August 19, 2008
- June Pending Home Sales Up 5.3%
June Pending Home Sales Up 5.3%
The number of pending homes for sale rose in June, a rebound from the previous month.
The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index rose 5.3% in June to 89 from a downwardly revised reading of 84.5 in May.
The index remains 12.3% below its level in June 2007, when it [...]
August 14, 2008
- Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
We've been discussing all of these bills and plans for weeks and weeks, and now it's official… President Bush has signed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 into law. With about 700 pages in this bill, it covers a lot of ground, and most of the new [...]
August 3, 2008
- Home Prices Rise Four Straight Months - Is Anyone Listening?
Home Prices Rise Four Straight Months - Is Anyone Listening?
Amidst the gloom on Wall Street about housing someone forgot to check the stats. The National Association of Realtors® has now reported four straight months of rising housing prices, but it seems no one is listening.
According to NAR statistics, the median home price has fallen from [...]
August 2, 2008
- Home Prices Drop in May
Home Prices Drop in May
A government report says U.S. home prices fell 4.8% in May from the same month last year.
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight also says prices, on a seasonally adjusted basis, fell 0.3% from April to May. The index is down almost 5% from its peak in April of last year.
OFHEO [...]
July 29, 2008
- Housing: Finally Some Positive News
Housing: Finally Some Positive News
Housing is getting some good news as the markets keep fighting on despite the front running economists saying its all but dead.
First off, any good news needs a narrative and it starts with Donald Trumps record sale of his Florida Mansion.
Meanwhile U.S. Housing starts unexpectedly surged 9.1% in June, the most [...]
July 27, 2008
- The New Housing Stimulus Package
The New Housing Stimulus Package
Even with Presidential veto threats looming, the housing stimulus package has taken another necessary step to being implemented – it has taken on another round of changes, passed the Senate, and is on its merry way to the White House again.
The package is much larger than our aforementioned Foreclosure Prevention Act [...]
July 26, 2008
- Foreclosures: 343,000 and Counting
Foreclosures: 343,000 and Counting
The number of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure continued to soar in June, according to a report released recently.
RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed properties, reported that lenders repossessed 71,563 homes in June. A year ago, just 26,369 homes were taken back.
During the first six months of 2008, 343,159 Americans lost [...]
July 15, 2008
- Housing Market: Can It Really Get Any Worse?
Housing Market: Can It Really Get Any Worse?
An even gloomier scenario may be in store for an already ailing U.S. housing market if the overall economy slips into a recession, according to UBS Securities analysts.
Falling home prices, soaring foreclosures at a time of tighter lending and rising unemployment are all weighing heavily on an already [...]
July 10, 2008
- National Speed Limit: Would You Slow Down?
National Speed Limit: Would You Slow Down?
Sen. John Warner of Virginia, asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.
In 1974, Congress set a national [...]
July 7, 2008
- Housing Rescue Pace Slows
Housing Rescue Pace Slows
Hope Now, the mortgage industry alliance of lenders, servicers and housing counselors, reported recently that it helped roughly 170,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure in the month of May. That's down 7% from the 183,000 loan workouts it reported for April.
The group estimates that its members have helped keep 1.7 million homeowners out [...]
June 17, 2008
- Foreclosures: Lenders Slashing Prices
Foreclosures: Lenders Slashing Prices
Lenders stung by the housing bust are slashing prices dramatically to rid themselves of an unprecedented number of foreclosed properties, sparking bidding wars in some places that harken back to the market's go-go years and may signal the bottom is near.
The trend is more dramatic in some parts of the country where [...]
June 7, 2008
- Housing Starts Up 8.2%
Housing Starts Up 8.2%
Construction of new homes posted the biggest increase in more than two years in April and applications for new building permits turned up for the first time in five months, a rare bit of good news in what has been the worst downturn in housing in more than two decades.
The Commerce Department [...]
June 6, 2008
- Walkaway Homeowners: Fact or Fiction?
Walkaway Homeowners: Fact or Fiction?
U.S. lenders claim people who owe more on their homes than they're worth are simply abandoning them, "walking away" from high mortgage payments.
Bankers say the trend is frightening because homeowners in the past have gone to great lengths to avoid foreclosure.
But the Los Angeles Times reports few banks or real estate [...]
June 3, 2008
- Homes Sales Dip, Prices Down Sharply
Homes Sales Dip, Prices Down Sharply
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales by homeowners dipped in April to an annual pace of 4.89 million, down 1% from the revised March reading of 4.94 million.
The existing home sales rate - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops - is 17.5% below the 5.93 million units sold [...]
May 29, 2008
- Consumer Confidence: Worst Since '92
Consumer Confidence: Worst Since '92
A key measure of consumer confidence dropped in May to the lowest level in 16 years, as Americans grew more concerned about their jobs and more pessimistic about business conditions. The index has now declined for five months in a row.
The Consumer Confidence Index is a weighted average of where consumers [...]
May 21, 2008
- Housing Inventory Up Again in April
Housing Inventory Up Again in April
The number of homes for sale was on the rise again in April. Nationally, inventories expanded 3.5% last month overall and were up 6% over the same period last year.
Even some markets that used to be considered bulletproof have seen inventories grow and these bloated inventories have put pressure [...]
May 18, 2008
- Home Appraisals: Changes on the Horizon?
Home Appraisals: Changes on the Horizon?
A major legal brawl is breaking out over how homes are appraised, at what cost, and by whom. The outcome could directly affect the price you pay for your next piece of real estate, and the amount of mortgage money you can obtain.
The fight centers on an unusual agreement reached [...]
May 16, 2008
- Fed Cuts Funds Rate Again
Fed Cuts Funds Rate Again
For the seventh consecutive meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut the Fed Funds Rate, this time reducing it to 2.00%.
Lowering the Fed Funds Rate makes it less expensive for banks to lend to one another, which could make funding more readily available for consumer loans, such as adjustable rate [...]
May 14, 2008
- Gas Prices Continue to Spike
Gas Prices Continue to Spike
The average price of gasoline has jumped another 15 cents over the past two weeks to a national average of $3.62 per gallon of self-serve regular, according to a national survey. That rise continued at virtually the same rate as the previous two weeks, and forecasts are, it will only get [...]
May 11, 2008
- Vacant Homes for Sale Hit a New Record High
Vacant Homes for Sale Hit a New Record High
The percentage of vacant homes for sale in the United States set a new record high in the first quarter of this year.
The Census Bureau report released recently shows that 2.9% of U.S. homes — excluding rental properties — were vacant and up for sale, compared with [...]
