"Foreclosure workshops to help investors and homeowners.
MAY 16
" (2009-5-14)
May 15, 2009
Classes and events around the Southland
Obama administration to expand housing plan
"The Obama administration expanded its $50 billion mortgage aid program on Thursday, announcing new measures that would help homeowners avoid foreclosure.
" (2009-5-14)
Greece and immigration: Fear and loathing in Athens
"Once hospitable Greeks are turning against immigrantsTHE ancient Greek tradition of hospitality to strangers is dying out. Twenty years ago Greeks welcomed more than 600,000 Albanians who walked over the border to start a new life. These days Albanian families have credit cards, mortgages and residency permits. Smaller numbers of Bulgarians, Romanians, Moldovans, Ukrainians, Georgians and Russians also have a toehold in Greece. But a new wave of immigrants from places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia has met indifference or even outright hostility. On May 9th far-right protesters tried to storm a former court building in Athens that is a squalid home for 600 immigrants. One resident, Moncef, a mechanic from Morocco, says: “The police stood there and did nothing.” It took a group of Greek anarchists to come to the rescue. More than a dozen policemen were injured and four protesters were arrested—but the immigrants stayed. ..." (2009-5-14)
Number of homeowners facing foreclosure up
"The number of U.S. households faced with losing their homes to foreclosure jumped 32 percent in April compared with the same month last year.
" (2009-5-13)
Home prices down in most U.S. cities
"Home prices fell in nearly nine out of every 10 U.S. cities in the first quarter of this year as first-time buyers looking for bargains dominated the market.
" (2009-5-12)
Worries growing about commercial real estate
"Now, many mortgage lenders have something else to worry about: A rising tide of potential losses from commercial real estate loans that could reach into the billions.
" (2009-5-12)
It pays to be married
"Where being single costs you mostBRINGING up children is a labour of love, and a pricey one at that. Thankfully, most governments offer some form of tax breaks or cash benefits to ease the burden. In all but one of 30 OECD countries, a married one-earner couple with two children takes home more money than a single person with no children on the same average annual salary. Measured at purchasing-power parity, a family in Luxembourg has the highest overall net income of $48,980, out of an average gross wage of $49,488. But the best countries for families are Ireland or the Czech Republic, where “net” incomes end up higher than gross. British singletons subsidise families less than their German counterparts, who take home almost $10,000 less from almost the same salary. Mexico, the poorest of the OECD countries, is the only place where married couples with children get no breaks at all. ..." (2009-5-12)
Where there's muck...
"More British MPs are embarrassed by revelations over their expense claimsHORSE manure. Swimming-pool maintenance. Light bulbs. Those are some of the items that British MPs have charged to the taxpayer under Parliament’s now-discredited expenses system. Probably the worst abuses involve “flipping”—that is, changing the property designated as an MP’s second home, thus allowing him to be reimbursed for improvements made to more than one residence. (British MPs may claim for the upkeep of a second home as they discharge their dual responsibilities at Westminster and in their constituencies.) Some of them tarted up their homes at public expense shortly before selling them for personal profit; a few seemingly identified a property as their second home for expenses purposes, but as their main residence when they sold it (thus avoiding capital-gains tax). The culprits include senior ministers and spokesmen for the opposition Conservatives as well as obscure backbenchers. The reputation of Parliament is at a desperately low ebb. ..." (2009-5-12)
Coal-fired power plants: The writing on the wall
"Only green compromises will allow them to surviveTHE coal-fired power plant that was cancelled in Michigan on May 1st is the 97th to be rejected since 2001, and the ninth this year. The number of planned coal plants across America has plummeted from 150 to 60 in the past five years. Last year 5,465 megawatts (MW) of new electricity were announced, but more than twice that capacity—12,572mw, according to Edison Electric Institute, which represents the electricity industry—was subtracted because of cancellations or delays. The nine coal plants cancelled this year alone, Edison notes ruefully, would have provided about 6,650mw of power, or enough to heat almost 5m homes. Environmentalists, though thrilled, know they still have a long way to go. The Energy Information Administration reports that more than 600 coal-fired plants still produce about half of America’s power and will still produce 47% of it in 2030. But the government has pledged to slash greenhouse-gas emissions by 80% by 2050. “If the [planned] coal plants don’t get derailed, President Obama won’t be able to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the next four years,” says Bruce Nilles, who heads the Sierra Club’s anti-coal campaign. ..." (2009-5-7)
Fed says banks tightening mortgage standards
"The Federal Reserve says a larger share of banks made it more difficult for people to obtain home mortgages over the last three months.
" (2009-5-4)
Pending home sales up 3.2 percent
"The National Association of Realtors says pending U.S. home sales rose from February to March as buyers took advantage of deeply discounted prices and low interest rates.
" (2009-5-4)
Statewatch: Rhode Island: Little Rhody in the red
"America’s smallest state has mammoth economic problemsTHE mansions of Newport, one of Rhode Island’s most popular tourist attractions, were once the mere summer “cottages” of the industrialists of the Gilded Age. Marble House, playhouse of the Vanderbilts, is said to have cost $11m, $7m of which was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Today almost no homes, opulent or otherwise, are being built in Rhode Island. Only 16 permits for single-family dwellings were issued in February in the whole state. In March 633 homes were in foreclosure. The job front looks even worse. Last September Rhode Island had the highest unemployment rate in the country, exceeding even Michigan. In March the rate was the sixth-highest in the country, 10.5%, compared with 8.5% nationally. ..." (2009-4-30)
Home prices tumble, but no new record
"Home prices dropped sharply in February, but for the first time in 25 months the decline was not a record, another sign the housing crisis could be bottoming.
" (2009-4-28)
How to Pick a Neighborhood
"According to a 2008 study by NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, price run-ups in previous good times strongly correlate to performance down the road." (2009-4-27)
Buyers cautiously sniffing housing market
"With white tin ceilings, original woodwork, bay windows, and a $699,000 price tag, the two-bedroom apartment at 719 Carroll St. in Brooklyn would have been snatched up in a New York minute a couple of years ago.
" (2009-4-26)
Four states dominate city foreclosure rankings
"The 26 U.S. cities with the worst foreclosure problems are concentrated in four states — California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada, a report released Wednesday shows.
" (2009-4-22)
Some homeowners see giving up as best option
"Teresa Bondora and her family abandoned their two-story brick home in Atlanta rather than fall behind on their mortgage and $30,000 worth of home renovation debt.
" (2009-4-17)
March housing construction falls 10.8 percent
"Housing construction plunged to the second lowest level on record in March, providing a sobering sign that the worst housing slump in decades has not yet ended.
" (2009-4-16)
Economics focus: Pharaoh capitalism
"The costs and benefits of “pyramid” business groupsCorrection to this article LIKE a blot on corporate India’s copybook, the Satyam scandal is still spreading. Two auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers are in police custody, where they are trying to explain why they signed off on the outsourcing company’s cooked books. The chief minister of Satyam’s home state is trading furious accusations of negligence and worse with his predecessor. And on February 6th the government revealed that its serious fraud office is investigating no fewer than 325 companies wrapped up in the scam perpetrated by Satyam’s founder, B. Ramalinga Raju, and at least one of his brothers. ..." (2009-2-12)
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