Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 6.2% in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to today’s preliminary estimate.  This follows a decrease of 0.5% in the third quarter of 2008.  For the full year 2008, real GDP rose 1.1%, compared to 2.0% in 2007.

Eligible borrowers are only those whose loan is conforming–that is, a first mortgage backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the two secondary mortgage market companies that are now under the direction of the federal government. Those loans are limited in size–$417,000 for most of the country, although they go up to $729,750 in high-cost areas.

Eligible borrowers are also limited to those with a loan-to-value ratio of 80 percent to 105 percent on their first mortgage.

Here are the percentages of mortgage holders in some hard-hit areas who meet the eligibility criteria to refinance under the plan, according to Zillow.com:

Miami-Fort Lauderdale: 17 percent
New York and North Jersey: 16 percent
San Diego: 12 percent
Los Angeles: 9 percent
San Francisco: 8 percent
San Jose-Santa Clara: 7 percent

New home sales in January 2009 fell 10.2% from the prior month and declined 48.2% from the prior year, to 309,000, the Commerce Department reported today. This is 10.2 percent below the revised December rate of 344,000 and is 48.2 percent  below the January 2008 estimate of 597,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2009 was $201,100; the average sales price was $234,600. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 342,000. This represents a supply of 13.3 months at the current sales rate.

Existing-home sales declined in January with some buyers waiting to see how details of the economic stimulus package would affect them, according to the National Association of Realtors, while inventories fell to a two-year low.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 5.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 4.49 million units in January from a level of 4.74 million units in December, and are 8.6 percent lower the 4.91 million-unit pace in January 2008.

NAR estimates the impact of the stimulus package and lower interest rates on the housing market to be about 900,000 additional home sales in 2009 compared to conditions before the stimulus package. Inventory is expected to fall below an 8-month supply by the year end, which would be consistent with home price stabilization.

Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 2.7 percent to 3.60 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.6-month supply at the current sales pace. Because sales were down, the January supply is up from a 9.4-month supply in December. Read the rest of this entry »

In January, there were 2,227 mass layoff actions involving 237,902 workers. Mass layoff events decreased by 48 over the month, while initial claims increased by 11,785. Over the year, mass layoff events increased by 751, and initial claims increased by 88,834. Forty-eight states registered over-the-year increases in average weekly initial claims.