real estate markets: The Stock Market Looks At Real Estate - 08/25/10 01:01 PM
 
Well, we all have heard the bad news, housing sales down again, hugely - 23% in the quarter. NAR reports that sales are at their lowest  since the  sales series launched in 1999, and single family sales are at the lowest level since May of 1995. And it doesnt look much better in the near term either. Pending sales, a forward indicator of market activity, dropped 30% based on contracts signed on May and is almost 16% the May 09 numbers. These reports are always about today. The stock market, however, is considered a discount mechanism. It trys to look into … (1 comments)

real estate markets: Federal HomeBuyers Tax credit Extension - 06/30/10 02:22 PM
The U.S. House has passed a bill giving home buyers an extra three months to complete their purchases and still qualify for a generous tax credit.The Senate is working to reach an agreement with Republicans to pass the House-passed homebuyer tax credit closing date extension early as today. Although the case shiller index  came in suggesting a fragile recovery is waning, it didnt include the sales figures representing market behavior after the end of the homebuyers tax credit. It got worse. Home sales fell more than 30% since the expectation of the end of the homebuyers tax credit. No doubt this … (2 comments)

real estate markets: NAR: Existing Home Sales Report - 12/23/09 08:46 AM
The sales pace for resale homes rose for the third straight month in November climbing 44.1% compared to the same month last year, the National Association of Realtors reported today. rushed to close sales before the original November 30 deadline for the recently extended and expanded tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors.Existing Home Sales: are 44.1 percent higher than November 2008. Current salesremain at the highest level since February 2007, first-time buyers purchased 51 percent of homes in NovemberTotal Inventory: Total housing inventory at the end of November declined 1.3 % to 3.52 million existing homes available for … (0 comments)

real estate markets: Foreign Real Estate Investors Return To The Market - 11/28/09 02:22 PM
The 17th annual survey shows strong Interest In US Real Estate. 1. Foreign real estate lenders say they plan to increase lending by 58% in the U.S. in 2009. 2. Equity investors plan to increase investment activity by 40 percent globally and by 73% in the U.S. according to the results of the 17th annual survey Preferences D.C. trumps New York as the top global city for foreign investment. London and New York were second and third position for foreign investment interest. Five of the top ten cities were American and the U.S. was ranked as the country with the most … (0 comments)

real estate markets: NAR Report: Existing Home Sales Surge 6.7 Percent - 06/02/09 12:46 PM
 Bottom Fishers Snap Up Foreclosures
Boosted by bottom fishers snapping up foreclosures and by incentives for first-time buyers, the number of U.S. homebuyers who purchased an existing home in April surged 6.7 percent! Thats the largest monthly increase in more than seven years. The big boost probably reflects the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers coupled with low interest rates and even lower home prices. Clearly, we are now in a bottoming process and the stock market seems to confirm. But prices continue to decline.
Sales foreclosures and other distressed have even seen bidding wars in places like Vegas, Phoenix … (2 comments)

real estate markets: Foreclosures: Another Surge - 05/14/09 01:00 PM
 Another New Record
This bubble is still not over. I wonder if its true that bubbles tend to erase wealth all the way back to the its beginning. Bubbles are a do over .
Realtyrac: Foreclosures in April rose and are now affecting one in every 374 housing units, and bank repossessions will spike in the next few months.
cbs marketwatch: "Much of this activity is at the initial stages of foreclosure -- the default and auction stages -- while bank repossessions ... were down suggests that many lenders and servicers are beginning foreclosure proceedings on delinquent loans that had … (1 comments)

real estate markets: Following the Top Five Markets in The Case-Shiller index. - 11/30/08 07:17 AM
Case Shiller Index Tracks Actual Prices of Home Sales 
This is an important index to follow because it tracks actual the actual sales price of a property each time it sells. Its a real indication of whether a price for the same property has gone up or down year over year. S&P/Case-Shiller 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, a trend that prevailed since 2007.
. The Case Shiller index shows San Francisco off a whopping 29.5%, indicating that perhaps its … (0 comments)

real estate markets: Bail Out: Our Well Being is at Stake - 09/20/08 08:53 AM
An enormous, taxpayer-financed program to buy up bad mortgages and other distressed debt is necessary to protect the savings and aspirations of millions of Americans.  Resolving the financial problems is not just for major corporations, Our retirement, savings, homes and college for our kids and their chance to find and keep good jobs depend on it.
In 1989, the Resolution Trust Corporation disposed of bad assets held by hundreds of crippled savings institutions. The agency closed or reorganized 747 institutions holding $400 billion. It took six years for this one to resolve itself. By 1995, the S.& L. crisis had abated
… (1 comments)

real estate markets: Bank Strategy Puts a Damper on Home Prices - 08/17/08 07:16 AM
 Bank strategies are forcing lower even prices on existing homes for sale
Realtytrac.com reports: “Bank repossessions, or REOs, continued to be the fastest growing segment of foreclosure activity in July, posting a 184 percent year-over-year increase — compared to a 53 percent year-over-year increase in default notices and an 11 percent year-over-year increase in auction notices,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac."
They go on to report that this is now 17% of all inventory in their data base, which is really quite comprehensive. If you look at the map (source: realtytrac.com), its easy to see that … (6 comments)

real estate markets: Fed Just Lowered Rates - 03/18/08 06:51 AM
 
The market was up by 300 points on the expectation that the Fed would lower rates 1 point. Instead they lowered rates by 3/4 of a point and the Dow is up 290 points. This is about the confidence necessary to give people who need to borrow and lenders who would like to lend some room. It does not do all that much for the mortgage crises. 
 I think this is much more about a bail out for the financial industry not the homeowner. Lehman Bros. and Goldman Sachs, both said Tuesday their first-quarter profits fell more than 50%. Yesterday, peolple thought … (1 comments)

real estate markets: Will Boomers Tank the Real Estate Market? - 02/18/08 09:42 AM
 
 A new study by two USC researchers, Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography in USC's School of Policy, Planning and Development, and Sungho Ryu, a doctoral candidate at the school and an associate planner with the Southern California Assn. of Governments has interesting implications for the future housing market.
Their thesis essentially is that as the nation ages the owners of property sell to use their equity. Historically, there is evidence that seniors sell between 55 and 75. The first boomers will be reaching this apex at or around 2011. Correctly, the thinking is that this added … (0 comments)

real estate markets: Demand Versus Buyer Hesitation - 02/06/08 11:17 AM
 
Demand Versus Buyer Hesitation
by Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist for National Association of Realtors
The stats quoted in this article point to a rippling effect that weak housing is having on the job market. He notes:
1. Residential construction and related contractor jobs fell by 28,500 during the month and are now lower by 291,000 from their peak employment level nearly two years ago. The commercial real estate market appears to be topping out as 16,800 jobs were cut in December.
2. Existing-home sales have been right at or near 5 million for the past three months and  are down … (0 comments)

real estate markets: The Sub Prime Mess: Here are Some Amazing Numbers - 01/09/08 09:36 AM
 
Sub prime Loans were intended to allow borrowers with weak credit records the benefits of owning a home. However, you always have to look out for predatory business practices. They exist in every industry and bloom in boom times. A typical predatory mortgage is a refinance of an existing loan that is packed with excessive or unnecessary fees and provides no tangible benefit to the borrower. Unfortunately, many of these loans are perfectly legal.
Many of the loans entered into required no documentation of income or accepted very low incomes with teaser rates that ballooned down the road. the selling point was … (6 comments)

real estate markets: Home Sales Tactics You Need to Know - 01/02/08 05:39 AM
 Redfin , the Seattle startup that has introduced a new business model for selling homes, has completed an interesting study based on their own stats and some well known studies.1. Price - Its important to realize that the market has changed and price it to sell. Homes priced too high at the initial listing experienced a sales price 88% less than the listing price, whereas homes that didnt have price reductions sold for 97% of the listing price.
The take-away: A home priced too high and then reduced seems to give buyers the idea that more reductions are possible and the low … (1 comments)

real estate markets: Housing Recession: Is It Over Yet - 11/28/07 06:19 AM
According to Donald Kohn, a top Fed official, the Fed will give serious attention to cutting rates again at the Dec 11 meeting. As of this date we have seen a 3/4 of a point drop in rates and still inventory is increasing and the foreclosure rates are going through the roof. No doubt, only to get worse because we have so many ARM's beginning to reset.His remarks sent the stock market up over 300 points on the possibility of a rate cut to keep the economy from slowing down, seems that the credit tightening is now slowing economic activity. NAR's … (5 comments)

real estate markets: The Emergence of a National Listing Service - 11/21/07 06:24 AM
I just came across the zillow.com press release regarding a partnership with 11 newspaper companies.Basically, when a newspaper gets a listing the advertiser will have the option of having that info put on the zillow site. This will give the agent listing much more exposure because zillow has 4 million visitors every month. It will help make the newspaper ad more relevant because the consumer now requires rich media information. I mean we want maps, photos, text and even street views. If a lising has good curb appeal this can only help get some interest.zillow.com will love this because they get … (3 comments)

real estate markets: Fed Lowers Rates: Who Benefits - 10/31/07 07:37 AM
Today the Fed cut rates  a 1/4 of a point to 4.5%. This is going to provide immediate impact to HELO loans and credit cards. ARM's, resetting now are expected to increase monthly payments by as much as $10,000 a year per household. I expect these people to get some immediate relief, since banks want to own loans not property. We certainly dont need the extra supply out there.The Fed cut rates by a half point only six weeks ago on Sept. 18. The rate reduction was designed "to forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might … (0 comments)

real estate markets: Markets are Telling us Something - 10/24/07 04:41 AM
 
Stocks continued to decline today. The last big surprise was Citigroup reporting a loss of 57% of its income for the quarter. Today Merril Lynch reported a much larger than expected loss  Merril Lynch increased the amount of its write-down by $2.9 billion for a total of $7.9 billion. Merrill said it lost $2.24 billion, or $2.82 a share, compared with a profit of $3.05 billion, or $3.17 a share, in the period a year earlier. Earnings from continuing operations were $2.85 a share. Revenue fell 94 percent, to $577 million from $9.83 billion a year earlier.
These losses are much greater … (4 comments)

real estate markets: The Markets are Telling us Something: Followup - 10/20/07 07:29 AM
Yesterday the markets took a real tanker, dropping over 366 points on more bank losses. Wachovia reported a 10% drop in income and a 1.3 billion dollar loss, much better than the Citigroup loss of almost 57%.
Given the bank reported losses of recent days this wasnt as bad as it could be. What caused this real drop was that Catepillar reported a decline in income...causing fears that the real estate recession was spreading. A small panic set in and sellers stepped up. 
 Looking closer:  Caterpillar posted a 21 percent gain in quarterly profit but fell short of analysts’ estimates. The company … (0 comments)

real estate markets: The Markets are Telling Us Something Different - 10/18/07 10:37 AM
The big banks have reported earnings and what is clear to me are three things:1. They lost a bundle: Bank of America corporation chalked up big charges due to credit-related turmoil. They lost something like 33% this quarter, suggesting that the problems in the credit market may yet be closer to the beginning than to the end. Citigroup saw its profit drop 57% in the third quarter.2. Even they were not aware of how bad this would become. I remember Citigroup saying that they were very surprised that there losses were so high. Th is is the largest bank in the … (1 comments)