California Home Loan 360

WASHINGTON - U.S. home prices posted their sharpest first-quarter decline since the government began tracking the data 17 years ago.

NEW YORK - An industry group said today that pending U.S. home sales dropped to a new low in March, signaling the housing slump has yet to bottom out even as the spring sell season gets under way.

WASHINGTON - A reading of U.S. home builders' sentiment remained unchanged in April, just shy of its record low for the third consecutive month as the housing market failed to recover.

WASHINGTON - U.S. home prices are unlikely to recover until at least 2010, one of the nation's top housing economists said, adding that home building this year is likely to post its worst year in five decades.

If you are buying or refinancing a U.S. home with an above-average price tag, you may be able to breathe easier and secure a guaranteed mortgage.

WASHINGTON - Industry data released Thursday show January pending U.S. home sales were below analysts' expectations and remained at the second-lowest reading on record.

NEW YORK - U.S. home prices dropped 8.9 percent in the final quarter of 2007 compared with a year ago, Standard & Poor's said Tuesday, the steepest decline in the 20-year history of its housing index.

WASHINGTON - Industry data released Thursday show pending U.S. home sales fell 1.5 percent in December to the second-lowest reading on record, another indication that the housing market is worsening.

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Moody's Investors Service may cut the ratings on A$83 billion ($75 billion) of Australian mortgage- backed bonds linked to PMI Group Inc. on concern the U.S. home- loan insurer will find it harder to pay claims.

WASHINGTON - Pending U.S. home sales dipped in November, a trade group for real estate agents said Tuesday, but it expects the sales pace to pick up significantly in the second half of 2008.