Homeowner’s behavior a mortgage factor
A mortgage borrower’s personal traits and behaviors, not just income or credit scores, affect the ability to repay the mortgage, U.S. researchers suggest.
Well, duh.
But I’m sure that a brief look at the numbers will show disparate results when grouped by race, sex, national original, or other factors. The perpetually aggrieved will […]

posted by SteveF to Housing, Culture, Real Estate, Nanny State, Free Market | 1 comment, no incoming links

The dangers of economic pessimism. - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine
My bold prediction for 2010 is that the consensus of the forecasters surveyed by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, which projects the economy will grow only 2.4 percent in 2010, is too pessimistic, perhaps by half.
My goodness. What would lead this Slate “expert” […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing, Propaganda, Education, Bullshit, Horseshit, Junk Journalism | 1 comment, no incoming links

FT.com / US / Politics & Foreign policy - US House passes financial reform bill
“One of the responsibilities of the consumer agency will be to issue rules to prevent the kind of abusive mortgages that had such a contributing role in our crisis,” said Barney Frank, the Democratic chairman of the House financial services committee, […]

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing, Markets, Statists, Obama, Socialism, Obama Agenda, Pelosi | No comments, no incoming links

U.S. Existing Home Sales Rise 10%, More Than Forecast (Update2) - Bloomberg.com
Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) — Sales of existing U.S. homes increased more than forecast in October to the highest level since February 2007, spurred in part by a tax credit that lured first-time buyers.
Purchases rose 10.1 percent to a 6.1 million annual rate from a […]

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing | No comments, no incoming links

US Aug Existing Home Sales Dn 2.7% To 5.10 Mln Rate - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–Existing-home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in August, breaking a string of four increases as the housing market struggles to recover.
Home resales decreased by 2.7% to a 5.10 million annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.
Wall Street expected […]

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing | No comments, no incoming links

The “Walk-Away” Crisis
[This] “Shadow inventory has the potential to give us another leg down on home prices during the second half of the year,” said Steven Wood, chief economist at Insight Economics in Danville, California… “It appears that there is a significant amount of shadow inventory in the form of bank owned properties, which will […]

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing | 6 comments, no incoming links

Chicago Boyz » Blog Archive » The FHA and Impact on Real Estate Values
Today the FHA, the Federal Housing Administration, is a gigantic player in the residential mortgage business. The FHA guarantees mortgages against default, and allows purchases of homes with only a 3.5% down payment, and provides a rock bottom interest rate of near […]

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing, Dumbasses | 1 comment, no incoming links

The Volokh Conspiracy - -
Before the boom, the FHA wasn’t a big player in the housing business because it didn’t follow private lenders in loosening its standards. Borrowers had to fully document incomes and insured loans were capped at $362,000. Congress increased those limits last year to as high as $729,750 in the most expensive […]

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing, Corruption, DemCong | No comments, no incoming links

Fannie Mae seeks $10.7B in US aid after 2Q loss - Yahoo! Finance
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fannie Mae plans to tap $11 billion in new government aid after posting another massive quarterly loss as the taxpayer bill from the housing market bust keeps growing.
And….
Barney Frank encourages Fannie, Freddie to relax lending standards - BloggingStocks
Outspoken congressman Barney […]

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing, Liberal Fascism, LFF | 2 comments, 1 incoming link

Rasmussen Reports™: The Most Comprehensive Public Opinion Data Anywhere
Thirty-six percent (36%) now say their houses are worth less than the rest of their mortgage payments, up from 30% a month ago.
Hmmm.
This seems to confirm my own recent estimate.

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing | No comments, no incoming links

Australia: Orang-Utan Escapes Adelaide Zoo Enclosure, Karta Used Branch To Short Electric Fence.
In a tv report, it was said that after she shorted out the fence and then used her makeshift ladder to climb to the top of the wall, she was greeted by a ring of zoo-keepers armed with stun guns. Apparently she […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing | No comments, no incoming links

More than one in five homeowners underwater: Zillow - Yahoo! Finance
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home values in the United States extended their fall in the first quarter, with more than one in five homeowners now owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, real estate website Zillow.com said on Wednesday.
Hmmm. I would […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing, Recession | 3 comments, 1 incoming link

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Video: Frank in 2005 — Bubble? What bubble?
People building fiber-optic cable for which there was no need. Homes that are occupied may see an ebb and flow in the price at a certain percentage level, but you’re not going to see the collapse that you see when people talk […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing | 1 comment, no incoming links

Mortgage delinquencies soar in the U.S. | Special Coverage | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - More U.S. consumers are falling behind on their mortgages, an indication that the housing market has yet to hit bottom, a top credit bureau executive told Reuters.
Dann Adams, president of U.S. Information Systems for Equifax Inc, reported that 7 percent of […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing | 2 comments, 1 incoming link

3-bedroom Bayview condo a bargain at $144,900
Sigh.
This one is just a few doors down from my own unit. I paid $255K for mine in 2003.

posted by Bill Quick to Housing | 1 comment, no incoming links

Via Instapundit: Connecting the Democrat dots in the Mortgage Meltdown

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing, Dumbasses, Corruption | No comments, no incoming links

The local all-news radio station is KCBS, part of the national net - well, you figure it out.
As I was heading for Costco, I tuned in and heard some un-named commentator explain the root cause of the economic crisis. See, it’s like this….
Rich people took their huge fortunes and went out and bought huge […]

posted by Bill Quick to Economy, Housing, General, Dumbasses | 9 comments, 1 incoming link

The renter/owner divide - Megan McArdle
One of the things that I think is badly understood is that the government cannot do much to prevent house prices from falling. Foreclosures are not the cause of price declines; they are a symptom of them. The underlying event is too many houses, and too little demand […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing | No comments, no incoming links

Underwater Homes - Jonah Goldberg - The Corner on National Review Online
Anyway, I’m certainly no expert on this, but it just bothers me when I hear financial folks on TV and the radio simply asserting that being underwater is the worst imaginable fate without explaining why. Nearly every car ever bought is worth less than […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing | 3 comments, no incoming links

Damning with faint praise - Megan McArdle
My lunatic proposal for the day: why not make it easier to move homeowners out of homes they can’t afford? Set up a streamlined foreclosure proceeding where a current or mildly delinquent homeowner can simply give the house to the bank and walk away. Do […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing, Markets, Capitalism | No comments, no incoming links

FAQ: How Will Obama’s Housing Plan Work? - EconWatch
Translated: If you owe more than $210,000 on a house that’s now worth $200,000, you’re out of luck.
…The idea is to shift home-buyers (really home-debtors) from riskier adjustable-rate mortgages into traditional 15-year or 30-year fixed-rate mortgages without prepayment penalties. This means that your current payments could actually […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing, Bullshit, Bailouts | 2 comments, no incoming links

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. « For What It’s Worth
Fannie Mae will loosen credit requirements for home mortgages. No, that’s not from a five-year-old paper, that’s today’s Bloomberg news.

Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) – Fannie Mae, the mortgage-finance company under U.S. government control, will loosen rules for homeowners seeking to […]

posted by martinra to Housing, General, Dumbasses, Finance, Bailouts | 1 comment, no incoming links

Charity homes built by Hollywood start to crumble - Times Online
Some residents dismiss their neighbours’ worries. Diennal Fields, 51, said people did not know how to look after their homes: “It’s simple stuff: if there is mildew, don’t get a lawyer, get a bottle of bleach.”
I’m not a big fan of the sort of […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing, Dumbasses | 2 comments, no incoming links

Who Saw The Housing Bubble Coming? - Forbes.com
Bruce Bartlett, 01.02.09, 12:00 AM EST
Some forecasters were prescient; financial leaders weren’t.
Well, including Daily Pundit, of course, which first mentioned a housing bubble back in March of 2003 - “You Thought There Was Only One Bubble?” - (from the link cited):
The Return of Stagflation […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing | 6 comments, no incoming links

The Energy Challenge - No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in Innovative ‘Passive Houses’ - Series - NYTimes.com
And those who want passive-house mansions may be disappointed. Compact shapes are simpler to seal, while sprawling homes are difficult to insulate and heat.
Most passive houses allow about 500 square feet per person, a comfortable though not expansive living […]

posted by Bill Quick to Housing, EuroPenises | 3 comments, no incoming links