economic report: Housing Market Will Have Excess Capacity for Five Years - 04/15/10 11:05 PM
On a continued gloomy note, business intelligence company, SNL Interactive interviewed homebuilding space analyst for Stifel Nicolaus & Co., Michael Widner, who predicted that the housing market will have excess capacity for at least the next five years.
If the number of housing starts continues at the current levels then capacity may shrink substantially within three years, but with the predicted ramping up of new housing starts by a number of the major builders, that excess capacity is likely to run for at least five years.
Widner does expect some of the major builders to return to profitability in 2010 and … (2 comments)

economic report: Housing Economy will not fully rebound until 2025 - 04/14/10 10:49 PM
The cities that saw the bubble housing boom in the first decade of the century—cities in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona especially—won’t see the next big boom until around 2025 according to the financial services company, Fiserv. Fiserv expects other markets in the Northeast and Midwest to take a full ten years before price spikes equivalent to 2006 and 2007 return.
For most of the country some level of normalcy will prevail starting in 2011, but the recovery period will be prolonged almost everywhere in the U.S. Factors that will keep housing cycles from a more historic 10 year pattern are … (1 comments)

economic report: Barclay’s Take on the Housing Market????? - 04/12/10 10:53 PM
While I'm not sure what they had for lunch, but housing "experts" at Barclay’s Capital are convinced that the worst of the housing market decline is over. A look at the 4th quarter earnings documentation from 20 national and regional banks provided the data that led to Barclay’s conclusion.
The banks all seem to agree that the housing market has stabilized in all but a few parts of the country. The weakest areas where further declines may be seen are Arizona, Nevada and parts of Florida.
Housing still constitutes an area where troubled asset portfolios still trouble many banks, but the … (0 comments)

economic report: Why Some Housing Markets Dodged a Bullet - 04/12/10 11:04 AM
Ever wondered why some housing markets virtually disintegrated when the housing bubble burst, while others have survived quite well? This was the subject of a research report put out recently by the New York Federal Reserve Bank written by two of the Bank’s economists and researchers, Jaison R. Abel Richard Deitz. Deitz and Abel answer the question by focusing particularly on the upstate New York housing market.
During the housing boom of 2000 to 2006 home prices in upstate New York cities of Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo did not appreciate rapidly like so much of the rest of the nation. … (0 comments)

economic report: Better News on Home Values, sorta.... - 04/10/10 09:46 PM
The Case-Schiller Home Prices Index showed another positive jump for the eight straight month in January. The seasonally adjusted prices increased by .4% for the 10 city index and .3% on the 20 city index. Both showed a decline on the unadjusted indexes due in part to the bad weather in many parts of the country.
On the negative side, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Seattle, and Tampa experienced prices that reached new index lows. In Tampa, prices are down 42% from their high levels, and Las Vegas has troughed at 55.8% from its peak. On the more positive side, San Francisco and … (2 comments)

economic report: Federal Foreclosure Funding Goes Unspent - 04/09/10 11:00 PM
The Recovery Act allocated $4 billion in rehabilitation money for foreclosed homes, but with only months left on the funding less than half of the money has been spent to date. As of mid-March 38% of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds had been obligated. All funds must be committed by September or the funds will be lost to the communities that have received grants.
Some communities have used the funds to buy up and renovate foreclosed homes to resell to low income families. Some municipalities have used the funds to tear down abandoned eye-sores. Others are purchasing and renovating apartment buildings … (4 comments)

economic report: There are Buyers for Luxury Homes - 04/06/10 10:52 PM
While for most Investors the homes that are most readily purchased as rentals and first homes are the most plentiful and the easiest to sell quickly, there is a resurgence in the luxury home market that may present an opportunity for Investors in certain markets.
The National Association of Realtors reports that the sale of homes valued at $1 million and higher increased 38% in February over the same period the year before. The reasons are low mortgage rates, loosened credit markets and more cash buyers ready to bet that these homes will increase in value in the future.
A 30 … (1 comments)

economic report: Mortgages to Exceed Value until 2015 to 2020 - 04/06/10 10:31 AM
First American CoreLogic has estimated that even in the healthier markets that are now beginning to heal from the steep price drops of the last three years, homeowners currently with underwater mortgages will continue to have mortgages that exceed value until late 2015.
By the 4th quarter of 2009 First American CoreLogic estimated that over 11.3 million residences with mortgages had negative equity. That’s 24% of all U.S. mortgages.
By using a subset of mortgage holders, CoreLogic was able to project the length of time it will take for the average homeowner to again reach positive equity. The typical borrower will … (26 comments)

economic report: And, the status of the economy is? - 03/21/10 09:46 PM
Some States Hit Record High Unemployment
The Labor Department has released January unemployment figures and has revealed record jobless rates in five states including South Carolina (12.6%), California (12.5%), Florida (11.9%), North Carolina (11.1%), and Georgia (10.4%).
Nine states saw a decrease in unemployment. Eleven states saw no change, and the other thirty experienced an increase in the jobless rate in January. The states with the highest rates overall are Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and California.
The states with the lowest unemployment rates are North and South Dakota, and Nebraska. States with strong overseas exports seem to be seeing … (2 comments)

economic report: Payroll down. Housing prices down. Next? - 09/07/07 05:20 AM
 

Written today by Scott Anderson, Senior Economist for Wells Fargo:
 
This morning’s terrible payroll report gives the Fed the cover it needs to begin easing monetary policy in a serious way, using the biggest guns in its arsenal.  Any lingering fears on inflation are now firmly in the rearview mirror and the Fed’s objective to maintain economic growth is paramount.  The bad news is the Fed now appears somewhat behind the curve as often happens in times of economic transition.  There is now a real danger of recession, and some analysts will worry that one is now unavoidable, or … (0 comments)