October 6, 2008
- Bailout: Will it Work?
Bailout: Will it Work?
The $700 billion bailout plan that has now been signed into law may get banks to start lending to each other again. But it remains to be seen how long that will take to jumpstart an ailing economy.
The goal is to unfreeze the credit markets. Financial institutions have become paralyzed with fear [...]
September 26, 2008
- New Home Builds at a 17-Year Low
New Home Builds at a 17-Year Low
Construction of new homes and apartments fell to its lowest level in 17 years in August, showing the country is still gripped by a severe housing downturn that has triggered billions of dollars of losses and is reshaping the structure of U.S. finance.
Housing construction dropped a surprising 6.2% last [...]
September 13, 2008
- Housing Woes Won’t End With Bailout
Housing Woes Won’t End With Bailout
The federal government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may save the battered real estate market from a complete meltdown. But financial experts say the bailout won't lead to a housing recovery just yet.
There is still a large supply of unsold homes on the market and an increasing number [...]
September 11, 2008
- Interest Rates: Will the Fed Hike Rates?
Interest Rates: Will the Fed Hike Rates?
Even as they grappled with inflation worries, most Federal Reserve officials at their August meeting didn't believe the Fed's key interest rate was too low given harder-to-get credit conditions straining consumers and businesses alike.
The Fed, at its Aug. 5th meeting, decided to hold its key rate steady at 2% [...]
September 5, 2008
- New Home Sales Rise: A Welcomed Sign for Housing
New Home Sales Rise: A Welcomed Sign for Housing
The sale of newly constructed homes in the month of July rose 2.4%, according to a report issued recently by the United States Census Bureau. This follows another report issued by the National Association of Realtors indicating that July sales of previously owned homes hit a 5-month [...]
September 2, 2008
- Existing Home Sales Hit 5 Month High
Existing Home Sales Hit 5 Month High
The National Association of Realtors announced recently that Existing Home Sales, after falling to 10-year low in June, rebounded in July to a 5-month high. The report, which measures the month-over-month sale of previously owned homes, indicated sales of such homes increased 3.1 percent.
Bob Walters, Chief Economist for Quicken [...]
August 21, 2008
- Home Prices Down 7.6%
Home Prices Down 7.6%
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported recently that 'Nationwide, the median existing single family home price plunged 7.6% to $206,500 in the second quarter, down from $223,500 in the same period of 2007. The median price represents the point at which half of all homes sold for more and half sold [...]
August 12, 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 10, 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 8, 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 [...]
August 7, 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
- 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 [...]
July 23, 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 20, 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 16, 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 [...]
July 15, 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 12, 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 [...]
June 13, 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 8, 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 [...]
June 4, 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 [...]
