The Home Front
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Financial Bailout: Who Received What
Continue reading… 8 CommentsCheck out this database outlining the companies that received TARP injections and how much they got. (via Patrick.net)
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Rep. John Conyers: 'Cram Downs' are Much-Needed, Fair
Continue reading… 2 CommentsRep. John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan, took to the Op-Ed page of The Wall Street Journal Friday to rally support for his "cram down" legislation:
To those who claim that my bill will end up harming consumers by increasing the cost of credit, I would respectfully suggest that they are not taking account of the track record of the modern-day bankruptcy code.
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Mortgage Rates Dip to Attractive Levels
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThirty-year fixed mortgage rates dipped slightly this week to an average of 5.10 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday. The retreat comes after rates bounced back from a record low weekly average of 4.96 percent, which they hit two weeks ago amid lower inflation and Federal Reserve moves to buy up mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates are down sharply from 6.46 percent in late October 2008.
[See Low Mortgage Rates: 7 Things You Need to Know to Refinance.]
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'Motivated Sales': A Bigger Piece of the Home Sales Pie
Continue reading… 1 CommentRadar Logic's Monthly Housing Market Report for November found that "motivated sales"--bank sales of foreclosed homes, for example--are accounting for a larger piece of the total home sales pie.
On the whole across Radar Logic’s 25 MSAs, motivated sales decreased on a month-over month basis for the second month in a row. In October, the 25-MSA motivated transaction count contracted for the first time in 2008, decreasing 3% relative to September. In November, motivated sales continued to contract, declining 7% from October levels. Notwithstanding the decrease in the 25-MSA motivated transaction count, motivated sales became a larger percentage of total sales. On the whole across the 25 MSAs, the quantity of other sales declined by 18% in November, while the quantity of motivated sales declined by 7%. Thus, while motivated transactions accounted for 28% of total sales in October, they accounted for 31% or total sales in November…
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MC Bailout
Continue reading… 1 CommentThe best bailout-inspired music to date. (From The Daily Bail, via Patrick.net.)
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Real Estate Trends in Los Angeles
Continue reading… 0 CommentsIn the latest installment of a new regular feature at the Home Front—in cooperation with our partners over at Trulia—here's a look at some key housing trends and statistics for Los Angeles (Click here for more stats and trends on L.A.'s real estate market.)
[Check out stats and trends for New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.]
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Your Real Estate Budget in Los Angeles
Continue reading… 2 CommentsIn cooperation with our partners over at Trulia, here's a look at what your real estate dollar will buy you in Los Angeles these days:
[Check out New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C.]
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Tumbling Asking Prices: Los Angeles
Continue reading… 2 CommentsIn cooperation with our partners over at Trulia, here's a look at some Los Angeles properties that have been forced to reduce their asking prices:
[Check out New York City, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.]
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Uncle Sam Has -1,096% Return Rate on Big Bank Investments
Continue reading… 1 CommentTaking billion-dollar stakes in banks was never popular, but government officials insisted it was essential to stabilizing the rickety financial system. So how have these investments performed so far? Time magazine crunched the numbers:
Since October, the government has deposited $165 billion into the accounts of the nation's eight largest banks. Yet those same financial firms are now worth $418 billion less than they were four months ago. And the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the government's preferred shares are worth at least $20 billion less…All told, the government's annualized rate of return on its investment in the nation's largest banks is -1,096%.
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New Home Sales Hit All-Time Lows: 4 Things You Should Know
Continue reading… 1 CommentAlthough exiting home sales bounced back recently--thanks to plummeting prices--a government report issued Thursday showed that December sales of new homes plummeted nearly 15 percent from the previous month to all-time lows. (That's 45 percent below year-earlier levels.) "This is horrible," Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist for High Frequency Economics, said in a report.
Here are four things you should know about the latest new home sales report:
1. How bad was December? Well, according to Mike Larson of Weiss Research, it was the single worst month on record. "We have NEVER sold this few homes in any month since the Census Bureau started tracking in 1963," Larson said in a report. "Not even in the early 1980s, when mortgage rates were in the 18 [percent] range."
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Mortgage 'Cram Down' Bill Clears House Panel
Continue reading… 55 CommentsProponents of mortgage "cram downs" got a lift yesterday when a House committee voted to pass a measure that would allow bankruptcy judges to alter the terms of mortgages on primary residences. Supporters argue that giving bankruptcy judges this authority would help stem the foreclosure crisis.
From The Washington Post:
Debate on the measure fell mostly along partisan lines with several Republican amendments proposed to curb the impact of the bill, including limiting it to subprime mortgages or other types of risky loans. That amendment failed.
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Mortgage Rates Up, Refinancing Applications Down
Continue reading… 18 CommentsRefinancing applications hit their highest levels in years after mortgage rates plummeted to record lows several weeks back, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But now that 30-year fixed rates have pushed back above 5 percent--to still attractive levels--interest in refinancing appears to be retreating.
[See Low Mortgage Rates: 7 Things You Need to Know to Refinance.]
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 23, 2009. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 732.1, a decrease of 38.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 1195.3 one week earlier…
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Home Builders Fire Back at Peter Schiff
Continue reading… 18 CommentsJerry Howard, the president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, sent me the following response to The Home Front's recent interview with Peter Schiff.
Very few people would be able to afford a home if the government ever adopted “notorious bear” Peter Schiff’s laissez-faire policies on the housing crisis [“Peter Schiff: Let the Housing Market Crash”] because most workers probably wouldn’t have a job. The confidence of consumers and the financial markets has been rocked hard enough by declining housing values. A further erosion in home prices would take an even greater toll on household worth, accelerate foreclosures and put the banks on even shakier ground than they are on today. It is worth noting that in the weakest housing markets, the going price for a typical home has sunk below its replacement costs. The current oversupply of housing is a direct result of rampant foreclosures, not housing production, which has slumped to a record low pace. Pulling the plug on an industry that in healthier times can be counted on to provide 15% of the gross national product is a prescription for a total economic meltdown. Mr. Schiff, apparently, wants to bring it on.
Jerry Howard
President and CEO
National Association of Home Builders
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Bernard Madoff's Home Gets Toilet Papered
Continue reading… 9 CommentsYou may have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in an alleged ponzi scheme, but….
From The Palm Beach Post, via WSJ:
Tidbits of toilet paper twisted in the wind at Bernard Madoff's Palm Beach home Monday morning - possibly the work of some ticked off teens who lost their trust funds.
Some teenage boys called The Palm Beach Post newsroom Sunday evening to take credit for the prank - one they said was sanctioned by their parents. They said they were acting in retaliation after they lost their trust funds to the accused swindler.
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Home Price 'Freefall' Continued in November
Continue reading… 0 CommentsYesterday's existing home sales report showed an increase in sales driven by sharply lower prices. Today's Case-Shiller report revealed similar trends, as real estate values continued plummeting.
Data through November 2008, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, shows continued broad based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States, with 11 of the 20 metro areas showing record rates of annual decline, and 14 reporting declines in excess of 10% versus November 2007…
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Housing Rebounds--or Does it? 4 Things to Know
Continue reading… 0 CommentsEconomists and housing analysts got a jolt Monday when a key report on the real estate market came in much stronger than expected. The National Association of Realtors announced that December existing home sales jumped 7 percent from the previous month, although they remain 4 percent below their year-earlier levels. But don't uncork the champagne just yet; a closer look at the figures suggests the report isn't as optimistic as it first appears.
Here are four things you should know about the December existing sales report.
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Real Estate Trends in Washington, D.C.
Continue reading… 1 CommentIn the latest installment of a new regular feature at the Home Front—in cooperation with our partners over at Trulia—here's a look at some key housing trends and statistics for Washington, D.C. (Click here for more stats and trends on Washington, D.C.'s real estate market.)
[Check out stats and trends for New York City or Chicago.]
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Your Real Estate Budget in Washington, D.C.
Continue reading… 1 CommentIn cooperation with our partners over at Trulia, here's a look at what your real estate dollar will buy in Washington, D.C., these days:
[Check out New York City or Chicago.]
More info on this property here.
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Tumbling Asking Prices: Washington, D.C.
Continue reading… 0 CommentsIn cooperation with our partners over at Trulia, here's a look at some Washington, D.C., properties that have been forced to reduce their asking prices:
[Check out New York City or Chicago.]
More info on this property here.
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Larry Summers Talks Bailout on Meet the Press
Continue reading… 8 CommentsHere's Larry Summers ducking the question about whether more bailout cash--that's on top of the $700 billion already dedicated--will be needed to stabilize the financial system. His evasive answer suggests that additional funds may in fact be required.
