iht.com)
Soaring Rice Prices Send Asian Nations Scrambling - (online.wsj.com)
European Retail Sales Slumped in April, PMI Shows - (www.bloomberg.com)
U.K. Loan Approvals Reach Lowest Since at Least 1999 - (www.bloomberg.com)
India's central bank hikes cash reserve ratio to fight inflation - (news.yahoo.com/s/afp)
As demand for rice climbs, international trade falls - (www.iht.com)

Panel to Look at Foreclosure Practices - (www.nytimes.com)
What the Fed Could Learn from Europe's Central Bank - (www.spiegel.de)
Southern California faces higher blackout risk this summer - (www.latimes.com)
Emptying the Breadbasket - (www.washingtonpost.com)
The Ethanol Cure's Side Effects - (www.washingtonpost.com)