Monday, April 30, 2007

White Stripes singer/guitarist sells Detroit home for $340,000 under initial asking price!
"Grammy-winning musician Jack White, lead singer and guitarist of rock duo the White Stripes, has sold his Detroit home for $590,000, well below its initial $930,000 asking price. White recorded his hit 2005 album "Get Behind Me Satan" in the foyer of the 5,800-square-foot home."
Jack White sells his Detroit home

Expert sees MEGA San Francisco home price plunge ahead
"Some houses will lose only 35%, 40%, 45%, while others will lose 60%, 70%, 75%.  It all depends on how desirable is the area.  The outlying areas, condos, and bad school districts always do worst in a downturn."
"My forecast is based on the simple fact that every bubble pops.  Every housing bubble in history has popped, and prices in those booms on record have fallen 35-40%.  But we know this boom dwarfed the others."
San Francisco home prices likely to fall 53%

Maryland: Prince George’s County tops in state for ’06 foreclosures

Back to the financial gutter
"Helen Rice-Lyles was staying at a homeless shelter in Queens when she got a call from a broker who told her he could help her buy a house on Staten Island."
Dream House to debt nightmare

Listings rise, prices fall; sellers feel buyers' power
Take my house ... please!

Inland Empire feels housing market's pain

Foreclosure's Shadow Falls Across Diverse Set of Homeowners

Weekend, April 28 - 29, 2007

Ontario, California median home price plunges by $17K!
"In Ontario, as in the rest of Southern California, the real estate market has been taking a beating."
"In March, sales of existing homes in the city were down 59% from the same month last year, according to DataQuick Information Systems. The median sale price fell to $408,000 from $425,000"
A city undeterred by cooling market
LA Times

Economy crawls, raising recession fears
 

Foreclosure mess just getting started because bad loan starts peaked just last year!
"The number of home buyers starting such loans peaked last year, and interest rates for those buyers are due to rise in the next few years, which could cause foreclosures to spike further, Richard F. Syron said in an interview with The Associated Press"
Subprime market could worsen

Foreclosure filings in North Carolina increase 25% from last year

Vegas housing "craps-out"
"But when home prices unexpectedly took a backward step, many investors seeking to cash in quickly were left "upside-down," or owing more on their mortgages than what their homes were worth."
Flippers flop as hot Vegas market fizzles

BankAtlantic's profits drop amid rise in troubled real estate loans

Builders May Break Loan Covenants

Rising bills burst housing dreams

Why This Slump Is Different

Friday April 27, 2007

Salinas, CA home prices beginning to tumble
"South county saw the biggest drop, with the median price falling by 11 percent, from $450,000 in February to $400,000 last month. In east Salinas, the median dropped from $520,000 to $500,000 in the same period. The south Salinas median declined from $550,000 to $529,000, while north Salinas saw a drop from $568,000 in February to $554,000 in March. Marina’s median price declined from $599,000 to $575,000, according to the MCAR figures."
Home prices drop in Salinas

Housing / Economy going down
"We're in a housing recession; it's not over and it's going to spread to other parts of the economy, mainly consumer spending,'' said Paul Kasriel, director of economic research at Northern Trust Securities in Chicago. ``House prices are going to continue to fall, and that's going to play havoc with consumers because it means the home ATM is now draining, it's no longer filling.''
Spending May Take a Hit as U.S. Home Prices Decline

NYC Sets Up Hotline for Some at-risk Homeowners
 

 All-time high inventory and falling home prices continue to worsen nationwide!
"There is currently an inventory of 3,745,000 existing homes for sale. At the current sales rate this is sufficient to supply the market for 7.3 months. This is an increase of 7.4 percent over the 6.8 months inventory in revised February 2007 figures and a 30.4 percent increase over the inventory in March, 2006"
"Prices also declined year over year, dropping 0.3 percent from March 2006 when the median was $217,600 to $217,000 last month. (Analysts say that month to month comparisons are useless but the median price was up from $213,600 in February to $217,000 in March)"
Existing Home Sales Drop At Fastest Rate In 18 Years

Home builders brace for more price erosion
ajc.com

U.S. economy poised for nose dive

Exit denial, enter FEAR!
Housing bust cycle enters fear stage as summer selling season approaches, inventory continues climb, foreclosures soar, prices continue to drop!
The majority of sellers are beginning to realize that this housing downturn is not just temporary! Realtors continue to urge that the market will begin to recover but the real estate market cycle has years to go before bottoming out!  This month we will begin to see more drastic price drops in housing as more sellers realize that sane buyers are submitting lowball offers or waiting-out the downturn completely.

See full size chart + more chats in
Real Estate Decline Bubble Charts

Fall in home sales reflects U.S. trend


Area home prices down more than 4%: Washington

Slide in US home sales continues

Selling Your Credit Score

How One Family Descended Into The Nightmare of a Foreclosure

California becomes U.S. largest state in foreclosure fillings

State's foreclosure rate deemed a crisis by governor: MA

Flippers flop as hot housing markets cool in Vegas, elsewhere
 - MarketWatch

Collapse of U.S. Housing Bubble Will Balance Income & Consumption
 » The Daily Reckoning Australia

Rising foreclosures have widespread fallout

Closings rise, but more homes sit unsold:

Housing market doldrums
The Post and Courier, Charleston SC

Pulte posts losses amid housing slowdown

Beazer Homes posts loss and withdraws 2007 forecast
 - MarketWatch

Countrywide, IndyMac Profit Hurt by Mortgage Defaults

Countrywide profit falls 37 pct, forecast cut

Friedman Billings Posts Loss on Mortgage Writedowns

Thursday, April 26, 2007
 

Breaking more new territory in housing decline
"When was the last time the feds ordered the privately-owned banks to rewrite loans?
Never—that’s when"
Housing Bubble Boondoggle: "Is it too late to get out"?

Westchester home prices fall below 2006 median!
"The Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service Inc. shows that median sale prices for single family homes fell 2.3% to $635,000, from a year ago. The drop follows a 3.4% drop during the fourth-quarter to $630,000."
Westchester County home sale prices slump

Economic Armageddon Is Coming

Deep in the heart of...FORECLOSURE
Foreclosed properties continue to plague Texas' housing market

Civil fraud investigators say: 'Let borrowers beware'

Housing Slide Not Over Yet

 

Homebuilder losses continue: Pulte gets hammered
"The company said its first-quarter homebuilding pretax loss was approximately $148.4 million, compared with pretax income of $377.6 million for the first quarter of 2006. The loss reflected roughly $132.1 million of pretax charges, of 31 cents per diluted share on an after-tax basis, resulting from adjustments to land inventory and land held for sale and the write-off of deposits and pre-acquisition costs associated with land transactions Pulte said it no longer plans to pursue."
Pulte Records First-Quarter Loss as Closings Fall 37 Percent
 

March home sales fall; April confidence slides

Homes: A tough sell

Home Equity Hangover

`Liar Loans' Fuel Bust With $1 Billion Fraud

Federal Reserve Urged to Crack Down on Mortgage Originators

Sales of Previously Owned Homes Plunge to 1989 Level

The Real-Estate Blame Game

Housing takes another hit

Real-Estate Appraisers Feel

Illinois foreclosure filings up almost 62% in first qtr.

Massachusetts Foreclosure Filings Continue Historic Climb in 1st Quarter of 2007

Florida Home Sales Continue Plunge

Study: California Foreclosures Up 68 Percent

Subprime bailouts: How they work (or don't)

Home Equity Extraction: The Real Cost of 'Free Cash'

Auction of prime acreage fizzles

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Most major cities continue to see home prices sink!
"In 20 major cities, prices are down 1% in the past year, the biggest decline ever in that series that dates back to 2000."
"Prices fell year-over-year in 13 of the 20 cities, led by Detroit (down 7.8%), San Diego (down 5%), Boston (down 4.7%) and Washington (down 4.3%)."
Home prices fall at fastest rate in 13 years

San Diego / Orange County home prices continue decline
"Home sales dropped almost 20 percent and prices fell slightly in San Diego County from March 2006 to March 2007, according to figures released Tuesday by a realty group."
"In Orange County, home sales declined by about 15 percent. The median price of a home fell 1.5 percent to $706,650, according to CAR's figures."
Local Home Sales Dive, Prices Dip

Phoenix, Arizona home price $50,000 under August 2005!
HousingTracker: Median Home Price & Inventory Data for Phoenix, Arizona

Subprime Bondholders May Lose $75 Billion From Slump

National median home price declines again!
"U.S. home prices fell 1.5 percent in February from a year ago, the steepest decline in nearly 15 years, according to a housing index released today by Standard & Poor's."
Report: U.S. home prices fell 1.5 percent from last year

Home sales and consumer confidence slide
 

Florida home prices continue decline across state
Tampa Bay median price drops to 2005 level!
"Prices continue to plunge as well, with the median price in the state falling 4 percent to $236,000, while in Tampa Bay, the median price dropped 4 percent to $209,700, the lowest price since June 2005."
Residential real estate outlook still gloomy
 

Miami median price now $60K lower than August 2005!
HousingTracker: Median Home Price & Inventory Data for Miami, Florida

Florida homeowners feeling sting of the government housing bubble tax scheme!
"Waddle said property tax on their home has gone from $2,602 in 2005 to more than $4,500 last year. Insurance rates have risen $2,000."
Florida:Frustrated homeowners air grievances over taxes, insurance
 

As prices fall, taxes go higher, accelerating crash!
"Property taxes will keep rising nearly everywhere for homeowners even as house prices are falling in many parts of the country, according to a USA TODAY analysis of government data."
"Fresh evidence of the slumping real estate market came Tuesday when the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes dropped in March at the highest rate in 18 years."
Property taxes up as house prices fall

Negatively amortized loans to cause much pain in 2008

Realtors Chief economist blames weather for worst home sales drop in 18 years!
"David Lereah, the Realtors' chief economist, said that bad weather earlier in the year may have cut down on sales that closed in March."
Home sales: Worst drop in 18 years
 

St. Lucie pounded by foreclosures
 

Boston median home price $25K under August 2005 peak!
HousingTracker: Median Home Price & Inventory Data for Boston, Massachusetts

Los Angeles median home price $70,000 lower than August 2005 median!
HousingTracker: Median Home Price & Inventory Data for Los Angeles, California

KPMG claims fraud at Fannie Mae

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Two years ago, people that spoke of a "housing bubble" were dismissed as conspiracy nuts,  but now...
"Two years ago, anyone who wrote about the housing bubble was dismissed as a conspiracy nut. Now hardly a day goes by that the headlines aren't splattered with the details of the massive meltdown in the real estate market."
Consequences of Housing Bubble Crash Ignored by the Media for 2 Years

Home price down nearly 10% year over year: Charlottesville
(but still the best time to buy a home in the last decade, according to Realtors)
"The housing market pendulum has swung, and sellers are no longer riding high. Sales and prices are down, inventory is up, and it’s the best time to buy a home in the last decade according to the first quarter market report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors (CAAR)."
"It was during the first quarter of 2007 that the market delivered sellers a comeuppance for what the report calls the “crazy boom years of 2004-2006.” The form of retribution? A drop in the overall median price for homes in the area (including Charlottesville and the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson) to $263,350. That’s a 9.2 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2006"
Median home price drops 9.2 percent
 

Mortgage defaults at all-time high
"U.S. mortgage default rates hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2007. Rising delinquencies will add additional pressure to a slowing housing market. But the real threat to the housing market and the economy is not the recent slew of sub-prime mortgage defaults, but the lending ramifications associated with widespread sub-prime bankruptcies."
Mortgage Delinquencies Reach All-Time High


Home sales drop again: Market may not be at bottom yet

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION BEING CHARGED WITH NEGLIGENCE IN MORTGAGE INDUSTRY

Countrywide's Mozilo Says Regulators May Worsen Subprime Losses

Auto Dealerships Initiated Nearly $50 billion in Subprime New-Vehicle Loans in 2006

Condo project is in default

Southwest Florida real estate sellers beware

At the risky end of finance

High condo costs in the Keys delay upgrades

Home value reform urged

GM's Lutz says mortgage 'meltdown' hits U.S auto sales

Danger! Market partying like it's March 2000

Monday, April 23, 2007

Vegas new home prices drop over $32K since Dec. 2006
Prices plummet as existing-home
inventory hurts new-home sales
"The ongoing weakness in the housing industry was reflected in numbers released Tuesday by Larry Murphy of SalesTraq. The housing research firm reported the median price of new homes sold in March was $308,471, down nearly 10 percent from $341,990 in December."
LV housing slump worsens

Fairfeild County home price drop nearly $10K in past year!
"The median price of single-family homes in Fairfield County fell from $529,400 in February 2006, to $520,000 this February."
Real estate briefs

The Fatal Flaw in Housing Bailout Plans

Why we shouldn't be bailing out subprime lenders or borrowers

Still Renting?

In Carson: Falling home prices should attract more buyers

Sad stories of bad mortgages
"Lobo and his fiancee, Melissa Hergt, 39, had seen their monthly mortgage payment jump from just under $800 in 2002 to $2,700 last fall because of previous refinancing to stave off a previous foreclosure, they said."
Worried homeowners share their high-interest stories

California home prices to weaken further, Goldman says
 - MarketWatch

KPMG claims fraud at Fannie Mae

Rate of Inland foreclosures is expected to rise because of risky loans easily obtained

Lender beware
San Diego Union-Tribune

Many paying a price for easy credit

Did your mortgage broker mislead you?

Poll results: Buyers won't return until 2009 or later
 

Weekend (April 21 - 22, 2007)

Falling home values hurt 'must 'sell' seller scenarios
Divorcing couple takes over $100,000 loss in less than a year!
"Jeffrey Taylor and his wife bought their dream home in Purcellville for $538,000 last August. Now they have to sell it because they are getting divorced and neither one can afford the mortgage alone."
"The most they could get for it was $430,000. After paying all the real estate commissions and taxes, they will still owe the bank $118,000."
'Upside Down' Home Sellers Owe More Than They Get

More on Local Foreclosures

Boston's 400% increase in foreclsures
"The number of Boston residents who lost their homes in foreclosure was four times greater last year than in 2005, according to a new report, and the rate is accelerating this year."
Home foreclosures rise fourfold in Hub
 - The Boston Globe

Appraiser: local fraud rampant

Subprime assault on southern California

Many subprime loans, foreclosures occur in minority areas: CA

GMAC, GE Will Cut 1,400 Job Cuts on Subprime Decline

Subprime lenders shrink in N.J.

 U.S. economy poised for nose dive
WorldNetDaily:

Friday, April 20, 2007

New Chart maps probable home price trend through 2013!
Blue line is current actual national median
home price (as of March 2007).
The pink line maps the probable price correction course
through approximately 2013 
See full-size chart in bubble charts

Chart courtesy of Lee Williams

The banking bust is just beginning!
"The extent of the bubble was beyond imagination. The echoes are still out there since the bubble did not burst yet. The ninety-year banking cycle says banks are going belly up again. Well these things do not happen over night – it takes time"
The mortgage meltdown is far from over

 New Hampshire Foreclosures Up 95%
ForeclosuresNH.com:
 

Sacramento & Yolo Counties see mega price declines!
"The Sacramento area's real estate market is taking a hit this year, dropping by 32.4 percent since Mar. 2006."
"Average price of a home in Davis dropped over $50,000 since 2006"
Home sales drop in Sacramento
Yolo counties

California lender drops half of it's work force!
"General Electric Co.'s WMC Mortgage subprime lending unit plans to lay off 771 workers, about half of its staff, a spokeswoman said Thursday."
GE's WMC Mortgage to lay off half of staff
SignOnSanDiego.com


California foreclosures nearly twice U.S. rate

Home prices continue decline in Buffalo, NY
"The median sale price, meaning half the homes sold for less and half sold for more than that amount, was $93,810, a 2.3 percent decline. The average sale price, which is more likely to be influenced by sales of exceptionally high- or low-priced homes, was $113,474, a 4 percent drop."
Local home sales rise, but prices fall

Home woes spread west
 

New home prices fall in Tucson, AZ
New-home prices in the Tucson area fell in March, while resale home prices showed little increase from the same month last year.
Prices for new homes in Tucson metro area fall in March

Largest U.S. home builder's earnings plunge 85%

Overcharges run rampant in home loans

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Housing Bust Meets the Equity-Withdrawal Blues
Bloomberg.com: Opinion

Housing market bottom hoped for, not expected
Reuters

Pulte loss deepens amid 'challenging' housing market
 - MarketWatch

Horton cuts jobs and sees less risky loans

The Next Great Depression is coming our way. The real estate bubble is about to pop. Will you be caught swimming naked?
..

California County sees prices fall back to 2004 levels
Sonoma County, California sees 9th straight month of falling prices as median drops to 2004 levels.  The median now $54K lower than 2005 peak
"The March median resale price was $565,000, down 1.7 percent from a year ago. The stretch of price declines is the longest in 14 years, according to the latest Press Democrat monthly real estate report."
"Despite the seasonal increase, home sales were down 19.8 percent in March, compared with a year ago. The 368 sales in March were a nine-year low for the month."
"The county's housing market continues to recede from its peak in summer 2005, when the median resale price hit a record $619,000. Sales here have fallen 18 consecutive months in year-over-year comparisons."
County home prices fall for 9th month

Freddie Mac to Buy $20 Billion in Subprime Home Loans
 

Home value declines to accelerate!
"In the run-up to the 2008 election, it is more than likely that home prices will be falling at an accelerating pace. The crisis in the subprime mortgage market, which accounted for as much as 20 per cent of all mortgages in 2006, could in itself result in a 10 per cent drop in housing demand in 2007."
Housing Bubble Bursts into American Elections
 

Subprime Loan Trouble Can Hurt Mutual Funds
MAXfunds.com
 

Lenders try to rescue homeowners / but rescue likely impossible!
"Housing finance agencies told legislators yesterday they are trying to arrange safe mortgages for millions of people who could lose their homes because of ballooning loan payments, but legal constraints may prevent them from stopping foreclosure on many homes."
House hears of mortgage fixes; foreclosures inevitable for many
 

Late bills may lead to lost property across the Treasure Coast
 

Subprime fallout hits WaMu

Homeowners trapped by dubious rescue plans

The Real Credit Risk

Goodbye 'Home Sweet Home'

Mortgage apps fall for fifth week

San Joaquin County foreclosures surge!
"Foreclosure activity continues to soar, with the number of default notices sent to homeowners in San Joaquin County last quarter hitting the highest level in the past 15 years."
S.J. foreclosures hit 15-year high

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

New York Luxury home prices take $50K median price declines
"Luxury home prices slid in New York's Long Island and Queens in the first quarter as more property came onto the market and took longer to sell, appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said."
"The median sales price fell 5.3 percent to $900,000 from a year earlier and houses took 25 percent more time to lure a buyer"
Luxury Home Prices Tumble in New York's Long Island, Queens
Bloomberg.com: U.S.

Riverside, California sees record foreclosures as prices begin declining in most zips!
"A record number of Riverside County homes went into foreclosure in the first three months of the year, and people in the real estate industry said they expect the number to go higher, as rising debt obligations overtake thousands of people who bought houses with unconventional mortgages."
"A separate report by DataQuick Monday showed median home prices falling in nine out of 12 Southwest County ZIP codes."
Riverside, California foreclosure wave hits record levels

housing woes far from over

Not much lenders can do to restructure bad loans
"Once the lender has sold the mortgage to the issuer, the lender no longer has the power to restructure the loan or make other accommodations for its borrower,"
Subprime loans can't be easily rewritten: FDIC

Filing Bankruptcy Isn't Helping Homeowners Avoid Foreclosure

Credit card debt soars as home equity loans dry up, home prices fall!
"According to Business Week, consumers are, at least in part, turning to their credit cards instead of home equity to maintain their standard of living now that housing prices have cooled off. In the past, when home prices were rising many consumers became addicted to home mortgage equity extractions to fund spending on home improvements, daily living, or yes, even weddings."
Credit Card Debt: Symptom of Sick Housing Market 

Limited options for subprime woes, lawmakers hear
 Reuters

WaMu tops lenders in some riskier loans : WSJ

Subprime lenders' big gifts helped lawmakers
 

Ventura County, California defaults more than double from last year!
"In Ventura County, notices of default on houses and condominiums jumped to 965 in the first quarter, up 123 percent from 433 in the same period last year, DataQuick Information Systems reported Monday."
Homeowner default notices jump 123%
entura County Star

Subprime losses showing up earlier than expected in bonds

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Memphis, Tennessee home price drop below 2006 levels!
"Following a record-setting 2006, home sales in Greater Memphis slowed again in March, according to the Memphis Area Association of Realtors."
"The median sale price for homes was $132,000, down from $132,500 last year."
Area home sales slow in March
 

Top bank regulator says subprime borrowers trapped
 

Falling home prices has a bright spot: lower property taxes
22% median home price plunge has tax revenue declining for Brevard County, Florida
"Sales of single-family homes last year dropped 34 percent, to 10,540. And the median selling price for single-family homes -- the price at which half sold for more and half sold for less -- was down 22 percent in September 2006 from a year earlier to $206,100."
Property tax rolls may drop by $1B
 

Subprime Mess Produces Unqualified Victims
Bloomberg.com: Opinion
 

Foreclosure disaster just beginning:
just wait until the economy collapses!
"The strange thing about this wave of foreclosures, says Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing for the online foreclosure marketplace RealtyTrac, is that national economic conditions wouldn't have predicted such a sharp spike in housing troubles. As a whole, the stock market is in good shape, and employment numbers are strong."
Foreclosure forecast: Blizzard brewing

Home Builder D.R. Horton Posts 37% Drop in Orders

Definition of Loose Lending: When a strawberry picker qualifies for a loan of $720K
"How did a strawberry picker earning $15,000 a year qualify for a loan of $720,000? The answer, say the experts, lies in a lending industry that got too innovative for its own good."
Minorities are the emerging face of the subprime crisis
 

A Glut of New Houses -- and What That Means for You
 

Sacramento, California foreclosures spike 200% above last year!
"Some 3,400 Sacramento County property owners faced foreclosure in the first quarter of 2007, up nearly 200 percent from the same period last year."
Sacramento Near Top in National Foreclosure Activity
News10.net -
 

California foreclosures rocket to new 10 year high!
"The number of mortgage default notices sent to California homeowners last quarter rose to its highest in nearly 10 years as home prices stagnated and rates on adjustable loans pushed higher, a report released on Monday said."
Mortgage defaults in California near decade high
Reuters

Loan defaults spike in Orange County
 

Great News for cash-strapped homeowners
This years OZZFEST will be free!
That's right FREE!
Mosh the night away without spending a dime (unless you want beer of course) and forget about that adjustable rate mortgage that is about to reset.
Let your worries of paying the late HOA fee last month slip away while releasing your tension by banging your head to the music of bands such as: Lamb Of God, Hatebreed, Diablo, and of course OZZY!
Lamb Of God, Hatebreed, Lordi Onboard For This Summer's Free Ozzfest
 

Builder tells subs to cut prices mid-contract

Home sales down in the Newport area

Fremont Agrees to Sell $2.9 Billion of Subprime Loans

Monday, April 15, 2007

After national 2% median home price decline,
fears mount of worse to come!
"Home prices, as measured by the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors, have gone down by 2% nationally over the past 15 months, and there’s fear in the air that it could get worse."
The U.S. housing market’s grim reality
 - InvestmentNews

Home price decline to be worst since great depression: prediction!
"That would leave home prices at levels last seen in 2003 and 2004, the middle of boom that lifted prices to a record in 2005. The damage from high-risk mortgages will slow the U.S. economy, though not enough to send it into a recession, Heebner said. Fourth-quarter growth was revised to 2.5 percent from 3.5 percent because of housing, the government said March 29."
Heebner Says Home Prices May Fall 20% Amid Bad Loans
 

Santa's housing cartel
"Do you own your own home? You do! Why then, you may be part of a world cartel that has unwittingly manipulated the price of private property beyond the extreme at this moment in time. The evidence is all too clear and, unfortunately, the results may be disastrous for many families caught in the net, who bought too late in the game."
Has Santa Left The Housing Market?
 - Seeking Alpha

We're back to 2004 prices: San Diego
California Housing Forecast
 

A nationwide 30% housing price drop?
Will US home prices drop 30%?
 

US Housing Market unraveling fast! Dollar breaking down!
 :: The Market Oracle

San Diego foreclosures take fastest leap of all-time, filings skyrocket to 10 year high!

SAN DIEGO FORECLOSURES ROCKET TO 10 YEAR HIGH!
 : San Diego Predatory Lending

Is you money safe in the bank?
"No one can even imagine the effects of the real estate collapse and the future meltdown of the mortgage banking system. The loss is staggering. There are very few financial institutions that did not get exposed to sub prime lending."
"The banking system is going to collapse first. Then will come the effects of the deflation. The recession will change into depression."
The ripple effects from collapse in real estate – the devastating financial meltdown
Indiadaily.com -

U.S. Homebuilders Face Bankruptcy Risk in '08, Lawyers Say
Bloomberg.com: U.S.

Arizona appraisal board fights to stop zillow.com estimates
are Zillow's true-lower home "Z-estimates" worrying the states inflated appraisal system?
"The Arizona Board of Appraisal has issued two cease-and-desist letters to the popular real estate Web site, claiming Zillow needs an appraiser license to offer its "zestimates" in Arizona."
Zillow.com estimates draw fire, state ban
 

Milwaukee sees low-ball offers bloom in spring
"With flooding inventory out there, it's not uncommon to see offers at 10 percent below asking price," said Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors President Dave Schmidt Jr."
JS Online: House buyers driving discounts

Condo buyers feel the sting of housing decline!
Only 13 of 280 condo units sold, the rest turn back into rentals!
"Signs and banners in front of the complex advertise "luxury" condominiums for sale from $190,000. But ads in housing rental publications offer the same units as apartments from $925 per month."
"Property records show just 13 of the 280 units at Somerfield have been sold since sales began last December."
Early Buyers Feel Condo Conversion Sting
News10.net -

Biz Buzz: Median home price dips again

Are you ready for 15 scary American debt facts?
1▪ Consumer Debt exceeds the National Debt.
2▪ There are more than one billion credit cards in circulation today in the United States, including 600 million retail cards, 320 million bank cards,
3▪ 140 million oil cards, and 30 million travel and entertainment cards.
4▪ The typical family spends more than 90 percent of its disposable income servicing debt....
See all 15 at:The Creditory System
 

Facing a big jump in payments, couple feels trapped

NAR's prediction of home price decline, not gutsy
"Even the NAR's mealy-mouthed admission on falling prices isn't particularly gutsy or insightful. Prices have been dropping for a while, even though the official accounting techniques for home sales don't net out the ludicrous subsidies that sellers have been throwing in for months."
House Price Drop? That's Unpossible!
 

Borrowers are caught in backlash over loan defaults
SignOnSanDiego.com

A doomy forecast!
Is US heading for doomsday?
-International Business-News-The Economic Times

U.S. Homebuilders Face Bankruptcy Risk in '08, Lawyers Say
 Bloomberg.com: U.S.

 

Many landlords miss payments and skip on bills
 

Keep an eye on housing inventory
 Nashuatelegraph.com: Business
 

Will a bailout rescue homeowners in default?...
"Want to pick up the check for every homeowner who got saddled with a risky mortgage? It's a big one - on the order of $120 billion."
Subprime bailout? $120 billion

...It's doubtful
"A number of states are aiding subprime homeowners with assistance plans, but critics say that won't stop foreclosures from climbing."
Subprime: Bailouts won't cut it

Subprime loans can't be changed
 | Asbury Park Press Online

Goodbye 'Home Sweet Home' -
Fosters

Falling March Housing Starts is a major concern –
real estate far weaker than many can even imagine
IndiaDaily -

NAR predicts declining Realtor number in coming years
Realtor ranks expected to shrink this year
Inman Real Estate News -
Weekend (April 14 - 15), 2007

Maui condo values drop $97,000 under 2006 price!
"March’s median single family home price dropped to $665,000 from the year-ago $725,000 but picked up from February’s $648,000. The median price paid for a condominium in March declined to $460,000, a drop from the $557,000 median in February 2006 and from the year-earlier $527,625"
Maui home sales up, prices down

Home prices fall lower than 2006 prices in parts if Idaho
"The median price of an Ada County home has fallen for the first time since the slump in Treasure Valley residential home sales began nine months ago."
"The median price was $226,800 in March, a 1.3 percent drop from $230,000 in March 2006, according to the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service."
The Idaho Statesman
 - Always Idaho

Fed Says What It Means -- No Interest Rate Cut

1 in 54 Californians has a real estate license, and other tales from the housing front
 

JS Online: Buyers, sellers battle for leverage
 

Foreclosure Wave Said to Hit Latinos Hard
voiceofsandiego.org

Subprime mess, supply to sour spring housing market
 | Reuters

Condo market waning again

No housing upturn in sight in S. Florida due to mortgage crisis

Mortgage crisis hits home in N.J.

Friday, April 13, 2007
 

San Diego sales sink to 12 year low, prices to follow
"Sales of San Diego County homes in March dropped to their lowest level since 1995"
S.D. home sales drop to lowest level since '95

No housing upturn in sight:
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Subprime resets to peak through April 2008

San Bernardino & Riverside, California home price appreciation continues sink towards zero
"La Jolla-based research firm DataQuick Information Systems reported Thursday that Riverside County's median price of $420,000 was up 0.2 percent from March 2006. San Bernardino County's $369,000 was up 1.1 percent."
"A year ago, Riverside County home prices were appreciating at an annual rate of 10.3 percent, while San Bernardino's were up 22.2 percent. Last month, Riverside County's 3,680 sales were down 47.3 percent from a year ago, and San Bernardino County's 2,476 sales marked a 46.6 percent drop."
Home sales plunge 47% in region

Housing Bubble Accomplices Preparing for Death: Caroline Baum
Bloomberg.com: Opinion

Subprime Reckoning Day

Housing market continues to slide across Southland
VenturaCountyStar

Lying Dirty Scoundrels of Housing
Dr. Housing Bubble

Bankruptcy May Not Save Homes

Seller beware: Home prices plunge
 - Orlando Sentinel

Mortgage defaults, delinquencies at record -survey
Reuters

FT.com / In depth - US plans curbs on subprime lenders

Thursday, April 12, 2007
 

Fed hints at another rate hike on the way
"Calling inflation its "predominant" concern, minutes from its March 20-21 meeting released Wednesday show the Fed's focus remains squarely on inflation pressures despite signs of further economic cooling."
Fed: More 'Firming' Might Be Needed To Combat Inflation

Fed Minutes Say Rate Increases May `Prove Necessary'
Bloomberg.com: U.S.

Foreclosure crisis bringing home sales to a halt: sellers fret!
"It's truly affecting the sale of my house," says Clark, 45, who works for the U.S. Postal Service. "Why pay full price for my house when you can pick up a foreclosure for $30,000 or $40,000 less?"
Rising foreclosures reshaping communities
 - USATODAY.com

Foreclosures only going to get worse this year!
"With 1.8 million adjustable rate mortgages resetting to higher rates this year and next, foreclosures are sure to continue rising,"
Median home price projected to drop amid mortgage market's woes

 

Economy.com's director of housing economics predicts 8% home price declines
"Overall, her firm is predicting that the downturn that started in late 2005 will end up pushing median home prices down 8.7 percent nationwide by the time it ends in early 2008. The nationwide figures, of course, mask a great deal of local variation."
Forecast: 100 biggest markets

Continued declining prices forces National Association of Realtors to finally admit that the bubble not only existed, but it has burst!
"Saying that the housing bubble has truly burst, the National Association of Realtors predicted Wednesday that the median price of existing U.S. homes is expected to fall 0.7 percent this year, the first time that has happened since records started in the late 1960s."
Realtors predict prices will fall

A Word of Advice During a Housing Slump: Rent
 

Seller beware: Home prices plunge

 

 Federal government to give hundreds of millions of dollars to bail-out troubled borrowers?
"The federal government should offer troubled borrowers hundreds of millions of dollars to bail them out of subprime mortgage loans, several leading Democratic lawmakers said on Wednesday."
Democrat Schumer calls for subprime bailout

Shiller: Mr. Worst-case scenario

How Mortgage Troubles Impact U.S. Banks -- Part One
Morningstar.com -
 

From apartment, to condo conversion, to foreclosure
Sacramento condo conversion gets zapped by housing crash!
"At least 150 units in a Sacramento-area condominium complex are headed into foreclosure in an ambitious conversion project stung by the market slowdown."
Condo Conversion Suffers from Bad Timing
 

Reality bites real estate market:CA

Citigroup slashes 17,000 more jobs!
"Citigroup has long carried the mantle as the world’s biggest bank in the world’s financial capital — big deals, big ambitions and in the last few years, big costs."
Citigroup to Eliminate 17,000 Jobs
 - New York Times

Altered photos: Removing the real from real estate

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Home prices fall lower than year ago levels: PA
"Prices for existing homes, or resales, fell about 1 percent to $213,000 last month, compared with the year before, and were down 4 percent compared with February."
It's a buyer's market
 

Defaults Rise in Next Level of Mortgages
 - New York Times

Median home price dropping in San Francisco

Poverty Moves to the Suburbs
AlterNet:
 

House prices to go down a lot more: Jim Rogers
"They will go down a lot more. You just don't clean out a speculative bubble in six months," added Rogers"
Rogers shorts U.S. builders, eyes more losses

Horton homebuilding orders fall 37% in 2Q
 - baltimoresun.com

Don't Blame the Market for Housing Bubble and Crash ::
The Market Oracle

Orlando Florida: Median home price dropping while inventory rises to all-time high!
"The median price of existing homes sold in the Orlando area in March slipped to 2006 levels, $240,000, as the inventory of homes for sale continued to swell and sales fell more than 40 percent, the Orlando Regional Realtors Association said today."
"The number of homes for sale by local Realtors rose to a record 23,547 from a revised 22,055 in February, up 1,492, a 14 month supply at the recent sales pace."
Median price of existing homes slips to 2006 levels
 - Orlando Sentinel : Business

Mortgage fallout hits area's largest bank

Feel-good stories and realtor propaganda helped inflate the bubble
"They were too busy writing feelgood stories about the Washington real estate market. Rather than doing their jobs, they wanted to believe the unbelievable, ignore the obvious, and as a consequence failed to report the truth."
The housing bubble- the truth wasn't hard to find
Economic Dispair

Home builder: Spring hasn't sprung
 

Mortgage woes could be 'tip of the iceberg'
 

Mortgage Market Dries Up For American Home

Tuesday, April 10, 2007
 

O.C. median home price declines again
"For 22 business days ending March 9, sales for all types of Orange County home sales decreased 18.8 percent. The median sales price decrease .8 percent."
Orange County home prices and sales
 

Orange County, CA to see at least 50% drops in home values: expert Peter Schiff predicts
"We are only just getting started. The current problem is just the tip of a very large iceberg. Orange County will plunge into a severe recession, with real estate prices falling by 50 percent or more, and lots of unemployment. Higher interest rates and consumer prices will only make the situation worse, for both housing in particular and the economy in general."
predictions of 50% home-price drops in Orange County, CA

 

Rhode Island condo owners hurting as median price
 plunges down $38,000 lower than last year!
"The statewide median price of a condo in February was down nearly 15 percent, to $219,500, compared with $258,000 a year earlier, the real-estate and information firm reported. Condo sales since January have fallen nearly 9 percent during the same period."
East Coast Condo Prices Falling
: RISMedia
 

April: The month of doom for homeowners?
This month will be a test for homeowners as
income taxes and property taxes due
"April 10 – this Tuesday, for those without a calendar handy – is a day every O.C. property owner should know: Deadline for the second installment of the 2006-2007 property bills."
Late property taxes a growing woe
 

Real Estate Decline earns "Website of the Day" at SeekingAlpha

 

Condo owners beware: your neighbors foreclosure can hurt you!
"When one condo owner in a ten-unit building suffers foreclosure because he can no longer carry his mortgage, he will likely stop paying his homeowner fees. " says Kwechansky "Then all the other unit-owners are forced to make up the difference in their homeowners fees."
Buying a Condo Can Be Like Marrying on a Blind Date, Warns Fraud Specialist

Sub-prime woes start to hit less-risky lenders
LA Times
 

Memories of 90's housing bust frightens Southern California's Antelope Valley homeowners
"The economic downturn that racked California in the early 1990s hit especially hard there. The mere mention of the time summons images of squatters taking over their neighbors' abandoned houses, of spiking crime rates and unprecedented gang killings, of hemorrhaging home values that took a decade to rebound."
""A lot of people are panicking," said Jaimes Gumaro, a North Hollywood real estate agent who has a listing in a Palmdale neighborhood dotted with homes for sale. "They were expecting to have all this equity, and then it suddenly stopped. Now, they just want to get their money out of it. They're saying, 'I'm outta here.' ""
Antelope Valley struggles with memories of '90s housing crash - Los Angeles Times
LA Times

Many homeowners' horse has escaped!
"Rising rates reduced the demand for housing, causing prices in some areas to top out and start falling. Readers of this column were informed that the party was over and that some homeowners would soon have difficulty paying off their loans.  Others missed this sign until it was too late. Now they are trying to shut the barn door after the horse has escaped."
End of housing bubble should have been obvious to everyone
 - MarketWatch

Bad loans being "returned" to lender?
“When loans go bad borrowers can be foreclosed. Meanwhile, investors such as pension funds, insurance companies and others who own loans can lose money,” said James J. Saccacio, Chairman and CEO at RealtyTrac, the largest marketplace for foreclosure properties. “But there's another party that can also lose: the original lender who found the borrower, took the loan application and got fees and commissions at closing can often be forced to buy back the loan."
Buy-Backs: Keeping Lenders On The Hook

Mortgage lender loses $1.1B in market cap over weekend
"M&T Bank Corp. did a lot more than just warn shareholders that problems with a type of risky mortgage would cut its first-quarter profits by $7 million.   It dropped a billion-dollar bombshell on them.  Or, to be more precise, $1.1 billion. That’s how much less all of M&T’s stock is worth today than it was at the end of last week after its shares tumbled by 8 percent, dropping from $115.83 on March 30 to $105.99 on Friday."
M&T loses $1.1 billion in market value

 

More mortgage messes / huge layoffs continue
"Kansas City (Mo.) based lender Novastar Financial said after the close of trading Mar. 16 that it intends to reduce its workforce by about 350 people, or about 17%, to align itself with what it calls, with considerable understatement, "changing conditions in the mortgage market."
Mortgage Mess: Now It's Prime Time

Arizona sees all-time high home listings glut!
"More than 50,000 houses and condos - of which about 95 percent are in the Valley - were listed in March, according to preliminary figures from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. A healthy market typically carries about half of that number, analysts"
It's a buyer's market - like never before - AZ
The Arizona Republic

Who's blamin' Who?
"Some 2.4 million homeowners are in danger of losing their homes, many because of bad subprime loans. Critics are pointing their fingers at who is responsible - here are the main targets."
Subprime blame game
CNN Money

American Home Mortgage sinks on lower outlook
 

Bradenton, FL condo converter cuts prices
 

Foreclosure's shadow falls across diverse set of US homeowners

Dallas condos off to Auction
High-rise condos to go on auction block

Monday, April 9, 2007
 

Home inventory at all-time-high (but nothing to worry about)
Record housing inventory temporary, not sign of impending slump

 

Buying property today? you will PAY!
"At the very least, you should be taking a wait-and-see approach to buying at this point. The risk/reward ratio is completely out of whack and the snowball is just beginning to form, just a few hundred feet from the top of this enormous and steep mountain. If you can't see the danger and are buying property, face it -- you could pay dearly."
Asset Price Deflation: The New Rules of Real Estate
 

San Luis Obispo, California foreclosures shoot-up
"For the first three months of this year, 215 notices of default — the first step in the foreclosure process — were sent to homeowners, up from 99 in the same period a year ago, according to All American Foreclosure Service, a San Luis Obispo firm that tracks foreclosures in the county."
Local foreclosures on the rise, so far

Largest bank in U.S. tightens-up mortgage lending standards
"the largest U.S. bank and one of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders, is telling brokers that on Monday it will stop making some riskier home loans, documents obtained by Reuters show."
Citigroup tightens mortgage lending standards
 

Housing Inventory Surges In March Across the U.S.

Back to 1920 in Florida housing bust?
"Historian and real estate attorney Harvey Oyer looks at Florida’s recent housing boom and sees parallels to the 1920s, when prices soared and an army of “binder boys” flooded into the state to flip property."
Housing history repeats itself
 | The Real Deal
See details of the 1920 Florida housing bust
 

Are property taxes in subprime soup?



Plummet in condo sales hits Strand

 

Use common sense in realtor propaganda sales techniques
"If you look around in the paper or somewhere in the advertisements, you will see buyers tips that are given to you by realtors. These "tips" they give you are there to build your trust and to brainwash you into believing that buying now is a good idea and that they can show you how to get a better deal. These "tips" as they call them are nothing more than propaganda."
The Sheeple's Guide To Buying A House
LI Bubble
 

Irrational Housing: Insiders out Early and The Duesenberry effect.

 

HSBC Mortgage Services to close its call center in Orlando

Your House Doesn't Add Up The Way You Think
 - washingtonpost.com

 

Foreclosures on the rise in suburbs of Baltimore
 

Waiting for the Blood to Rise

 

Effects of a decade of aggressive lending
 | Inquire
 

Few homeowners are immune to Detroit area's foreclosure pain
 | Seattle Times Newspaper

Weekend (April 7 - 8) 2007

Hey dude, Lets Party...(and buy a home)
"In addition to high-dollar ad campaigns, companies are going out of their way to get customers to their sites with everything from extravagant parties to sweepstakes prizes."
Parties, free trips the lure for future condo residents

Debtor’s Nation
 

50 subprime lenders gone bye bye
"Latest count of major US mortgage lenders that have croaked since late 2006"
50 lenders have now gone kaput
M.L. Implode-o-Meter
 

 Even a Realtor will tell you: Glut is huge

NAR counting REO's as closed sales?
housing sales much worse than numbers indicate if so
"Of the $2B worth of properties sold in March, 4,796 [of 5,316] went back to the lender after receiving no bids, representing $1.82B."
Foreclosures: 15% of California Home Sales in March
Calculated Risk

Mortgage Rates Continue Spring Creep

Foreclosures Hitting Up-Scale Areas As Well

The housing squeeze

How to Buy a Home With $500

Friday, April 6, 2007

Real home prices 1890 to present, plotted on a roller coaster....
LETS RIDE!

by speculativebubble.com

Denver home prices continue down-slide in March!
"The average price of a previously owned home sold in the Denver area in March fell by more than $10,000, or 3.6 percent, according to a report released Thursday."
Home prices slip in March
 

Falling home values hit Minnesota
St Cloud home prices plunge 9.2 since last year!
"The average sale price decreased to $173,114 in the first quarter, down 9.2 percent from the fourth quarter and down 5 percent from the $182,298 average a year ago."
Area housing market adjusts to downturn
St Cloud Times


130,000 every month going into foreclosure!
"With about 130,000 homeowners going into foreclosure every month, the prices of single-family homes have declined."
"The nation's housing slump has hit borrowers with sub-prime loans hard. With new home sales dropping by 3.9 percent in February after January's fall of 15.8 percent, the housing market still has an oversupply of houses for sale."
Oversupply Of Houses Has Caused Home Prices And Sales To Drop | April 6, 2007

American dream ends in property market crash

San Francisco jolted by huge foreclosure jump!
"Some of the largest increases in foreclosure default rates are occurring in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The East Bay seems to be the hardest hit, but surrounding counties are also being jolted by the slumping housing market."
San Francisco Bay Area Sees Huge Increase in Defaults
eFinanceDirectory.com

California foreclosures increase 264% over 6 months!
"Foreclosure Radar, a foreclosure listings and software company, today announced that 5,316 California foreclosures were sold at auction in March, representing a 27% increase from February and a 264% increase in the last 6 months. Of the $2B worth of properties sold in March, 4,796 went back to the lender after receiving no bids, representing $1.82B."
California Foreclosure Sales Near $2B in March: Financial News
 - Yahoo! Finance

Subprime pain spreads to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage?

Real estate "red-hot" in North Texas
Mysterious house fires increase when home values start dropping!
"But unexplained house fires, foreclosure postings and empty houses send another message: This is a beautiful place teetering on the edge of decline, an apparent victim of lax lending practices and subprime loans."
Fires, foreclosures, taxes plague neighborhood

Housing job cuts accelerate in quarter

Housing related Job cuts skyrocket 346% over last year!
"Job cuts in the housing industry jumped in the first quarter and almost matched the number of cuts in all of 2006, an outplacement consultancy said Wednesday."
Q1 cuts in housing jobs rocket 346%

More perils of abandoned foreclosures..
 Craigslist sellers?
Man arrested for selling off home parts

Interest rates: Nowhere to go but higher!
"However, it is important to point out that as a collapse in consumer spending ushers in a recession, the Fed will not have the luxury of lowering interest rates to cushion the fall.  Despite surging unemployment, “inflation” will only accelerate, as extreme dollar weakness abroad translates into higher consumer prices at home.  In addition, long-term interest rates will be headed higher as well, as foreign savers look to be compensated for this loss of purchasing power."
No More Legs to Stand on

Mortgage demand sags as rates rise
 

New subprime surprise: Gov. had board ties to 2nd lender
 

Similarities in pricing indicator mirrors 90's SoCal housing bust
L.A., San Diego, & O.C. housing price indicators flashing red and purple
Will The 1992 So Cal Recession Be Repeated ?
 

CITY SEES 'LOST VALUES' IN PREDATORY LOANS

Lower home prices force Ryland write-downs

Thursday, April 5, 2007
 

Luxery homes on the block
Forbes.com

Oahu home owners say ouch as their home values fall lower than last year
"The median price of a single-family home last month was $643,500, down 1 percent from March 2006 when the price was $650,000, according to the board's statistics."
Oahu home prices flat in March
 - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

Local foreclosure filings skyrocket: Massachusetts
 

Nobody knows the trouble they'll see
"heads are going to roll when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson are forced to admit that the subprime mortgage problem is not contained"
SUBPRIME MORTGAGE PROBLEM CONTAINED? Yeah Right!
 

Housing is hurting the economy right now!
"Now for those pundits that insist that real estate is not spilling over into the real economy, we ask the question, “Why has the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers’ Index posted a roughly 10% decline in shipments?” Or, “Why is Circuit City laying off 3,400 of its best sales personnel and attempting to hire maladroit sales people at a much reduced compensation package?”
Will Subprime Woes Seep Into the Economy? They Already Have
 - Seeking Alpha

More leaving San Diego than coming in?
"The total number of fleeing San Diego County residents reached a peak of 42,034 last year, eighth highest among all U.S. counties, according to new Census Bureau statistics. That exodus ---- focusing on the 12 months that ended July 1 ---- came on the coattails of a net domestic migration loss of 37,666 residents the previous year and a loss of 32,140 the year before that."
Census: More moving out than moving
 

Mortgage Pros Scramble to Modify Loans
 

Foreclosure task force called out in Illinois
"Some buyers fail to look realistically at their incomes, current credit rating and rising interest rates before they decide to buy," he said. "The idea of having their own house for their family at a bargain rate-as little as 5 percent under certain interest-only loan guidelines-lulls people in, and they quickly are brought back down to earth when rates increase, but their income remains fixed."
Davis launches foreclosure task force


Housing job cuts surge four-fold


Battle of the property appraisers continues
 

Time to Pay Attention, China Trade War, Housing, Iran and more
 

In debt from cradle to grave?
Man needs to live to be 127 years old to pay-off his mortgage
Man, 102, takes out 25-year mortgage
 

Bankruptcy filings surged in first quarter of 2007

Wednesday, April 3, 2007

2008 presidential hopeful Ron Paul lays out why the Federal Reserve should be ended.
Ron speaks about the housing bubble, how the government owns us, the U.S. financial crisis and the coming bust
..
Vote Ron Paul for President 2008, Americas Last Hope!
 

Florida foreclosure rate increases, number continue drastic climb!
"People in Florida have been finding it very difficult to hold onto their homes. Foreclosures increased by a whopping 91 percent in Florida since last year. In some areas like Sarasota/Manatee, the increase was even higher-182 percent."
Foreclosures Increase 80 Percent in Florida, Vultures Circle

Was Southern California mortgage lending system another Enron?
"A tsunami has swept the land of sub-prime mortgages: most of which lies in the southern reaches of California, home of New Century Financial Corp, where the executives are cut from the same cloth that made Enron infamous. Soon the dry-cleaning will begin, and Robert K Cole, one of the founders of New Century Financial, is among the first ..."
The Subprime Tsunami Awards
 : Indybay

Detroit's 3 year real estate decline continues to worsen!
"The Detroit median home price fell 5.8 percent in the past three years, even as prices rose nationwide by 14 percent, data from the National Association of Realtors show. The median price of a house in the Detroit metropolitan area was $154,600 in the fourth quarter, trailing the U.S. median of $219,300, the Chicago-based trade group said."
Detroit Home Sellers See Dearth of Buyers as Foreclosures Climb

Fewer takers for home loans

Foreclosures on the rise In SoCal

Rhode Island median home value drops $11,000 below year ago level!
"The state had 574 single-family home sales in February, versus 551 in the year-ago period. But their median price declined to $249,250 from $260,000."
R.I. home sales rise 4.2% in February

Subprime loans play hard to get
Salt Lake Tribune -

Builders may lose 20 percent of potential buyer pool for new homes
"Credit Suisse analyst Ivy L. Zelman says possible lender restrictions involving subprime and Alt-A mortgages, which accounted for an estimated 40 percent of purchase dollar originations in 2006, may result in a shrinking pool of buyers for new homes."
Subprime, Alt-A Woes to Shrink Borrower Market

Subprime Mess Threatens Home Sales

Australian press reports on American financial disaster
"FOR hundreds of thousands of Americans, it is a personal financial disaster. For the wider US economy, it is a growing economic shock with an increasing potential to inflict severe repercussions on the nation's prospects and prosperity."
Sub-prime crash a tale of financial excess with no happy ending

Fannie Mae Plans To Cut Workforce
 - washingtonpost.com

Santa Has Left The Housing Market
American Chronicle:

And Still More On The Subprime Fiasco

Real estate collapse has home buyer prospects choosing rentals
"Federal Reserve is very concerned about the inflation from rising rents. Before the recent real estate bubble collapse, people were buying homes leaving the rental apartments."
Federal Reserve trapped in its own game

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Half a million homes to go back on market later this year as bust accelerates / defaults skyrocket!
"With default rates on the rise, mortgage-lending standards being tightened and $500 billion in adjustable-rate mortgages to be reset in 2007, we can expect the return of a half-million houses to a bloated inventory of unsold homes in the next six months."
Prepare for a Storm

Parts of bay area seeing big 25% median home price declines!
"East Bay cities such as Berkeley, Brentwood, Clayton and Walnut Creek experienced a nearly 25 percent drop in median home prices from February of last year."
Area median home price falls

Millions of victims in American Dream illusion
if it's not paid off then you don't own it.  And then there's taxes...
"But with an estimated 1.5 million homeowners facing foreclosure this year, Congress is now looking at tighter lending standards to protect unwary Americans from taking on loans they cannot afford."
Mortgage crisis calls American Dream into question

More than subprime in trouble: housing
"Rising defaults on subprime home loans spelled trouble for New Century, but rising defaults on another kind of mortgage considered less risky could mean trouble for many regional banks' shares in coming weeks, analysts and portfolio managers said on Monday."
U.S. mortgage woes could hit regional banks
Reuters

5 times the subprime loan amount last year vs. 2000!
"Lending standards apparently are tightening not only in the subprime market but in other components of mortgage lending as well," says NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "This is causing tremendous uncertainties regarding the near-term outlook for home sales and housing production."
Tighter credit could reverse home-ownership gains
 

Real estate to stay in "slump"
"Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in February, extending a real-estate slump that started in 2005, economists said before an industry report today."
Pending Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Probably Fell in February

Adjustable Rate Mortgage reset sob stories begin!
"Rodriguez, speaking through a Spanish translator, said the payments on her loan, which has an interest rate that changes every month, have increased by a third, rising $500 to $2,000 a month."
"I am very frustrated. I am very upset," said Rodriguez, a 44-year-old candy packer whose monthly take-home pay is about $1,700. "I have not been able to pay other bills."
Homeowners on the brink: Subprime borrowers face foreclosure, ruin

US investor confidence taking a beating

MORE LENDER BANKRUPTCY / LAYOFFS
"New Century Financial filed for bankruptcy protection Monday and said it would immediately lay off 3,200 people, or half its workforce, as the second-largest subprime mortgage lender succumbed to a credit crunch in the sector."
New Century files for bankruptcy

Entire loan industry shaking in their boots
"Last month, the US markets shuddered in apparent surprise at the news that US loan delinquency rates had substantially increased. Behind the headlines, the so called sub prime market was already quaking in its boots because it is that end of the market which sees the shocks of recession first"
is New Century a sign of things to come?