Economy -- Home Sales, Values Plunge: A key cause of the economic slowdown worsened last month as the Departments of Commerce and Housing and Urban Development reported yesterday that home sales fell to their lowest levels in over 16 years. Home sales have dropped 36.6 percent in the last twelve months. Home prices are down 11.3 percent during the same period. Among the fiscal impacts of the housing sector contraction: state coffers suffer as property tax revenues shrink along with values and foreclosures reduce the net number of homeowners. Sad Stats. Budget -- Resolution Closer; Instructions Not Included: Prospects for an end to the month-long House-Senate budget resolution conference impasse improved, as negotiators indicated yesterday that the Blue Dogs had agreed to drop demands for reconciliation instructions to pay for the $70 billion AMT patch provision. This likely means the Senate's $35 billion stimulus reserve account instruction will be dropped. Conferees still need to work out a discretionary spending cap. Taxes -- JCT Scores Housing Assistance Tax Act: The bill, approved last week by the House Ways & means Committee, which provides a low-income housing credit, tax-exempt housing bonds, and refundable credits for first-time home buyers, "would reduce budget deficits (or increase surpluses) by a total of $279 million over the 2008-2013 period and $18 million over the 2008-2018 period," per CBO. JCT Score. CBO Analysis.