"Owners seeking solutions to their mortgage problems, including how to keep their homes, now have more phone counselors at their disposal, at a time when foreclosures have more than doubled the record set in 1996.
" (2008-4-13)
April 12, 2008
Mortgage counseling hotline beefed up
April 10, 2008
Tearing itself down
"Innovative ways of coping with demographic declineSOMETHING odd is happening to the cities of eastern Germany. Plattenbauten, the soulless prefabricated apartment blocks thrown up by the region's former communist rulers, are being knocked down. Occasionally one will be truncated, shorn of its upper storeys. Older streets are gap-toothed where wreckers have removed abandoned houses. Cityscapes are being pruned, removing dead and dying edifices in the hope of saving the rest.City planners, normally keen to promote the building of homes, factories and roads, are responding to a double demographic crisis: the collapse of communist-era industry, which sent workers, especially young women, fleeing westwards; and a sharp decline in the birth rate. ..." (2008-4-10)
Danger ahead for the mighty euro
"Euro-zone economies face external woes and internal tensionsAT THE World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2001, the mood was sombre. The dotcom bubble had burst spectacularly, the Nasdaq stockmarket had crashed, and the American economy was tipping into recession. Yet most continental Europeans were breezily optimistic. The long years of being lectured about their inadequacies by the Anglo-Saxons were over. Europe had wisely skipped the dotcom mania, and its new currency, the euro, was giving the continent a boost. Some Europeans even dreamed of taking over as the motor of the world economy. But it was not to be, as Europe promptly fell into a deeper recession even than America. Seven years on, the parallels are uncanny. Continental Europe has sensibly avoided America's subprime follies, it is argued. Its banks are in better shape, average euro-area unemployment of 7.1% is the lowest in almost 20 years, the euro is resurgent and, as Joaquin Almunia, the engaging European economics commissioner, insists, there is no sign of a recession. The commission will trim its forecasts later this month, but euro-area growth is likely to stay close to 2% this year. It is true that the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt has, like America's Federal Reserve, flooded the financial system with liquidity in response to the credit crunch. But unlike the Fed, it has not so far felt the need to bring down interest rates. ..." (2008-4-10)
Policing the frontiers of finance
"Is foreign capital a luxury that poor countries can live without?WHEN Hank Paulson, America's treasury secretary, urged China to liberalise its capital markets earlier this month, he sensed a hardened reluctance in his hosts. ?There's no doubt that what is happening in the US markets is clearly giving the Chinese pause,? he said. America's subprime meltdown is not, it seems, the best advertisement for unfettered finance elsewhere.Against this backdrop, Dani Rodrik of Harvard University and Arvind Subramanian of the Peterson Institute, in Washington, DC, have published a timely reappraisal of financial globalisation.* They conclude that it is far from obvious that developing countries benefit much from opening up to global capital. In principle, the free flow of capital across borders makes funds available more cheaply to poor countries and, by lifting investment, boosts GDP and raises living standards. The trouble is, economists have struggled to establish a strong link between freer capital flows and speedier economic development. ..." (2008-4-10)
The comeback of private equity
"Are private-equity firms calling the end of the credit crunch?SOVEREIGN-WEALTH funds did not do it. Joe Lewis, the billionaire investor who bet and lost on Bear Stearns, definitely did not do it. Will private-equity firms be any more successful at calling the end of the credit crunch? They seem ready to do so. TPG, a large buy-out group, led a $7 billion injection of capital into Washington Mutual (WaMu), a Seattle thrift that grew into America?s sixth-biggest bank and came a cropper in subprime mortgages. TPG is also among a trio of big-name private-equity firms (Apollo and Blackstone are the others) that are reportedly negotiating with Citigroup to snap up $12 billion-worth of leveraged loans that have been stuck on the bank?s balance sheet since the credit markets froze. A deal may be announced when Citi reveals first-quarter results on April 18th. ..." (2008-4-10)
April 9, 2008
Losing a pet along with the house
"Animals are increasingly being abandoned or turned in as families are forced from their homes due to foreclosures." (2008-4-9)
April 8, 2008
Fed Minutes Confirm Gloomy Outlook
"Central bankers expressed concern that falling home values and financial market stress could protract downturn.
" (2008-4-8)
The bust begins
"Housing-market woes spread to BritainFOR years the housing market in Britain has defied gravity. For a few months in 2004 and 2005 house prices moderated, before taking off again. But now, finally, tighter credit and overstretched household budgets are pulling prices down.A collective shudder ran down the spines of British homeowners on Tuesday April 8th when Halifax, a part of HBOS and the country?s biggest mortgage lender, revealed that house prices fell in March by 2.5%. The monthly decline recorded by the Halifax house-price index was the biggest since September 1992, when the housing market was enduring an agonisingly prolonged bust. ..." (2008-4-8)
The bust begins
"Housing-market woes spread to BritainFOR years the housing market in Britain has defied gravity. For a few months in 2004 and 2005 house prices moderated, before taking off again. But now, finally, tighter credit and overstretched household budgets are pulling prices down.A collective shudder ran down the spines of British homeowners on Tuesday April 8th when Halifax, a part of HBOS and the country?s biggest mortgage lender, revealed that house prices fell in March by 2.5%. The monthly decline recorded by the Halifax house-price index was the biggest since September 1992, when the housing market was enduring an agonisingly prolonged bust. ..." (2008-4-8)
Critics say Senate plan won’t stem foreclosures
"Critics say a bill designed to help ease the foreclosure crisis and boost demand for housing may actually encourage foreclosures and drive down house values." (2008-4-7)
April 7, 2008
GMAC Pays $607 Million in ResCap Debt
"The price paid for the $1.2 billion in debt reflects uncertainty about the home lender's prospects for survival.
" (2008-4-7)
The Feds Want to Help You With Your Mortgage
"Congress steps in to alleviate the subprime mess.
" (2008-4-7)
April 6, 2008
INVESTING / Sales of second homes plunge in 2007 but maintain their market share / Foreign buyers are taking advantage of the weaker dollar
"Sales of investment and vacation homes plunged last year along with the rest of the housing market, but still made up 1 out of every 3 homes sold, the National Association of Realtors late last month. As easy credit dried up and speculators continued to...
" (2008-4-6)
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