and 

Geithner Rents Westchester Home After Failing to Sell – By Brian Louis – …  is renting his home in Westchester County, New York, for $7,500 a month after failing to find a buyer, according to data on the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service Inc. … – Bloomberg

CNBC points to Zillow slideshow of Geithner’s house 

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NAR: FIRST-TIME BUYER TAX CREDIT STARTING TO SHOW RESULTS - … The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.7% to 90.3 from a reading of 84.6 in March, and is 3.2% above April 2008, when it was 87.5.  Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions. “Housing affordability conditions have been at historic highs, but now, the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impact the market,” he says.  – MORTGAGEORB.COM

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Quick Hits – by Kid Dynamite – I loved this Karl Denninger critique of the NY Times article about homeowners having trouble getting help when they are not yet in default. … No, the reason you’re about to lose your house is because you treated your home as a permanent and inexhaustible ATM machine – a demonstrably unsafe, unsound and FRAPPING IDIOTIC act.” … – KID DYNAMITE’S WORLD
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Price Slashed on 23.6% of Listed Homes – By KELLY CURRAN – Nearly one in four US homes for sale today have had at least one price reduction, as sellers come to grips with the reality of a weakening economy and a housing market still groping along toward bottom. Total reductions currently mount $27bn dollars, said Truila.com today. Major metropolitan areas are feeling much of the pain. Of the top 50 most populated cities, 33 have seen 25% or more of listed homes reduced from their original asking price, higher than the 23.6% national average. Some cities… – housingwire

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How to rebuild US home prices and fix the economy - By Ross DeVol and Michael Klowden  – … We suggest a new approach: give homeowners who owe more than their house is worth a financial incentive to stay in their homes and keep up repayments, by offering them a path to positive equity. Call it the homeowner principal forgiveness vesting plan. … – FT.com

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N.J. homeowners lower prices in bad market – by Lisa Fleisher/The Star-Ledger -
Homeowners are getting the message.  A quarter of homes on the market in New Jersey have seen at least one price reduction, representing about $730 million in discounts, an Internet property listing company said Friday.  Homeowners have cut prices on almost 16,800 New Jersey listings, with large drops coming in places such as Newark and Paterson, while smaller reductions have been seen in cities such as Edison and Woodbridge. – NJ.com

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It Takes a Village to Buy a Condo – By Andrew Lam, New America Media. – one person’s experience in buying a SF condo in today’s market – thanks Ira Artman – Alternet.org 

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Wells Fargo sees surge in mortgage pipeline – Wells Fargo & Co. made $40.9 billion in mortgage originations in March, helping almost half a million homeowners buy or refinance their home, the company said in a lending report filed with the U.S. Treasury .. – THE DES MOINES REGISTER