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Case-Shiller: Home Price Drop Largest On Record
2008-05-27 15:23:00
From Reuters this morning:   Price s of U.S. single-family homes plunged a record 14.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, marking a pace five times faster than the last housing recession, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller national home price index reported on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Market trends , Home

Twist is off until Tuesday
2008-05-25 16:28:00
I rarely take a full day off, but when my computer goes out on Memorial Day weekend, I take that as a sign. [Yes I have a spare, but it has issues.] I’m  going to just hang with the family for a  couple of days.
More About: Tuesday , Twist

Canadaian Housing Market Also Subject To Housing ?Physics? And Is Going Dow
2008-05-24 14:08:00
Alas, what goes up, must come down- even in Canada.  After months of the MSM reporting that the Canadian housing market would not go the way of their neighbors to the south- the Canadian housing market is going the way of their neighbors to the south:   Canada’s long-running housing boom has ended, with the formerly ...
More About: Market , Physics , Housing Bubble , Market trends , Housing

April National Existing Home Sales: Sales Down, Inventory At Record Levels
2008-05-23 16:52:00
JPMorgan Chase economist Michael Feroli said that existing home sales were "No worse than expectations".  If you want to be positive, that’s about as good as it gets.  According to Reuters this morning: WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - The pace of existing home sales in the United States fell 1 percent in April to a ...
More About: National , Sales , Housing Bubble , Home

Op-Ed Friday: Arizonans Losing Home Equity At Fastest Rate Ever
2008-05-23 09:02:00
It’s Friday , and in Arizona, home equity is "slip-sliding away": [Hat tip MR!] New figures Thursday from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight show the value of an average home in the state slid 5.5 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period a year earlier. So a ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Home , Rate , Equity

Loan Funds Nearly Two Months After Closing
2008-05-23 09:01:00
On May 5, we heard from Jacque, who hadn’t received her funds a month after closing.  We heard again from Jacque yesterday- the loan funded at last: Sorry it took so long for me to post an update, but things got a little crazy for awhile. The good news is, the loan finally funded and all ...
More About: Housing Bubble , Loan , Funds , Months

Boarding Up Abandoned Homes? Tastefully
2008-05-22 09:01:00
For areas now experiencing high levels of foreclosures, here’s a great instructional video from the city of Dayton– How to make boarded up properties look less like they are boarded up.  
More About: Housing Bubble , Homes , Abandoned

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