Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Despite recent, encouraging signs of life in the battered housing market, here’s a sobering reminder of just how much damage has been done: American homeowners will have lost nearly $500 billion in home value by year's end.

Still, that's a huge improvement over 2008, when values fell by a mind-boggling $3.6 trillion, according to a report released today by real estate Website Zillow.com.

The Los Angeles market suffered the largest total loss in home value at $60.8 billion. Metro Chicago values fell $49.6 billion and New York dropped $49 billion.

But some housing markets actually recorded gains for the year. In the Boston metropolitan area, home values increased by an average of 1.5%, lifting total market value by $23.3 billion there. Nearby Providence, RI, gained $12.4 billion; and Denver increased $10.7 billion.

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Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke urges Congress to enact reforms.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Sales of previously-owned homes rebounded sharply last month to their highest level in two years, getting a strong boost from first-time homebuyers.

Existing home sales jumped 9.4% in September after falling for the first time in four months in August, according to the National Association of Realtors. Year over year, sales were up 9.2% in September.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said much of the buying momentum came from people hoping to take advantage of an $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit, which is set to expire at the end of November.

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The White House has released its first report on job creation since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

The White House today unveiled the first hard data on how many jobs the $787 billion recovery act has created.

So far, companies that have received stimulus contracts directly from the federal government have created 30,383 jobs. These firms have been awarded $16 billion in contracts and have actually been paid $2.2 billion.

Stimulus-fueled job creation has become a very controversial issue. The Obama administration has faced blistering attacks by Republicans who contend that the recovery act has failed to live up to its promise to put Americans back to work.

So far, the federal government has made available a total of $256.3 billion in contracts, grants and loans and has paid out $110.7 billion to state and local governments, non-profit agencies and companies. The reports released today were the first in a series that provides a tally of the actual number of jobs created by the Recovery Act.

The Obama administration downplayed the data, saying it represents just a small sliver of the stimulus that's been spent since the massive recovery act was enacted in February.

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CNNMoney.com

Click here to find the rate in your state.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Ford Motor says auto sales fell 5.1% in September from the same month last year, breaking a two-month streak of gains and illustrating the hangover many dealers are suffering through in the wake of this summer's popular “Cash for Clunkers” program.

Rival General Motors reported a 45% drop in sales. Chrysler Group, meantime, said September sales fell 42% from a year earlier.

On a month-to-month comparison, sales at both Ford and GM fell 37% from August. Two of Ford's vehicles - the Focus and Escape - were among the top sellers in the “Clunkers” program.

Chrysler’s sales fell 33% from August, but since the company has a heavier reliance on trucks than its rivals, it did not get much of a sales lift from the rebate program.

Ford was the only member of Detroit’s so-called “Big Three” automakers that did not declare bankruptcy this year or receive any government bailout money.

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Andrew Torgan
CNN

New home sales posted a modest 0.7% increase in August, missing Wall Street expectations and providing more evidence that the housing market recovery remains tentative.

Sales inched up to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 429,000 from a downwardly revised 426,000 in July. And even though it was the fifth straight increase, sales were down more than 3% from the same month last year.

New home sales don’t make up quite as much of the market as existing home sales, which we learned Thursday fell nearly 3% in August. But analysts still watch them very closely, because they typically cost more than previously-owned homes. Keep reading

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Sales of previously-owned homes fell in August, snapping a four-month streak of increases.

Existing home sales fell 2.7% last month from July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million units, but were up 3.4% from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales had jumped 15.2% in the previous four months.

Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist, said the drop may reflect delays in completing sales due to tough lending standards and new rules for appraisals.

Nationwide sales are up nearly 14% from their bottom in January, but are still down nearly 30% from their peak about four years ago. For the housing market to stabilize, Yun says sales would need to rise to a pace of around 5.5 million to 6 million.

Additionally, the median sales price was $177,700, down 12.5% from $203,200 in the same month last year.

One bright spot in the report: Despite the decrease in sales, the supply of homes on the market fell significantly in August. Total housing inventory fell by 10.8% to 3.62 million existing homes for sale. That's an 8.5-month supply, down from a 9.3-month supply in July.

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Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

The Fed today kept interest rates near zero and said the economy is improving. But the central bank also cautioned that ongoing job losses could dampen any economic recovery.

At the conclusion of its two-day meeting, the Fed said in a statement that the government's stimulus and economic rescue actions have helped to stabilize the financial markets, which will help generate economic growth in the future.

In addition, Ben Bernanke & Co. said consumer spending is stabilizing, but that rampant job losses and tight credit have dampened overall household consumption. The Fed also noted recent commodity price increases but said it saw little threat of inflation in the near term.

As a result, policymakers voted to keep the federal funds rate - a key overnight lending rate that guides various consumer and business loans - at a target range of zero to 0.25%. Rates have been at that level since December.

House approves jobless benefits extension

The House approved a bill late Tuesday that could extend jobless benefits to more than 1 million people for an additional 13 weeks.

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Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged the identity theft involving his family.

Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

Federal agents have nabbed a woman allegedly involved in a sophisticated identity-theft ring that claimed Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke among its victims, authorities said today.

Shona Michelle Young was arrested at the Airport Villas near Miami International Airport on Monday, said spokesman Barry Golden of the U.S. Marshal's office for the southern district of Florida.

Young is said to be a major check-casher for the identity theft ring, which stole the purse of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's wife, Anna, last summer.

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Andrew Torgan
CNN Financial News Producer

President Obama announced today that he plans to nominate Ben Bernanke to a second term as head of the Federal Reserve, saying Bernanke “brought our economy back from the brink.”

Obama made the announcement this morning from Martha's Vineyard, MA, where he is vacationing.

Bernanke, a Republican who has played a central role in the government's extraordinary response to the recession and 2008 banking panic, will have to be confirmed by the Senate. His current four-year term ends on Jan. 31.

The question of Bernanke's reappointment had been the focus of much speculation. Recently, many economists and insiders had said they believed that he would more than likely keep his job.

Home prices on the upswing

Home prices may be on the road to recovery.

After three years of declines, home prices increased 3% in the three months ended June 30, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller report. That is the first quarter-over-quarter improvement in three years.

Prices in the national index are still down 15% compared with the second quarter of 2008, the report said. But that is better than the record 19% decline that was set in the first three months of 2009.

Consumer confidence soars

A key measure of consumer confidence jumped much more than predicted this month as the job market outlook and business expectations improved.

The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 54.1 in August from an upwardly-revised 47.4 in July. The measure is closely watched because consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the nation's economic activity.

Despite this month’s increase, the index remains at historically low levels. An overall reading above 90 indicates the economy is solid, and 100 or above signals strong growth.

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