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Chris Thornberg: 35 percent decline in home values from the peak
2008-03-05 12:25:00
This from Jane Wells blog on the CNBC web site: I want to talk about a guy named Chris Thornberg. As Ben Bernanke suggests this morning that interest rate cuts don’t help a homeowner who’s underwater in a mortgage, that perhaps lenders should instead write down the PRINCIPAL–as much as 50 percent!–Thornberg jokes he’s on a ...
More About: Real Estate , Home , Mortgages , Values

The mother of all meltdowns
2008-03-05 12:00:00
This is what the Financial Times is saying: Step one is the worst housing recession in US history. House prices will, he says, fall by 20 to 30 per cent from their peak, which would wipe out between $4,000bn and $6,000bn in household wealth. Ten million households will end up with negative equity and so with ...
More About: Real Estate , Mother , Mortgages

Buffett thinks that home prices will keep going down
2008-03-04 16:53:00
CNBC interviewed Warren Buffett and this is what he said about the current state of the housing market. LIESMAN: One of the most striking things in this poll is for the first time–we’ve done this for four quarters now–Americans now look for a decline in their home values. What’s the significance of that from an economic ...
More About: Real Estate , Home , Mortgages , Prices

Bernanke: more foreclosures to come
2008-03-04 16:18:00
AP reports via Yahoo Finance: Fed Chief Bernanke Says More Needs to Be Done to Prevent Home Foreclosures WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called Tuesday for additional action to prevent more distressed homeowners from falling into foreclosure. “This situation calls for a vigorous response,” Bernanke said in a speech to a banking group in Florida. Even ...
More About: Real Estate , Mortgages

Maxed Out
2008-03-04 12:09:00
This from the USA Today: “We’ve never seen anything like this,” says Estes, who counsels clients by phone from her office in Richmond, Va. “Their homes are at risk, and they know it. But people say, ‘I don’t want to let my credit cards go because that’s my cash flow.’ Across the nation, credit counselors are reporting ...
More About: Real Estate , Mortgages , Maxed Out

The bubble is bursting: Bankruptcy Filings Surge
2008-03-04 00:42:00
This was just reported by CNBC: American consumers’ bankruptcy filings jumped 15 percent in February from the previous month and a steeper rise is looming because of the subprime mortgage crisis, the American Bankruptcy Institute said. Consumer bankruptcy filings in February totaled 76,120, up from 66,050 recorded in January, the non-partisan bankruptcy research group said. The February number ...
More About: Real Estate , Mortgages , Surge , Bubble

No more inflated home appraisals
2008-03-03 21:03:00
Another sign that the housing party is over. According to CNBC: NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on Monday will announce a deal with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aimed at stamping out inflated home appraisals, sources close to the negotiations said. This is how the Wall Street Journal reported the news:  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ...
More About: Real Estate , Home , Mortgages

Nobody is buying houses
2008-02-20 21:20:00
From CNBC.com: U.S. mortgage applications plunged last week, and demand hit its lowest level since the start of the year as interest rates surged, an industry group said on Wednesday. The U.S. housing market is currently suffering one of the worst downturns in history. Last week’s plummet in demand may indicate what is in store for the hard-hit sector this spring, which is the peak home-buying season. Torsten Slok, senior economist at Deutsche Bank in New York, said the MBA’s data helps cement his bearish view on the U.S. housing sector. “Most housing indicators suggest that we may not get the spring selling season that we are hoping for,” he said. “The key issue is not interest rates, but the tightening of lending standards and that is going to be keeping things subdued for quite some time,” Slok said.
More About: Buying , Houses

California will be hit hard by the collapse of the real estate market
2008-02-20 12:16:00
We’ve been saying this for almost 2 years now. California profited from the latest real estate boom but it is now going to be hit the hardest with the upcoming real estate crash. Instead of saving for a rainy day, Californians tapped into their home equity like never before, getting home equity lines of credit to ...
More About: Collapse , Estate , Real Estate , Real Estate Market

Thank you Mr. Bernanke - Oil jumps above $100
2008-02-19 21:05:00
According to AP via Yahoo Finance: NEW YORK (AP) — Oil futures shot to a new record above $100 Tuesday for the first time since Jan. 3 as investors bet that crude prices will keep climbing despite evidence of plentiful supplies and falling demand. At the pump, gas prices rose further above $3 a gallon. There was ...
More About: Commodities , Bernanke

Mortgage rates go up as the Fed lowers short-term rates
2008-02-19 16:50:00
It looks like a paradox but this shouldn’t surprise anybody. When the Fed lowers short-term interest rates, long-term rates (those that determine mortgage rates) do sometime go up making housing even less affordable. Bankrate.com explains this apparent contradiction. When Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, hinted yesterday that more rate cuts might be in the offing, ...
More About: Mortgage , Mortgages , Short-term , Short , Rates

How will Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton approach the housing crash proble
2008-02-19 16:10:00
We know that both, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton , are far from free market proponents but they have some differences when it comes to dealing with the mortgage meltdown, mounting foreclosures, and the burst of the real estate bubble. Since I believe that is almost a fact that one of the them will become the next president of the ...
More About: Real Estate

Back to reality
2008-02-18 19:35:00
The party is over, you can’t keep using your home as an ATM. The stock market is going nowhere. Home prices are going down. Credit is getting more difficult to get. So now it is all about jobs and that is where the problems begin. Excellent article in Yahoo Finance. Even when experts were declaring the economy healthy, ...
More About: Reality , Real Estate , Back , Mortgages

Housing crash links of the day
2008-02-18 12:02:00
Home Prices Start to Dip, Recalling ?90s Slump Fed’s Major Worry May Be Credit Crisis, Not Recession UBS Facing Subprime Banking Investigations: WSJ US budget deficit set to hit $410bn US urged to focus on housing crisis Last year?s model: stricken US homeowners confound predictions
More About: Real Estate , Links , Housing , Crash

Housing crash links of the day
2008-02-16 12:50:00
Stormier Weather Employment Drops in a Pink Slip Blizzard ‘It’s going to be much worse’ Florida investigates Countrywide Financial Low rates won’t create a new bubble A Home Is For Living, Not Investing Full Service For Empty Houses
More About: Real Estate , Links , Housing , Crash

Housing crash links of the day
2008-02-15 13:04:00
Economist: The future is bleak
More About: Real Estate , Links , Housing , Crash

Lifeline is NOT a silver bullet
2008-02-12 20:57:00
Another attempt by the Feds and the banks to stop the flood of foreclosures due to the burst of the housing market. They are coming out with a new plan almost every day and they don’t seem to be working so far. The new plan is called “Lifeline” and it will try to suspend foreclosure ...
More About: Real Estate , Silver , Mortgages , Bullet , Silver Bullet

The problem is more than just subprime
2008-02-12 18:11:00
This CNBC article makes some good points explaining how the credit crunch is a lot more than just subprime lending. As home prices fall and banks tighten lending standards, people with good, or prime, credit histories are falling behind on their payments for home loans, auto loans and credit cards at a quickening pace, according to industry ...
More About: Real Estate , Problem , Mortgages , Subprime

How retiring baby boomers might sink the housing market
2008-02-11 23:23:00
Good article from the LA Times WASHINGTON — The common perception among economists is that the current housing mess will be a relatively short-term affair that should see a return to normalcy within the next few years. But, according to a new study by two USC researchers, problems of greater proportion lie just ahead. They call it ...
More About: Baby , Real Estate , Market , Housing , Boomers

Even Marin County, CA is suffering with the burst of the housing bubble
2008-02-11 23:08:00
Interesting article on the Marin Independent Journal. Loans were made to borrowers who did not have to provide documentation to substantiate income. No-down-payment loans were common. It’s hard to believe some of the biggest lending institutions could behave this way. But everyone (except for the prudent few) believed prices would continue to rise, creating ever-increasing equity making ...
More About: Real Estate , Housing Bubble , Housing , Mortgages , County

The building of a bubble
2008-02-11 12:41:00
America built the last economic boom on leverage. While the rest of the world has been saving money, we’re spending it. Just like in any average household, at some point, we will have to pay the bills. TheSpectrum.com has a good analysis of our economic bubble. During World War II, Americans were asked to buy savings bonds. ...
More About: Building , Real Estate , Mortgages , Bubble

Housing crash links of the day
2008-02-08 12:53:00
Foreclosure auctions clog the courts Recession Fears May Push Companies to Tighten More STIMULUS PLAN A SCAM TO BENEFIT THE RICH Home equity loan defaults soar What if House Prices Fall by 30% Worldwide? Worse is yet to come in housing crisis Stores Had Disappointing January Sales
More About: Real Estate , Links , Housing , Mortgages , Crash

Massive foreclosure auctions in South Florida
2008-02-08 12:49:00
If you think that the housing market is bottoming, take a look at this article in the Miami Herald. Things are getting worse as more foreclosures are clogging the courts in Florida . This at a time when unemployment is very low. Imagine what is going to happen later this year when more people start losing ...
More About: Real Estate , Foreclosure , South , Mortgages

Buffett talks about toxic mortgages
2008-02-08 10:50:00
When Warren Buffett talks, everybody listens. And he seems to have a lot to say now. In an interview published by Reuters, Buffett said: “It’s sort of a little poetic justice, in that the people that brewed this toxic Kool-Aid found themselves drinking a lot of it in the end,” he said. he warned that the U.S. dollar ...
More About: Real Estate , Mortgages , Toxic , Ages

Home builders keep loosing money
2008-02-07 21:49:00
Another day, another home builder reporting huge losses. According to AP via Yahoo Finance: FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — D.R. Horton Inc., the nation’s largest homebuilder, said Thursday it swung to a loss in its fiscal first quarter, due to hefty charges to write off inventory and land values as the housing slump continues to worsen. Losses for ...
More About: Money , Real Estate , Home , Builders

Pending home sales fall 1.5%
2008-02-07 16:46:00
The real estate bubble keeps bursting. The housing numbers keep getting worse. Today the National Association of Realtors released their “pending home sales” index and as expected, the numbers are horrible. The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in December, slipped 1.5 percent to a reading of 85.9 from a downwardly ...
More About: Real Estate , Fall

Housing crash links of the day
2008-02-07 16:29:00
Realtors: Another home price drop in ‘08 Pending U.S. Home Sales Fell 1.5% in December, Signaling Continuing Slump Pending Home Sales Fall in December Facing losses on bad loans, banks boost credit card rates Pending Home Sales Skid More Than Expected Platinum powers to record high of $1,850 Jobless Claims Show Labor Market Strain Troubled homeowners: Can’t pay? Just walk away Florida’s foreclosure ...
More About: Real Estate , Links , Housing , Crash

The wisdom of Gary North
2008-02-06 17:59:00
This is what Gary North said back in May 2004. He was right on the money. Don’t you think? Real estate today is an asset bubble. Rents usually won’t cover mortgage/ tax/ insurance costs. But real estate can conceal the bubble longer than any other class of asset because it can be occupied by the borrower. ...
More About: Real Estate , Wisdom

Housing crash links of the day
2008-02-05 19:58:00
Listing prices now 105K below peak U.S. Stocks Fall After Service Industries Unexpectedly Shrink Lacker Sees Recession Risk, More Cuts May Be Needed Business confidence stalls Rx for an ailing economy Stocks pounded as recession fears spread; Dow off 300 Tighter Lending Standards “Hurt” Those Needing Help San Fernando Valley, CA sales dropped 51% in December Construction work suffers 11% unemployment
More About: Real Estate , Links , Housing , Mortgages , Crash

Are we going into a recession?
2008-02-05 17:54:00
The most likely answer is “yes”. The services sector is now feeling the pain of the credit crunch and the burst of the housing bubble. According to CNBC: The U.S. services sector retrenched sharply in January to levels not seen since the 2001 recession, renewing fears about an economic slump, according to a survey released Tuesday. The Institute ...
More About: Real Estate , Recession