02 Apr 2008 - Homebuilders and the mortgage industry are emerging as big victors in a bipartisan agreement reached by Senate leaders on legislation designed to limit the housing crisis.

The US$15b measure, announced by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, contains a US$6b emergency tax break that would let companies use losses from 2008 and 2009 to offset profits earned over the previous four years, instead of the usual two-year timeframe.