News: April 15, 2009

Complete Coverage of Pulte-Centex Deal — HousingZone.com

HousingZone.com covers the Pulte-Centex merger with articles, videos, blogs, industry reaction and more.

Companies Accuse Each Other In Court of Worsening Recession — Bloomberg TV

Billionaire Wilbur Ross and hedge fund Manager Bruce Rose go to court in Stamford, Conn., over foreclosed homes' being sold at fire-sale prices — and allegedly blighting a community.

TOUSA Will Not Reorganize — Reuters

Instead of reorganizing the company, Technical Olympic USA announced it plans to sell off its remaining assets and complete homes currently under construction.

TOUSA to Lay Off 200 Staff Through May — South Florida Business Journal

Changes are coming to TOUSA as the severe economy is prompting the company to lay off 200 of its workforce across its offices in the U.S.

Mortgage Association: Lending to Rise to $2.78 trillion — Bloomberg News

Mortgage Bankers Association forecasts mortgage lending to rise to $2.78 trillion in 2009 because of low interest rates.

KB Home's Q1 Report Better Than Expected — Bloomberg TV

Although KB Home's stock fell 75 cents in the most recent quarter, the loss was smaller than expected.

Finance Expert: Ariz. Market Nowhere Near Bottom — KPHO-TV

"Things are going to get worse in Phoenix," one finance expert/professor predicts, in large part because of 2010's ARMs. But another expert disagrees.

Manhattan Suffers Largest Drop in Sales Since 1995 — Bloomberg TV

Sales are off 50 percent from the same time last year as the mortgage crisis slams part of New Yorks' luxury market.

Survey Shows Home Purchasing on the Mind — Orlando Business Journal

In the next five years, 23 percent of Americans plan to purchase a home, a result from a survey commissioned by Move Inc., an online real-estate resource and operator of Realtor.com.

President Nominates New Head of FHA — Forbes

President Barack Obama announced his nomination, real-estate executive David Stevens, to head the Federal Housing Administration.

Second Liens Threaten U.S. Housing Rescue — Reuters

Big banks have small stakes in many of the home loans, or second liens, and the stakes give them the power to veto any refinancing and block the plan.

Unregulated Lender Collapses, Leaves Minn. Towns Struggling — Star Tribune

Towns in Minnesota are skeletons after a lender, Lakeland Construction Finance, collapsed and left developers without money to finish projects.

NAHB Joins Arizona Home Builders in Lawsuit — NAHB

NAHB joins a lawsuit in which Arizona home builders are challenging a federal regulatory ruling that a riverbed fed by sewers and storm runoff is a "traditional navigable water."

Developers in Mass. Town Owe $1 Million — Boston Herald

Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency discovered that a group of developers in Braintree, Mass., owe the town $1 million.

Housing Data Creates Confusion About the Bottom — Time

Existing home sales data released to the market sent analysts suspecting a bottom. Douglas A. McIntyre sets the record straight in a column.

Geithner's Plan to Change Housing — Briefing.com

Robert V. Green, investment strategist and writer for Briefing.com, gets to the bottom of what Timothy Geithner's plan offers and if it will succeed.

How's Weyerhaeuser Doing? — Bloomberg TV

CEO Daniel Fulton offers an update on lumber's demand and its effect on the company in the recession.