Housing Bubble Crash Monitor

Long-Term Numbers Tell a Different Story

2009-06-23T07:54:00.003+02:00

" The latest federal statistics on housing prices in hundreds of local markets reveal patterns that haven't been making the news. " (2008-12-6)
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Lawsuit Paints Loan Crisis In Black, White and Brown

2009-06-23T07:54:00.001+02:00

" In what appears to be the first legal action of its kind, an association of community-based organizations has filed a federal civil rights complaint against two of the three largest Wall Street ratings agencies, charging that their inflated ratings on subprime mortgage bonds disproportionately ca... " (2008-11-29)
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Long-Term Numbers Tell a Different Story

2009-06-20T00:01:00.003+02:00

" The latest federal statistics on housing prices in hundreds of local markets reveal patterns that haven't been making the news. " (2008-12-6)
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Lawsuit Paints Loan Crisis In Black, White and Brown

2009-06-20T00:01:00.001+02:00

Foreclosures Pick Pockets of Homeowners Associations

2009-05-30T00:02:00.001+02:00

" If you live in a neighborhood that has a homeowners association, brace yourself. Neighbors losing their homes to foreclosure and short sales not only are dragging down your property values but also are setting you up for higher fees. There's even a threat that your entire neighborhood could grow ... " (2008-11-9)
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Classes and events around the Southland

2009-05-15T23:02:00.037+02:00

"Foreclosure workshops to help investors and homeowners.

MAY 16

" (2009-5-14)
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Obama administration to expand housing plan

2009-05-15T23:02:00.035+02:00

"The Obama administration expanded its $50 billion mortgage aid program on Thursday, announcing new measures that would help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

" (2009-5-14)
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Greece and immigration: Fear and loathing in Athens

2009-05-15T23:02:00.033+02:00

"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)
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Number of homeowners facing foreclosure up

2009-05-15T23:02:00.031+02:00

"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)
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Home prices down in most U.S. cities

2009-05-15T23:02:00.029+02:00

"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)
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Worries growing about commercial real estate

2009-05-15T23:02:00.027+02:00

"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)
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It pays to be married

2009-05-15T23:02:00.025+02:00

"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)
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Where there's muck...

2009-05-15T23:02:00.023+02:00

"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)
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Coal-fired power plants: The writing on the wall

2009-05-15T23:02:00.021+02:00

"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)
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Fed says banks tightening mortgage standards

2009-05-15T23:02:00.019+02:00

"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)
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Pending home sales up 3.2 percent

2009-05-15T23:02:00.017+02:00

"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)
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Statewatch: Rhode Island: Little Rhody in the red

2009-05-15T23:02:00.015+02:00

"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)
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Home prices tumble, but no new record

2009-05-15T23:02:00.013+02:00

"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)
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How to Pick a Neighborhood

2009-05-15T23:02:00.011+02:00

"According to a 2008 study by NYUs 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)
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Buyers cautiously sniffing housing market

2009-05-15T23:02:00.009+02:00

"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)
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Four states dominate city foreclosure rankings

2009-05-15T23:02:00.007+02:00

"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)
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Some homeowners see giving up as best option

2009-05-15T23:02:00.005+02:00

"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)
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March housing construction falls 10.8 percent

2009-05-15T23:02:00.003+02:00

"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)
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Economics focus: Pharaoh capitalism

2009-05-15T23:02:00.001+02:00

"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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Hollywood Hills home looks like a bargain

2009-02-10T18:01:00.005+01:00

"You've seen his face all over TV for years, now won't you please go see the man's house? Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall and his wife, Kasi Lemmons, just dropped the price on their Hollywood Hills home by 21 percent - from $2,899,000 to $2,295,000. Previously, they...

" (2009-2-8)
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Statewatch: Nevada: Wheel of fortune

2009-02-10T18:01:00.003+01:00

"We begin an occasional series on how America’s states are faring in the downturn with Nevada, the ultimate in boom and bustFOR a glimpse of the old, confident Las Vegas, visit its newest hotel. Steve Wynn’s vaguely Chinese-themed Encore, which opened in December, is packed with heavy draperies and well-drilled staff. It has thousands of indoor flowers, flat-screen televisions in the bathrooms and a restaurant where the decor changes every half-hour or so. One of its boutiques sells a bejewelled object adorned with a butterfly for $269. Closer inspection reveals it to be a toothbrush-holder. No doubt it seemed like a good idea two-and-a-half years ago, when work began on the hotel. Today it seems delusional. Nevada’s most distinctive industry is slumping as Americans fasten their wallets. Despite the opening of several big casinos, total gambling revenues have declined by 15% in a year. Developers are frantically scaling back projects, or even mothballing them. Still, two huge casino-hotels will open this year, boosting supply at the worst possible moment. ..." (2009-2-5)
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Charlemagne: Single-market blues

2009-02-10T18:01:00.001+01:00

"Recession is bringing fresh threats to Europe’s single marketIN FRANCE railway crossings are adorned with a small lesson for a life of gnomic brevity. “One train can conceal another,” is the message printed on warning signs. It is a motto that supporters of free trade should remember as they scan the horizon for threats to the European Union’s greatest achievement: the borderless single market. Those watching out for protectionism have plenty to alarm them, right before their eyes. But the biggest threats to the single market are those hidden from view.Start with the visibly alarming. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, an express train in human form, has hinted that billions of euros in aid for the French car industry should be made conditional on keeping production in France (and perhaps on buying French-made components, unnamed aides have briefed). There has been no less furious tooting and whistling from politicians in such places as Spain, Britain and Greece as they nag bailed-out bankers to lend first to domestic businesses and households. The Greeks publicly “advised” banks to be “more prudent” about transferring bail-out funds to Balkan subsidiaries. A nasty industrial dispute, sparked when Italian and Portuguese workers were posted to an English oil refinery, led one British minister to urge changes to EU law to stop foreigners undercutting Brits. ..." (2009-2-5)
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What would it take to get home buyers off the fence?

2009-02-04T06:01:00.003+01:00

"Stuck with bulging inventories of homes, builders might offer packages of special financing, price concessions, lower down payments and perhaps application guarantees.

If you'd love to purchase a new house but you're sitting on the fence, what exactly would it take to get you to buy? Mortgage rates lower than today's 5% range? Smaller down payments? Below-market value pricing? Special amenity packages? Or a big tax credit?
" (2009-2-1)
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Vondie Curtis-Hall drops price of Hollywood Hills house to $2,295,000

2009-02-04T06:01:00.001+01:00

"HOT PROPERTY

You've seen his face all over TV for years, now won't you please go see the man's house? Actor Vondie Curtis-Hall and his wife, Kasi Lemmons , just dropped the price on their Hollywood Hills home by 21% -- from $2,899,000 to $2,295,000.
" (2009-1-31)
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What will it to take to get you to buy a house?

2009-02-01T21:01:00.039+01:00

"If you'd love to purchase a new house but you're sitting on the fence, what exactly would it take to get you to buy? Mortgage rates lower than 5 percent? Smaller down payments? Below-market value pricing? Special amenity packages? Or a big tax credit? What's...

" (2009-2-1)
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Beck can't get rid of Malibu mansion

2009-02-01T21:01:00.037+01:00

"Perpetually touring performer Beck has lowered the price on his Malibu beach house a smidgen to pique interest. Old price: $2,399,000. New price: $2,345,000. Hey, we did say a smidgen. It's his second home, and his schedule hasn't allowed much use of it. The...

" (2009-2-1)
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The home you save could be your own

2009-02-01T21:01:00.035+01:00

"A growing number of American homeowners in foreclosure are representing themselves as what are called pro se – a Latin phrase meaning “for oneself” -- litigants in court proceedings. Msnbc.com's Mike Stuckey explains why." (2009-1-28)
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Fed moves to help distressed homeowners

2009-02-01T21:01:00.033+01:00

"With home foreclosures spiking, the Federal Reserve is taking steps to try to keep some distressed borrowers in their homes." (2009-1-28)
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Home prices drop by record pace in Nov.

2009-02-01T21:01:00.031+01:00

"Home prices plunged a record 18.2 percent in November from a year earlier as the country’s housing market remains in the throes of a deep recession." (2009-1-27)
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Fight building over judges redoing mortgages

2009-02-01T21:01:00.029+01:00

"Most congressional Democrats say the quickest way to save homeowners like Troy Butler of Saginaw, Mich., is to let them declare bankruptcy and allow judges to dictate new mortgage terms." (2009-1-26)
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Wild-animal spirits

2009-02-01T21:01:00.027+01:00

"Why is finance so unstable?WHEN people look back on a bubble, they tend to blame the mess on crookery, greed and the collective insanity of others. What else but madness could explain all those overpriced Dutch tulips? With hindsight, today’s mortgage disaster seems ridiculously simple. Wasn’t it the fault of barely legal mortgage underwriting, overpaid investment bankers and the intoxication of easy credit? Yet there is an element of the madhouse in that explanation too. Cupidity, fraud and delusion were obviously part of the great bust. But if they are the chief causes of bubbles—which have repeatedly plagued Western finance since its origins in the Italian Renaissance—you have to suppose that civilisation is beset by naivety and manic depression.In fact, observes Abhijit Banerjee, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a little irrationality goes a long way. When reasonable, self-interested people trade with each other, optimism tends to breed optimism—until it subsides into corrosive pessimism. In the words of Willem Buiter, of the London School of Economics, “finance is a scary, inherently unstable, essential activity.” ..." (2009-1-22)
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Foreclosures increased 81 percent last year

2009-02-01T21:01:00.025+01:00

"More than 2.3 million American homeowners faced foreclosure proceedings last year, an 81 percent increase from 2007, with the worst yet to come." (2009-1-15)
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Congress takes up foreclosure relief plans

2009-02-01T21:01:00.023+01:00

"Congress and the Obama administration are working on a variety of measures to try to slow the pace of home foreclosures. But the problem has been stubbornly resistant to quick fixes." (2009-1-14)
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Bankruptcy system takes on the mortgage mess

2009-02-01T21:01:00.021+01:00

"Aiming to keep overextended borrowers in their homes, judges and trustees in the federal bankruptcy court system have helped set up a service intended to speed the modification of troubled mortgages." (2009-1-14)
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Fannie Mae won’t evict renters in foreclosures

2009-02-01T21:01:00.019+01:00

"Mortgage finance company Fannie Mae said Tuesday it has adopted a policy allowing renters to remain in their homes even if their landlord enters foreclosure." (2009-1-14)
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Citi agrees to let judges alter mortgages

2009-02-01T21:01:00.017+01:00

"A trio of Democratic senators say they have reached a deal with Citigroup Inc. on a plan to let bankruptcy judges alter home loans in an effort to prevent foreclosures." (2009-1-9)
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Foreclosure suspensions extended through Jan.

2009-02-01T21:01:00.015+01:00

"Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend the suspension of foreclosure sales and evictions from single-family homes through the end of January." (2009-1-8)
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Manhattan luxury housing feeling the pinch

2009-02-01T21:01:00.013+01:00

"In what seemed like a New York-minute, prices of luxury homes in Manhattan are suddenly falling." (2009-1-6)
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Green building stalls amid lower prices

2009-02-01T21:01:00.011+01:00

"Homebuilders slapped on solar panels and added other eco-friendly enhancements as energy prices soared earlier this year, hoping greener homes would lure reluctant buyers." (2008-12-28)
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Advice for renters if landlord faces foreclosure

2009-02-01T21:01:00.009+01:00

"You're paying your bills, but your landlord isn't. This is becoming an all too familiar scenario for thousands of renters who have become the unintended victims of foreclosures." (2008-12-26)
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Home prices plunge as sales slow sharply

2009-02-01T21:01:00.007+01:00

"Sales of new and existing homes plummeted in November, as buyers stayed out of the market amid the growing financial crisis and deepening recession." (2008-12-23)
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Mortgage re-defaults up; no sign of slowing

2009-02-01T21:01:00.005+01:00

"The rate of home mortgage borrowers defaulting after their loans are modified is rising and shows no signs of leveling off, U.S. banking regulators said on Monday." (2008-12-22)
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Economics focus: Banks need more capital

2009-02-01T21:01:00.003+01:00

"In a guest article, Alan Greenspan says banks will need much thicker capital cushions than they had before the bustGLOBAL financial intermediation is broken. That intricate and interdependent system directing the world’s saving into productive capital investment was severely weakened in August 2007. The disclosure that highly leveraged financial institutions were holding toxic securitised American subprime mortgages shocked market participants. For a year, banks struggled to respond to investor demands for larger capital cushions. But the effort fell short and in the wake of the Lehman Brothers default on September 15th 2008, the system cracked. Banks, fearful of their own solvency, all but stopped lending. Issuance of corporate bonds, commercial paper and a wide variety of other financial products largely ceased. Credit-financed economic activity was brought to a virtual standstill. The world faced a major financial crisis.For decades, holders of the liabilities of banks in the United States had felt secure with the protection of a modest equity-capital cushion, allowing banks to lend freely. As recently as the summer of 2006, with average book capital at 10%, a federal agency noted that “more than 99% of all insured institutions met or exceeded the requirements of the highest regulatory capital standards.” ..." (2008-12-18)
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Economics focus: The teetotallers' hangover

2009-02-01T21:01:00.001+01:00

"High saving and low private-sector debt have not shielded Germany and Japan from recession PAUL KRUGMAN, the winner of this year’s Nobel prize in economics, put his finger on something in the 1990s when he identified, and then ridiculed, the notion that a slump is a “necessary punishment” for the excesses of the boom that went before it. The popular idea of recession as purgative—the hangover following an ill-judged binge—has a strong and enduring emotional appeal. It allows distressed consumers in America and Britain, countries with a shared weakness for untrammelled spending and reckless borrowing, to make sense of the unfolding crisis. Recession, they reason, must be a penance for past profligacy. However, such logic is of little use in Germany and Japan, two big and rich countries that did not succumb to the boom’s vices, but are nevertheless facing nasty recessions. Each avoided the credit expansion, consumer frenzy, house-price bubbles and trade deficits indulged in by many of their peers. Both went into the downturn less burdened by private-sector debt and with hefty current-account surpluses (see left-hand chart). Yet prudence has not spared them: both economies contracted in the second and third quarters, and seem set for a further retreat in the current one. The OECD forecasts that Japan’s economy will grow by just 0.5% this year, and will shrink by 0.1% in 2009. It thinks GDP in Germany will fall by 0.8% next year. ..." (2008-12-4)
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Foreclosures Pick Pockets of Homeowners Associations

2008-12-05T23:03:00.011+01:00

"If you live in a neighborhood that has a homeowners association, brace yourself. Neighbors losing their homes to foreclosure and short sales not only are dragging down your property values but also are setting you up for higher fees. There's even a threat that your entire neighborhood could grow ...
" (2008-11-9)
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Now Is the Time for Those Bottom-Feeders to Do Their Work

2008-12-05T23:03:00.009+01:00

"Bring on the vultures. I mean that in the most flattering way possible, you dear deep-pocketed real estate investors with access to credit.
" (2008-11-2)
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Surrounded by Ruins, Mortgage Market Remains Intact

2008-12-05T23:03:00.007+01:00

"Everybody knows how severe and painful the global financial breakdown has been, with banks unwilling to lend even to other banks. But what about mortgages and real estate? Can you still get a home loan with less than 20 percent or 30 percent down? Or with a credit score below 720?
" (2008-10-18)
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Another Losing Proposition for Homeowners

2008-12-05T23:03:00.005+01:00

"It's happened again. Some of the same people who lost money last year to the Metro Dream Homes mortgage-payment scheme lost tens of thousands of dollars more to another debt-payment plan before it was shut down by the Maryland securities commissioner this month. The commissioner has ordered Edwar...
" (2008-10-12)
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20 Steps to Toughen Up Against Hard Times

2008-12-05T23:03:00.003+01:00

"Harder times appear to be on the way, even if lawmakers succeed in unclogging the nation's credit system. It's time to look around our homes and do what we can to cut costs, avoid unnecessary repairs and preserve cash.
" (2008-10-5)
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'Hope for Homeowners,' Still Long in Coming

2008-12-05T23:03:00.001+01:00

"We interrupt this financial crisis with a word from its sponsor: the families who are losing homes to foreclosure.
" (2008-9-28)
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When Your Couch Is on Order and the Company Goes Bankrupt

2008-12-05T23:02:00.001+01:00

"Maybe they'll become collector's items, my coffee table from Bombay Co., some old bedside tables from Scan. Both are retailers that have shuttered their stores after filing for bankruptcy protection. It's the trickle-down result of a poor housing market.
" (2008-9-21)
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A House Tour With Two-Wheeled Appeal

2008-12-05T23:01:00.001+01:00

"PORTLAND, Ore. -- With gas prices high, bicycles flying out of stores and a buyer's market for houses, a handful of real estate agents around the country are touting the two-wheeled appeal of their listings.
" (2008-9-13)
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Nowadays, the bank says what a house is worth

2008-12-02T21:01:00.009+01:00

"It used to be a market mantra: A house is worth only as much as a buyer is willing to pay. But given today's bank failures, foreclosures and tightened credit, real estate experts have had to modify the aphorism to reflect harsher realities. "A house is only...

" (2008-11-30)
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Civil rights complaint targets Wall Street rating firms

2008-12-02T21:01:00.007+01:00

"Moody's and Fitch's high ratings of subprime mortgage bonds disproportionately harmed black and Latino home buyers, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition alleges.

In what is apparently the first legal action of its kind, an association of community-based organizations has filed a federal civil rights complaint against two of the three largest Wall Street rating firms, charging that their inflated ratings on subprime mortgage bonds disproportionately caused financial harm to African American and Latino home buyers across the country." (2008-11-30)
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New crisis, in commercial real estate, looms

2008-12-02T21:01:00.005+01:00

"The full scope of the housing meltdown isn’t clear and already there are ominous signs of a new crisis — one that could turn out the lights on malls, hotels and storefronts nationwide." (2008-11-28)
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The death penalty: Reasonable doubt

2008-12-02T21:01:00.003+01:00

"Troubling questions surround a capital case in GeorgiaIN 1989 Troy Davis and two friends were hanging out in Savannah, Georgia. They saw a homeless man leaving a shop and started to bully him. An off-duty policeman heard the commotion and intervened; he was shot and killed. Though no gun was found, the state produced nine witnesses who said that Mr Davis was the culprit. He was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death in 1991. It seemed a straightforward case. Americans particularly revile cop-killers and here was a parade of people saying that Mr Davis had shot a policeman. But after the trial, no fewer than seven of the nine recanted. Several of them said they had felt subjected to pressure by the police. Others thought someone else was the killer. The homeless man said he could not remember, and anyway he had been drinking. ..." (2008-11-27)
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New home sales fall to slowest pace since 1991

2008-12-02T21:01:00.001+01:00

"Sales of new homes fell in October to the lowest point in nearly 18 years while the median price of a new home dropped to the lowest level since 2004." (2008-11-26)
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Home prices tumble by record in 3Q

2008-11-26T04:01:00.025+01:00

"Home prices tumbled by the sharpest annual rate on record in the third quarter, according to two widely watched indexes released Tuesday, and the trend is expected to get worse." (2008-11-25)
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Home prices tumble to 2004 levels

2008-11-26T04:01:00.023+01:00

"Sales of existing U.S. homes fell more than expected last month, as economic fears made buyers leery even though prices plunged to the lowest level in more than four years." (2008-11-24)
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Falling prices a bitter pill for homeowners

2008-11-26T04:01:00.021+01:00

"The housing market may have bust, but many homeowners are still living in a bubble. Despite dismal housing headlines and reports showing falling prices nationwide, owners in some once-hot areas still believe their home is gaining value or at least holding its...

" (2008-11-23)
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Earlier closings may be in home buyers' best interest

2008-11-26T04:01:00.019+01:00

"Most people schedule real estate settlements late in the month to save on paying upfront cash, but the last-minute rush often causes mistakes and creates logjams.

To milk all they can out of their final rent checks, first-time buyers often try to schedule their closings as close to the end of the month as possible." (2008-11-23)
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Efforts expand to help financially distressed homeowners

2008-11-26T04:01:00.017+01:00

"Two mass-market loan modification programs are aimed at preventing foreclosures. But critics say they don't solve the problem and could have a corrosive effect on borrowers.

You may have seen headlines about the latest public and private efforts to help financially distressed homeowners cope with their mortgage payments. But you might not have caught key details that could affect you or people you know -- now or in the recession months ahead." (2008-11-23)
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Freddie, Fannie suspend foreclosure actions

2008-11-26T04:01:00.015+01:00

"Mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are suspending foreclosures for about 16,000 U.S. households during the holiday season." (2008-11-20)
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Spending and the economy: The end of the affair

2008-11-26T04:01:00.013+01:00

"America’s return to thrift presages a long and deep recessionDEBBIE JEFFRIES could see it coming. When she manned the cash register at Linens ’n Things, the household-goods chain where she has worked for 14 years, a customer would sometimes open her wallet and display 15 credit cards. “That people can pull out that many credit cards—that’s insane. You say, whoa, maybe that’s why we’re here. We have so much debt.” Ms Jeffries cut up her own credit card several years ago when the balance became unmanageable, but still became an indirect victim of the credit crunch that is now dragging America into recession. Linens ’n Things filed for bankruptcy protection in May; in October, unable to find a buyer for its stores, it began to liquidate itself. A sign in the window of Ms Jeffries’ store in suburban Maryland invites anyone interested in buying the fixtures to see the manager. Ms Jeffries expects to be out of a job by the end of December. ..." (2008-11-20)
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Green trends in California: Cooling off

2008-11-26T04:01:00.011+01:00

"The economic slowdown is having one good effectCALIFORNIA tried to save the world again this week. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the state’s governor, rounded up politicians and officials from across the globe (expending quite a bit of carbon) and urged them to tackle climate change more aggressively. To set an example, he ordered state power companies to obtain one-third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. California is indeed leading the way in cutting greenhouse-gas emissions—but not for the reason it might want. Mr Schwarzenegger became an environmental hero two years ago, when he signed a bill committing the state to cut greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. California’s lead was followed by 17 other states, Congress and Britain. Many one-upped California by adopting even more ambitious targets. A slight stain on this otherwise heartwarming picture was that, until recently, California appeared to have little chance of hitting its own target. Then the state’s housing market collapsed, petrol prices soared and the economy slid towards recession. ..." (2008-11-20)
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Adult children moving back home with parents

2008-11-26T04:01:00.009+01:00

"Extended families sharing a home was once an American tradition. Now with rising foreclosures and layoffs, it's a necessity. But there is a silver lining.

Donald Garcia, 35, and his wife, Augustine, were living in a Burbank apartment when Augustine's mother approached them for help. She had refinanced her three-bedroom Tujunga home a year and a half earlier with an interest-only loan, and what had been a $900 monthly house payment had doubled." (2008-11-15)
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FDIC plan could help 1.5 million keep homes

2008-11-26T04:01:00.007+01:00

"Publicly breaking with the Bush administration, the FDIC proposed to use $24 billion in government funding to help 1.5 million American households avoid foreclosure." (2008-11-14)
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Foreclosures spike 25 percent year-on-year

2008-11-26T04:01:00.005+01:00

"The number of homeowners caught in the wave of foreclosures in October grew 25 percent nationally over the same month in 2007, data released Thursday showed." (2008-11-13)
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Florida: Snowbirds, meet the repo men

2008-11-26T04:01:00.003+01:00

" The property crash is devastating a boom townYOU can gauge the depth of Florida’s economic woes with a quick look at a parking lot on the north side of Cape Coral, on the state’s south-western coast. Since the implosion of the local housing market last year, Gulf Coast Recovery has hauled in the cars of wiped-out building workers who fell behind on their payments. But now the beefy, heavily-tattooed repo men at Gulf Coast hoot about the red Corvette they have just towed away; and their lot contains Cadillacs, $40,000 Harley-Davidsons, even speedboats. “We don’t mind taking those,” says Scott Friga, the company’s owner. “They’re toys.”Cape Coral was a boom town a few years ago, buoyed by a huge upturn in house-building. Workers flooded in, and speculators and builders alike could buy Hummers on credit. In 2004 the Los Angeles-based Milken Institute rated the resulting sea of stucco and strip malls the best-performing city in America. Now it is 120th. One in 71 homes in Cape Coral’s Lee County has a foreclosure filing, and nearly half the mortgages on recently purchased houses in the area are under water. ..." (2008-11-13)
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The global economic summit: After the fall

2008-11-26T04:01:00.001+01:00

"On November 15th world leaders are due to sit around a table in Washington, DC, to fix finance. They have their work cut outTHE leaders arriving in Washington, DC, for this weekend’s economic summit are being presumptuous. If they want what they are calling Bretton Woods 2 to live up to the original, which took place in New Hampshire overshadowed by war and the Depression, it will have to establish a new economic order for the capitalist world. In 1944 that meant creating the IMF, the World Bank and a body to oversee world trade. Imagine Hank Paulson, America’s treasury secretary, as John Maynard Keynes; or picture Gordon Brown, Britain’s prime minister, as Winston Churchill (as Mr Brown himself secretly may), and you get a sense of the task ahead.The Bretton Woodsmen of 2008 are grabbing the credit before they have earned it—rather as all those subprime householders did. More than two years of gruelling technical work laid the ground for the wartime conference of officials and finance ministers (prime ministers and presidents had other things to deal with). By contrast, the leaders gathering this weekend from the G20, a mix of industrial and emerging countries, plus the European Union, have cobbled together an agenda in a few frenetic weeks. They will doubtless produce no shortage of promises. Just what these are worth will depend on sweat and summits yet to come. ..." (2008-11-13)
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Working Harder for Every Sale

2008-11-21T21:01:00.001+01:00

"Real estate agent Sharon Zunkley has taken some unusual steps this year to sell houses.
" (2008-10-25)
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New breed of investor looks to housing market

2008-11-11T22:01:00.007+01:00

"Falling prices and rampant foreclosures are not the stuff of healthy housing markets. But to some real estate investors, the dismal market can signal that it is time to invest." (2008-11-11)
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Homeowner denial: My home is gaining value

2008-11-11T22:01:00.005+01:00

"Despite dismal housing headlines and reports showing falling prices nationwide, owners in some once-hot areas still believe their home is gaining value or at least holding its own." (2008-11-10)
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Foreclosures Pick Pockets of Homeowners Associations

2008-11-11T22:01:00.003+01:00

"If you live in a neighborhood that has a homeowners association, brace yourself. Neighbors losing their homes to foreclosure and short sales not only are dragging down your property values but also are setting you up for higher fees. There's even a threat that your entire neighborhood could grow ...
" (2008-11-9)
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Now Is the Time for Those Bottom-Feeders to Do Their Work

2008-11-11T22:01:00.001+01:00

"Bring on the vultures. I mean that in the most flattering way possible, you dear deep-pocketed real estate investors with access to credit.
" (2008-11-2)
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Number of first-time home buyers is increasing

2008-11-10T21:09:00.019+01:00

"Low home prices and excess supply helped drive a rise in first-time U.S. home buyers and reduce excess inventory, according to a study released Saturday by The National Association of Realtors." (2008-11-9)
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The market for homeowners looking to sell

2008-11-10T21:09:00.017+01:00

"Melissa Morris put her Haight-Ashbury flat on the market in mid-September. It was priced right and she accepted an offer of $825,000 within days. The contractor's inspection was set for Sept. 29 and as the buyer toured the home, the stock market was in the...

" (2008-11-9)
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Some strapped homeowners keep making payments

2008-11-10T21:09:00.015+01:00

"Think of them as the walking wounded: The homeowners who are upside down on their mortgages, owing much more than their home is worth. But they're still on their feet and still sending their payments each month. In this credit crisis, all the attention has...

" (2008-11-9)
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Strategy to protect home equity credit lines

2008-11-10T21:09:00.013+01:00

"Many homeowners who have taken out home equity lines of credit have learned in recent months that these loans are not as useful as they initially seemed. Lenders are struggling to minimize risk, and because they are especially at risk to lose money on...

" (2008-11-9)
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British home prices suffering, too

2008-11-10T21:09:00.011+01:00

"House prices in Britain will continue to plunge over the coming year as the economy deteriorates, two leading housing reports said early last week. Average house prices will be 25 percent - or 50,000 pounds ($77,000) - cheaper by the end of 2009 than they...

" (2008-11-9)
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After big jump, pending home sales fall, again

2008-11-10T21:09:00.009+01:00

"Pending U.S. home sales fell more than expected in September, after posting a big jump in the previous month." (2008-11-7)
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The economic challenges facing Barack Obama

2008-11-10T21:09:00.007+01:00

"Financial mess and gathering recession dominate Barack Obama's agendaHE HAD always planned for the economy to be his priority. Just not this economy.As candidate, Barack Obama crafted a platform to address the concerns that preoccupied voters earlier this year: high energy and health-care costs, stagnant middle-class incomes and rising foreclosures. But such problems pale beside the eruptions since August. America’s housing crisis has become a global financial panic; the economy, which was muddling along as recently as July, may be in its deepest recession in decades. Consumer confidence, as our chart shows, is at its lowest in more than half a century (except for a brief sharp dip in 1980). ..." (2008-11-6)
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Nev., Mich., Fla. lead ‘underwater’ homes list

2008-11-10T21:09:00.005+01:00

"Here’s a shocker: almost half of Nevada homeowners with a mortgage owe more to the bank than their homes are worth." (2008-10-31)
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Closing arguments: The end is nigh

2008-11-10T21:09:00.003+01:00

"The candidates are making their final pitches to the electorate“INFOMERCIALS” usually feature over-the-hill “actors” hawking improbable products in the small hours. Barack Obama’s infomercial on October 29th lasted for 30 minutes, appeared at 8pm on seven channels, including CBS and NBC, and featured state-of-the-art production techniques. Mr Obama focused on bread-and-butter issues—the recent Wall Street crash (which he described as a verdict on eight years of failed economic policies from, guess who, the Republicans), rising health-care costs, home foreclosures, disappearing jobs and stagnating incomes—and he illustrated them by telling the story of various families he had met on the stump. He also tried to counter his airy-fairy image telling us, in as much detail as the format would permit, how he planned to deal with these problems. ..." (2008-10-30)
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Policy in a recession: Putting the air back in

2008-11-10T21:09:00.001+01:00

"Staring at recession, policymakers in rich economies are considering how to avoid a prolonged slump. Here are some options—and some obstaclesDEBT is out; cash is in. Financial institutions are finding it hard to borrow from anyone but the state—and they are reluctant to lend to anyone else. Firms, aware that credit is drying up, are striving to raise cash. They have already run down their inventories and are trimming investment and jobs. Householders whose homes are worth less than their mortgages must save hard to reduce their debts. Those that cannot service their mortgages will default, causing more trouble for banks and, via lower house prices, other homeowners.Just a few months ago, the main worry of policymakers in many economies was whether, as the prices of oil and other commodities shot up, they could contain inflation. But the flight from debt and the dash for cash, inelegantly called “deleveraging”, means a bludgeoning for demand. Now central banks and governments are facing a new set of questions. First, can they stop deleveraging from gaining momentum and wrecking their economies? And second, will the tools of conventional macroeconomic policy—cutting interest rates, lowering taxes and increasing public spending—be enough? ..." (2008-10-30)
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Chat Plus

2008-11-06T14:01:00.001+01:00

"Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and columnist Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.
" (2008-10-26)
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American house prices fall yet again

2008-10-28T17:01:00.003+01:00

"House prices in America fall yet againTHOSE looking for an end to America's housing bust will have to wait a little longer. Although sales of new homes rose slightly in September, prices are continuing to fall fast. On Tuesday October 28th the S&P/Case-Shiller index of house prices for ten cities showed a record decline of 17.7% in the year to September. The index has now fallen nearly three times as far as it did during the last big dip in 1991. The broader 20-city index has also touched a new low, sinking by 16.6%. Some observers think that house prices could continue to drop until the middle of next year. ..." (2008-10-28)
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Rising Housing Costs Outpacing Income

2008-10-28T17:01:00.001+01:00

"LOS ANGELES -- The financial squeeze on Americans got tighter over the last decade as the increase in housing expenses far outpaced the growth in incomes, a new study shows.
" (2008-10-11)
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New home sales soar 2.7 percent

2008-10-27T16:01:00.001+01:00

"New home sales post unexpected increase in September as prices fall to lowest level since 2004." (2008-10-27)
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Rebuilding a home after a fluke flood

2008-10-25T11:01:00.003+02:00

"Three days before Christmas 2006, as chef Matt Beville was sliding a tray of pastries into the oven at work, he had no idea events were unfolding at his 1924 Burbank home that would displace him for 18 months and lead to a $209,000 whole-house remodel." (2008-10-25)
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Foreclosure king surfs troubled home waters

2008-10-25T11:01:00.001+02:00

"Real estate broker Leo Nordine is working his well-timed magic in selling distressed houses.

The South Bay's reigning King of Foreclosures runs around barefoot, doesn't own a cellphone and drives an 8-year-old Toyota Tundra pickup." (2008-10-25)
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Greenspan: 'Credit Tsunami'

2008-10-23T20:01:00.001+02:00

"Testifying before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said: 'We are in the midst of a once-in-a century credit tsunami.'
" (2008-10-23)
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Economics focus: A helping hand to homeowners

2008-10-23T19:01:00.001+02:00

"Some economists think the credit crisis needs to be fixed at its source—in America’s housing marketGOVERNMENTS across the rich world have taken drastic steps to save the banking system. As the fears of outright collapse recede, their focus has turned to improving the supply of credit to households and firms by pushing market interest rates down and encouraging banks to lend more freely. But a growing number of economists, and now the Bush administration, believe that the credit crunch also has to be addressed at its source—in America’s housing market, where prices have fallen almost one-fifth from their peak, and foreclosures have soared (see chart).Two features of housing finance make the crisis hard to resolve. The first is “no-recourse” home loans, which are standard in America (though not elsewhere). If a borrower defaults, a bank can claim back the property used as collateral, but nothing more. When the value of a home drops below the size of the mortgage, a borrower has a reason to default to escape his negative equity. ..." (2008-10-23)
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Eastern Europe is battered by the financial and economic crisis

2008-10-23T14:01:00.001+02:00

"Stockmarkets plummet in eastern Europe, as the economic troubles spreadHopes that eastern Europe would prove relatively immune to the global financial turmoil have evaporated as the financial crisis is turning into an economic crisis in the developed world. Stockmarkets have been plummeting throughout the region and several currencies have come under pressure. There are clear signs that the global credit crunch has finally started to bite, with access to external finance becoming much more difficult, as well as expensive. Hungary and Ukraine have turned to the IMF and European Central Bank (ECB) for support, and others may follow. As a result, regional growth in 2009 is set to slow sharply.For almost a year following the onset of financial turmoil in July 2007, ignited by the subprime crisis in the US, eastern Europe felt few effects. Growth held up extremely well, with the exceptions of Estonia and Latvia, which fell into recession some time ago after their home-made financial bubbles burst. High commodity prices continued to drive growth in much of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). For most of the rest of eastern Europe, weakness in west European demand was offset by rising intra-regional trade and buoyant domestic demand. That has all changed in recent months, and eastern Europe is now among those emerging market regions that look to be hit the worst by the intensifying global financial instability and ensuing economic slowdown. The resilience of eastern Europe is disappearing. ..." (2008-10-23)
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Foreclosure activity rises 70 percent

2008-10-23T13:01:00.001+02:00

"The number of homeowners ensnared in the foreclosure crisis grew by more than 70 percent in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007." (2008-10-23)
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