Directory —
Real Estate —
Blog Details for "HousingDoom"
HousingDoomHousingDoomExpert news and opinion on the US housing market. A must read for anyone who is interested in real estate or considering buying or selling a home. In addition to timely posts on analyzing subjects ranging from subprime mortgages to national home sal Articles
Does It Make Sense To Pay Your Mortgage Any More?
2008-03-04 19:16:00 The Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, had an idea for lenders this morning: “Lenders tell us that they are reluctant to write down principal,” Bernanke said. “They say that if they were to write down the principal and house prices were to fall further, they could feel pressured to write down principal again.” The Fed chairman ... More About: Sense , Housing Bubble , Mortgage , Make
Phoenix: About that ?Hot? Under $200K Market?
2008-03-04 08:01:00 On February 27 the Arizona Republic ran an article entitled "Home market under $200K Super Hot" The Republic stated: Homebuyers [are] fighting over a growing inventory of homes in the Valley’s super hot sub-$200,000 market. The sub-prime debacle, foreclosures and short sales are continuing to drive Valley real estate prices down, making more homes ... More About: Phoenix , Market , Housing Bubble
Crack of Doom: Rate Increases On The Horizon?
2008-03-03 14:51:00 It’s Monday, and after Friday’s losses on Wall Street and major declines in Asia and Europe, the markets may be headed down this morning as well. Included in the usual morning back of dismal news this morning was this interesting tidbit- a hint from the Fed’s Plosser- RATE CUTS MAY BE TEMPORARY: The level of the ... More About: Housing Bubble , Crack , Doom , Rate , Horizon
Empty New Homes Abound? Highest Level For 35 Years
2008-03-01 08:01:00 Here’s why new home prices will be headed down for awhile– Inventory is at level not seen in 35 years, and more houses keep on coming: Almost 200,000 newly constructed single-family homes are sitting empty in the U.S., the most since Commerce Department statistics began in 1973. Partially completed developments reduce revenue for cities ... More About: New Homes , Housing Bubble , Homes , Years , Empty
Case-Shiller Index: Monthly Declines Have Been Accelerating
2008-02-29 08:02:00 From Marketwatch this week: Home prices fell 8.9% in 2007, the largest decline in the Case -Shiller home price index in at least 20 years, Standard & Poor’s reported Tuesday. For the fourth straight month, nominal prices in all 20 Case-Shiller cities were lower than in the previous month. The 20-city index fell 2.1% in December and ... More About: Housing Bubble , Market trends , Accelerating , Index
Op-Ed Friday: Twist is in Phoenix this weekend
2008-02-29 08:01:00 It’s Op-Ed Friday , and I’m back in the Valley for a few days. I plan on being away from the computer more than usual, so my apologies if Igor doesn’t treat you kindly- I’ll rescue your comment as soon as I can. We especially appreciate your links, comments and stories while I’m out and about. I’d ... More About: Phoenix , Housing Bubble , Weekend , Twist
Boston: Abandon A Home, The City Wants You To Pay
2008-02-28 18:15:00 Boston has been feeling the impact of rising foreclosures and abandoned homes. Now they want the owners to pay: [Thanks L!] City officials are lining up an arsenal of new tax penalties and stronger regulations to help rid the Hub of the abandoned and foreclosed properties that are blighting neighborhoods as a result of ... More About: Boston , Market trends , Home , Abandon
Michael Jackson Working With Lenders To Save Neverland Ranch
2008-02-28 08:01:00 Apparently even the rich and famous are calling their lenders to work out new terms to avoid foreclosure. At least Michael Jackson is: Pop star Michael Jackson will avoid foreclosure on his Neverland Ranch property with a new loan, a Jackson insider told CNN Wednesday. Documents show that Neverland Ranch in Los Olivos, California, is ... More About: Housing Bubble , Save
Fannie Mae: Investment Caps Up, Profits Down
2008-02-27 17:47:00 James Lockhart of the OFHEO announced that as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now filing timely statements, there would be some changes: The federal regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said on Wednesday it would lift an investment cap for the mortgage companies, in a move that will give them more ... More About: Investment , Housing Bubble , Market trends , Profits
?You took my house, now I?m going to take your money?
2008-02-27 15:34:00 Thanks to L for this story out of Georgia last week: ATHENS, Ga., Feb. 22 (UPI) — A gun-wielding man in a ski mask robbing a Georgia bank told a teller he wanted payback for losing his house to foreclosure. The robbery occurred at a Regions Bank branch in Athens just before noon Thursday, ... More About: House , Money , Housing Bubble
NAR ?Stands with President Bush? On Economic Stimulus Package
2008-02-27 08:01:00 Thank you L for sending us this podcast by Dick Gaylord, President of the National Association of Realtors . It is apparent from Gaylord’s comments that he feels that the NAR was instrumental in bringing about Bush ’s economic stimulus package: A few days ago, we achieved a remarkable accomplishment. NAR stood along side President Bush as ... More About: Housing Bubble
Central Texas Home Sales Beat National Numbers, But Not Doing Well
2008-02-26 14:33:00 Despite the Austin Statesman’s best attempt to put a positive spin on the local market, the Central Texas housing market is in trouble: Sales of Central Texas homes fell 10 percent in January, the seventh month in a row that year-over-year sales dropped. But prices rose, and Austin’s market is in better shape than ... More About: National , Housing Bubble , Home
Existing Home Sales: Median Home Price Down 4.6% in January
2008-02-25 17:19:00 From the Wall Street Journal this morning: WASHINGTON — Existing-home sales fell for the sixth month in a row during January as consumers stood on the sidelines watching prices slide for property. Home resales fell to a 4.89 million annual rate, a 0.4% decrease from December’s revised 4.91 million annual pace, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. Originally, the NAR estimated sales at 4.89 million in December. The median home price was $201,100 in January, down 4.6% from $210,900 in January 2007. The median price in December was $207,000. Falling prices have kept would-be buyers from signing off on property as they wait in hope for still-lower price tags. "Inventories are high, so it’s not surprising prices are declining," NAR economist Lawrence Yun said. (more…) More About: Sales , Price , Median
Crack of Doom- Brother Can You Spare A Quarter To Save A House?
2008-02-25 08:03:00 It’s Monday, and you get the feeling that some folks are getting desperate when you find videos like this on YouTube: So Doom ers, it’s been awhile since we’ve had an open thread. Any other finds for us– links, stories, videos, comments? More About: House , Housing Bubble , A House , Crack
Agent Will Help You Buy Another Home Before Yours Goes Into Foreclosure
2008-02-25 08:02:00 M sent me this link with with subject line, "A new low for Realtors ". I’ve got to agree. This post Tips for buying another home before yours goes into foreclosure was written by Kathy Neilson. Neilson describes herself like this on her blog: A real estate professional skipping along on the rosey [sic] streets of real ... More About: Agent , Housing Bubble , Home , Foreclosure
Utah?s Housing Market ?No Longer Insulated?
2008-02-25 08:01:00 Another "too special to fail" housing market is on the skids- Utah . Here’s how one agent described the Utah housing market in 2006: All the recent talk of a bubble and the cooling off of the markets on left and right coasts seems to have only strengthened the local market for Utah. Many of ... More About: Market , Housing Bubble , Housing
Flagstaff, AZ Homebuilder M.I.A.
2008-02-25 05:01:00 From today’s Arizona Daily Sun: Homeowners, contractors and Flagstaff city officials all have questions about Empire Communities, the largest homebuilder in northern Arizona. They wonder why, over the course of the last few weeks, Empire’s local offices have been vacated, their phone numbers have either been turned off or go unanswered and why one major subcontractor was ... More About: Housing Bubble
You Just Can?t Help Some People?.
2008-02-24 08:01:00 So who’s fault is it if a borrower doesn’t understand their loan? We’ve heard a lot from candidates on how the problem is shady mortgage brokers, so I thought we’d look at the flip side today– there are definitely borrowers who are their own worst enemy. This was posted by "Moneyluck" at Broker’s Outpost. How can ... More About: People , Housing Bubble
Held Hostage By The Housing Market
2008-02-23 08:01:00 The tale of two couples– one waiting to marry, one waiting to divorce- both trying to sell their houses: More About: Realtors , Market , Housing Bubble , Housing , Hostage
Can You Really Work With The Lenders?
2008-02-23 08:01:00 Welcome to "SpeedyNogales", whose question deserved a little better exposure than the bottom of the "Submit ideas" thread. We’ve heard all kinds of stories about the wonderful world of REOs. Here’s Speedy’s experience and question: Let’s talk about stupid realtors and greedy banks. I put an offer on a home in Rovey Farms that listed for $329,000.00, ... More About: Housing Bubble , Work , Lenders
10% Of Borrowers Underwater
2008-02-23 01:20:00 If underwater borrowers follow Jim Cramer’s advice to "walk away", it looks like we’d see an exodus of biblical proportions: NEW YORK (Reuters) - One-tenth of U.S. homeowners hold mortgages that are larger than the worth of their homes, Moody’s Economy.com said on Friday. Nearly 8.8 million homeowners, or 10.3 percent, are in over their heads, ... More About: Housing Bubble , Market trends , Underwater
Arizona Congressman Indicted In Land Fraud Deal
2008-02-22 17:54:00 From Bloomberg this morning: Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) — Representative Rick Renzi, a Republican from Arizona who isn’t seeking re-election, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in an alleged scheme to profit from a land deal. Renzi, 49, who was first elected to the House in 2002, was charged along with James ... More About: Fraud , Housing Bubble , Deal , Land
Quote Of The Day
2008-02-22 16:10:00 Alright, I admit it. Some people read the supermarket tabloids, I read the Yahoo "gossip boards". I ignore most of what I read, but I just couldn’t pass on this quote from Wilson2207: IN MY OPINION, WHICH IS BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE, THERE IS NOT A LEGAL PRODUCT AVAILABLE TO THE TYPICAL CONSUMER IN THE ... More About: Quote Of The Day , Housing Bubble , Quote
Phoenix Home Buyers- Do You Know How Much Your Agent Is Being Paid?
2008-02-22 08:02:00 Many thanks to M for calling this to our attention: In response to the slowing housing market, many home sellers have resorted to offering incentives to buyer’s agents to bring a home more exposure. While these incentives need to be accounted for in closing documents, by the time a buyer is aware that their agent might ... More About: Agent , Realtors , Phoenix , Home Buyers , Housing Bubble
The NAR?s Yun Follows the Blogosphere And Misses Forecasts
2008-02-22 06:51:00 A big hat tip to HousingPanic for sharing the following from Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors . From Yun’s remarks we learn two things- first that Yun follows the blogosphere and is apparently a HousingPanic reader. [Do you suppose he stops by Doom while he’s at it?] The other is that ... More About: Housing Bubble , Blogosphere , Forecasts
San Diego: Because Public Housing Is Better?
2008-02-21 18:53:00 Hat tip to William for pointing out this strange plan from San Diego City/County: A San Diego city-county task force is considering ways to buy empty homes — before speculators and investors swoop in — and reserve them for lower-wage workers, many of whom were shut out of the housing boom when home ... More About: Public , Housing Bubble , Market trends , Housing
Twist is back
2008-02-21 16:26:00 Doomers- Thank you for all the great links and emails the past few of days. I’ve been under the weather, but I’m almost feeling human again and wading through my inbox. More About: Housing Bubble , Back , Twist
Maryland becomes second state to initiate emergency foreclosure regulations
2008-02-19 20:00:00 From today’s Washington Post: Citing an "alarming" rate of mortgage foreclosures in Maryland , Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) today announced emergency regulations that would require loan-service companies to let the state know when residents are at risk of losing their homes, so that state agencies can offer assistance. Maryland became the second state after California ... More About: Housing Bubble , Foreclosure , Regulations , State
Since when is a house a ?ticket into the middle class??
2008-02-18 08:01:00 Thanks to L for forwarding a copy of a mailing by Rep. Brad Miller from North Carolina, which sadly was "prepared, published and mailed at taxpayer expense." The mailing is entitled "The fight is on to protect homeownership." The fight is also on to make sense of Congressman Miller’s remarks. Miller takes exception to predatory lending. ... More About: House , Housing Bubble , Middle , A House , Class
A 33% haircut? and we?re just getting started
More articles from this author:2008-02-17 08:01:00 Check out this Anthem, AZ home that was foreclosed on in January. Four bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, almost 2000 square feet. The landscaping is a little rough, but interior pictures look good- no one seems to have stolen the fixtures. Amount that was owed on the property– $285,918 [MLS# 2935822] Home is currently listed for sale ... More About: Haircut 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
|
