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Phoenix April Home Sales Down, Not Up? Results Skewed By Trustee Sales
2008-05-21 09:01:00
[My thanks to everyone who forwarded me this one- and there were a lot of you!] According to yesterday’s Arizona Republic, Jay Butler’s April home sales report was wrong: Butler compiles a report each month on home-resale transactions in Maricopa County. The report said home resales were up 15 percent compared with the same month in 2007, ...
More About: Phoenix , Sales , Housing Bubble , Home

Getting Paid To Walk Away
2008-05-20 09:01:00
It apparently isn’t just homeowners walking away from their homes.  Now squatters are moving into foreclosure properties- and making a quick buck while they are at it: Squatters are moving into foreclosed homes and posing as tenants so they can live in comfort until the bank either goes through the eviction process or bribes them to ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Market trends , Paid , Walk

You Are More In Debt Than You Think
2008-05-19 17:21:00
So you don’t use credit cards, own your house free and clear and the car is paid off?  You might be thinking you don’t have much in the way of debt.  If Sheila Weinberg, chief executive for the Institute for Truth in Accounting is right, you are on the hook for more- a lot more: The ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Debt

Fannie Mae: Building The Underwater Mortgages Of Tomorrow
2008-05-19 09:01:00
Fannie Mae continues to trod where other lenders don’t dare to tread- they are no longer worrying about loaning in "declining markets": WASHINGTON, DC — Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) today announced a new, national policy on down payment requirements for conventional, conforming mortgages the company will purchase or guarantee. Starting June 1, 2008, Fannie ...
More About: Building , Housing Bubble , Mortgages , Tomorrow , Fannie Mae

The ?Psychological Trauma? Of Foreclosure
2008-05-18 15:54:00
There have been a lot of excuses made for bailing out homeowners, but this one from economist Robert Shiller takes the cake- now we should worry that going into foreclosure will hurt people’s self esteem:  [Shame on you Shiller, you are usually one of my heroes!]   It is important to consider the psychological trauma of ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Foreclosure , Psychological , Trauma

Op-Ed Friday: Housing Starts In The Eye Of The Beholder
2008-05-16 16:19:00
It’s Friday , and housing starts are either at a 17 year low or "showing growth"- depending on your choice of spin: Feeling negative? May 16 (Bloomberg) — Construction of U.S. single-family houses in April dropped to the lowest level in 17 years, even as building of condominiums and townhouses rebounded. Builders broke ground on 692,000 single-family ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Housing

Sorry Greenspan, But I?m Not Seeing It
2008-05-15 09:01:00
According to Marketwatch yesterday, "Greenspan sees U.S. house price hit bottom in 2009".  I think he’s seeing things. [Thanks L!] U.S. home prices will likely bottom out in early 2009 after the market absorbs excess inventories, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told audiences in Asia Wednesday, according to news reports. Greenspan, ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Market trends

The Reality Fairy Has Left The Room- And Possibly The Country
2008-05-14 20:09:00
Here’s a novel solution to our economic woes.  Let’s just redefine what makes for a "good" economy.  From today’s Arizona Republic:  [Thanks L!] Arizona’s economy may seem ugly right now but when you look at it from a historical context, it looks pretty good, an Arizona State University economics expert said Tuesday. Home building is ...
More About: Reality , Country , Housing Bubble , Left , Room

Phoenix: April Home Sales Up But Median Down 21%
2008-05-14 18:31:00
Yesterday Jay Butler released his monthly home sales report for the Phoenix area: MESA, Ariz. — For the first time since July 2005, the local resale housing market has posted year-over-year improvement. April had 5,585 recorded sales in contrast to 4,855 sales for a year ago and 4,335 sales in March 2008. Given the ...
More About: Sales , Housing Bubble , Home

Jumbo Loans Coming With Jumbo Price Tag
2008-05-13 09:01:00
In spite of government efforts to make jumbo loans more affordable, prices remain high- and Barney Frank wants to know why: Capitol Hill’s most influential legislator on housing issues says Wall Street and the mortgage lending industry are needlessly overpricing "jumbo" loans designed to help borrowers in areas with high home costs. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee and chief author of legislation that raised the maximum mortgage limits of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA to $729,750 through the end of the year, plans to haul officials of major mortgage firms before Congress next week to explain why interest rates and fees for new jumbo loans are so high. "I am disappointed," said Frank. "We fought very hard to raise the loan limits for Fannie and Freddie and there have been a lot of problems in implementation. As part of the federal economic stimulus law, higher limit jumbo loans have been authorized since April...
More About: Loans , Price , Jumbo

Will Sell Wedding Ring To Avoid Foreclosure
2008-05-12 10:03:00
From Friday’s Craigslist: Yellow Gold, 1/2 carat diamond S1 quality with attached wedding band with 7 diamonds, and channel set anniversary ring with 7 diamonds. Total of 3 rings for $1200 - must sell to avoid foreclosure. Contact Peggy….
More About: Wedding , Housing Bubble , Foreclosure , Ring , Sell

Las Vegas- ?A Glut Of Glitzy Homes?
2008-05-11 09:01:00
It doesn’t take long for the new to become old in Las Vegas : LAS VEGAS — They blow up aging casinos in this town. Now, some are wondering what to do about yesterday’s desert dream homes. The housing slump has fattened the inventory of unsold homes throughout the country. But there’s another twist to ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Las Vegas Market , Homes

Fannie?s New Plan Helps Keep Borrowers Underwater
2008-05-10 09:02:00
No, the headline isn’t a typo. From today’s Wall Street Journal- Bailout ideas just keep getting dumber.  Here’s a gem from Fannie Mae: [Thanks John!] Normally, it is impossible for underwater borrowers to qualify for refinancing because the collateral isn’t worth enough to support new loans that would let them fully pay off the old ones. ...
More About: Plan , Underwater

A Sign of the Times
2008-05-10 09:01:00
L thought this looks like a sign of the times, and I had to agree.  If you have MLS access, check out #2895409.  It looks like the granite countertop business isn’t what it used to be: $200,000.00 PRICE REDUCTION !GREAT LOCATION/ GOOD INCOME BUSINESS. HIGHLY POTENTIAL GROWTH GRANITE COUNTERTOP AND CABINET RETAIL AND WHOLESALE STORE. ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Market trends , Sign , Times , The Times

Arizona?s in Recession- But We Knew That
2008-05-09 18:44:00
Moody’s is saying what we’ve been saying for awhile- Arizona is in a recession:  [Thanks L!] The Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas, as well as the state of Arizona, are in a recession, economists at Moody’s Economy.com have declared. The company first concluded several weeks ago that Arizona was in a recession and, in a separate ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Recession

Twist Is Taking A Road Trip
2008-05-08 20:00:00
Austin is beautiful this time of year, but I’m headed back to Phoenix for a few days. [Yeah it’s in the 90s this week- but it’s a dry heat.] I’m driving this trip, so my internet access will be spotty. I’m counting on our usual cast of characters to keep the party going.
More About: Trip , Road Trip , Road , Taking , Twist

Las Vegas Median Price At Lowest Level In Four Years
2008-05-08 09:02:00
According to data released by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, the median price of single family homes in Las Vegas fell 22.7% in April, from $305,000 in April 2007 to $235,875 in April 2008. Price s haven’t been this low since February 2004, when the median price was $220,000.
More About: Housing Bubble , Las Vegas Market , Years

National Pending Home Sales Hit A New Low In March
2008-05-08 09:01:00
It’s enough to make you burst out singing "Blue Skies". From the National Association of Realtors ’ chief economist: Two things homebuyers shouldn’t have to worry about is a recession or long-term credit crunch. That’s what Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, told real estate practitioners who gathered at the ...
More About: Sales , Market trends , Home

Congress: You Can?t Stop A Hurricane
2008-05-07 14:35:00
According to Wickipedia: Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.[1] It was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest hurricane on record that made landfall in the United States. In spite of the devastation, there were no "hurricane prevention" bills.  Congress recognized that ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Stop

High Gas Prices Popped Suburbia?s Bubble
2008-05-07 09:01:00
When you ask "Who’s responsible for the bursting of the housing bubble?"  Fingers fly in every direction to point out the guilty- naive buyers, crooked lenders, low interest rates- you’ve probably know the possible suspects by heart by now.  An interesting paper called "Driven to the Brink" however, points the finger in a different direction- ...
More About: Market trends , Gas Prices , Suburbia , High , Bubble

Flawed Indexes and Flawed Logic
2008-05-06 09:01:00
Blanche Evans, editor of Realty Times says: Stop listening to the media. Go buy a home.  Her logic? Why buy a house now? You’ve been getting bad information. Here’s why. The financial press is worried that they might have gone too far — paralyzing the nation into recession by piling on housing. So they’re finally beginning ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Logic

Shouldn?t This Loan Have Funded By Now?
2008-05-05 09:01:00
We received an interesting question from a reader in Florida.  I thought perhaps some of our Florida Doomers might be able to answer her question: I recently did a refinance on my home. Getting a good loan was difficult since I do not have much in verifiable income,  but in assetsI have more than enough to ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Loan

Obama?s Going To Be Busy
2008-05-03 14:53:00
I hope I don’t regret this.  I rarely weigh in on any of the presidential candidates, as I’m not completely happy with any of them.  This comment from presidential hopeful Barak Obama however,  was simply too silly to ignore: Obama made a "surprise" stop in North Bend, Indiana Thursday at the local VFW, and was asked ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Busy

Washington Was Promoting The Wrong Dream
2008-05-02 18:26:00
The best thing I’ve read this week comes from CBS News this morning: In the midst of the subprime crisis, there’s an important question that analysts and policymakers have neglected: Did so many people need to own homes in the first place? The dream of home ownership has long been part of the American ...
More About: Washington , Promoting , Housing Bubble , Dream , Wrong

Phoenix April Home Sales Preview: May Equal Last Year?s Sales
2008-05-02 09:01:00
Many thanks to M for our monthly update.  A reminder that these figures are a "preview" only- the "sold" number usually creeps up just a bit for a couple of days. ALL MLS Active                            54,705 Under contract         ;         7.969 Sold      & #160;           ...
More About: Phoenix , Preview , April , Sales , Housing Bubble

Foreclosure: It?s Not Just For Poor Folks Any More
2008-05-02 09:01:00
Even rich guys are walking away from their underwater properties these days: [Thanks L!] Former U.S. baseball star Jose Canseco said on Thursday he had lost his California mansion to foreclosure — one of the first celebrities to publicly admit being a statistic in the U.S. housing crisis. Canseco, 43, one of the most flamboyant U.S. baseball players ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Foreclosure , Poor

So Much For The Jumbo ?Rescue?
2008-05-02 06:37:00
Remember how we were told that raising the conforming limits would help higher priced markets?  It doesn’t seem to be working:  [Thanks G!] The New York Times reported on Wednesday that there are real problems with the jumbo mortgage aspect of housing rescue. Several months ago Congress, in an attempt to loosen up credit in ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Rescue , Jumbo

Vacancies Are Up- Way Up
2008-05-01 09:01:00
Can’t sell it, can’t rent it?  You’ve got company:  [Thanks G!]  
More About: Housing Bubble

Save Me Fannie!
2008-04-30 09:01:00
A big thank you to VERSUS, who give us a chance to laugh at the "Doom" and sent us this video:  
More About: Housing Bubble , Save , Save Me

It?s Not A Subprime Crisis- It?s A Consumption Crisis
2008-04-30 01:17:00
From Minyanville today- a great quote ofnthe current "crisis":  [Thanks L!] Unlike many, I have never thought that the U.S.’ current crisis was a “subprime” crisis, or even a more-broad mortgage crisis. No, to me, this has been and will continue to be an evolving consumer consumption crisis which started with the largest and most leveraged ...
More About: Market trends , Subprime , Crisis , Consumption