The housing market has been turned upside down with unprecedented amounts of government intervention that even the seasonal pattern has changed. Keep in mind that spring and summer are usually the most optimistic selling times in any given year but this year with the tax credit ending and the Federal Reserve done buying up mortgage [...]
To put it bluntly, the U.S. housing market today is in deep water. Nothing exemplifies the transfer of risk to the public from the private investment banks more than the deep losses at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae announced a stunning first quarter loss of $13.1 billion while Freddie Mac lost $8 billion. [...]
-by the Mysterious Flying Miser
As HBB readers will tell you, the state of Florida exemplifies housing-bubble consequence with blistering veracity. And one of the most pointed details of Florida’s economic and literal skyline is the monstrosity of their market in condominiums. It seems the available inventory looms over the state like a giant, ominous, pink [...]
We all know that foreclosures are on the rise throughout the nation. Most people realize that a foreclosure means that you will lose your home. But how does this process look like? In reality, the foreclosure process is a drawn out and lengthy ordeal. It is a gut wrenching and personal [...]
Continue reading about The Foreclosure Story: What does the Process Look Like?
Got to catching up with the Doctor’s Blog this week and these two provided provocative reading. They’re both here, one below the other - interesting relationship, actually.
The California Tax Break Window – Combining California Tax Credit with Federal Credit for $18,000 in Tax Credits. Southern California Housing Update. Giving [...]
Continue reading about Dr. Housing Bubble - Tax Breaks and Foreclosures, Something to Think About
As housing prices have collapsed from their halcyon bubble peak, many are peering out into the foreclosure landscape that is the current U.S. real estate market and are wondering if prices now fall in line with economic fundamentals. The problem in many areas across the U.S. isn’t so much with housing prices but actual employment [...]
” Even in the face of huge deficits, the state of California doesn’t want to face a world without homebuyer tax credits”
Continue reading about California To Step In With $10,000 Tax Credit When $8,000 Credit Leaves Off
As I pointed out on March 17th, the housing "tax credit" has run out of gas - and today's existing home sales numbers prove it:
Sales of existing homes have thus fallen three consecutive months, a reversal after having risen steadily through the fall in response to a federal subsidy for first-time home buyers. The tax [...]
For the first time in nearly three years since I’ve been tracking MLS data for Southern California, the public inventory number has increased. The low was reached in October of 2009 and this was when across the six Southern California counties 64,000 properties showed up on the MLS. Today that number is now over 70,000 [...]
“Chase said two-thirds of the $173.5 billion in mortgages picked up via its acquisition of Washington Mutual assets were deemed “impaired,” per the Seattle Times. That’s $116.7 billion in bad loans, though Chase said it has already written down their value to $88.8 billion. A hefty 82 percent of the pay option arms are considered [...]
Continue reading about Chase: Two-Thirds of WaMu Mortgages Impaired
