Standard Pacific Consolidates in Northern California (BUILDER Online) The Irvine, Calif.-based builder closes two sales offices in that region.
Countrywide's Mozilo Under SEC Investigation (BUILDER Online) Regulator is probing the CEO's stock sales.
Levitt and Sons Halts Projects (BUILDER Online) The Florida builder says it is in talks with its lenders "to obtain additional funding."
Housing Starts, Permits Continue to Plunge (BUILDER Online) Economist says housing's downward spiral will continue into mid-2008.
Builder Confidence Lowest in 22 Years (BUILDER Online) Trade group cites problems in mortgage market, unsold inventories, and negative media coverage.
Pulte Announces Nationwide Halloween-Themed Sale (BUILDER Online) The offers vary from market to market and include such incentives as no house payments for a year, a year's pre-paid HOA fees, no closing costs and 5.875 percent, 30-year fixed rate financing, and price reductions of $10,000 to $40,000 off homes closing in 2007 and $5,000 to $20,000 on homes closing in 2008.
Hispanic Cleric Group Challenges Oklahoma Immigration Law (BUILDER Online) A lawsuit filed in federal court seeks to overturn tough immigration law; injunction to be sought later this week.
Treasury Secretary Calls for Aggressive Action (BUILDER Online) Henry Paulson Jr. characterizes the housing sector as the "biggest risk" to the U.S. economy.
D.R. Horton's 4Q Sales Slide 48 Percent (BUILDER Online) Big builder points to tighter lending standards and cautious buyers.
Ashton Woods Hit Hard by $10.6 Million Quarterly Loss (BUILDER Online) Atlanta-based builder is focusing on cutting costs and generating new orders through sales incentives.
Fed Beige Book: Pace of Growth Slowed Since August (Reuters/Yahoo! News) Economic activity grew in all of the Federal Reserve's districts but the pace of expansion has decelerated since August, and housing markets continued to weaken.
California Broker Ties Jumbo Miles to Jumbo Mortgages (Reuters/Yahoo News) In a bid to draw high-end buyers to the region's floundering housing market, Beverly Hills, Calif.-based real estate brokerage, Incentive Real Estate, said homes buyers can earn 250,000 airline miles on the purchase of a newly constructed house valued at more than $500,000.
Mortgage Originations Expected to Plunge (AP/Yahoo! News) The nation's more than $2 trillion home mortgage business won't halt its current slide anytime soon, with mortgage originations expected to fall 18 percent next year and decline another 6 percent in 2009, the Mortgage Bankers Association predicts.
ResCap to Trim Workforce by 25 Percent GMAC Financial Services says it will cut about 3,000 jobs at its Residential Capital mortgage operation.
Blog: The Apartment World (BUILDER Online) Agree or disagree with the thoughts of BUILDER Editorial Director Boyce Thompson.
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Take the BUILDER Poll (BUILDER Online) Have you seen an increase in the last year of jobsite theft?
From the Pages of BUILDER: When Will It End? (BUILDER Online) Just when will the housing market hit bottom? BUILDER talks to more than a dozen leading industry experts to hear what they think. Check out more from the current issue of BUILDER.
Robb Crocker is the senior editor for BUILDER Online. Please e-mail any comments, questions, suggestions, and news tips to rcrocker@hanleywood.com.