housing market

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Home Prices Dive, Indicate Gloomy '12

Case-Shiller Home Price Index reverses 5 months of gains

(Newser) - After five straight months of gains through August, many market watchers had hoped home prices were finally trekking northward for good. No such luck: According to the just-released S&P/Case-Shiller Index, home prices fell in 19 of the nation’s 20 largest cities from September to October, bringing the index...

Ex-Banker: Yeah, Collapse Was Our Fault
Ex-Banker: Yeah, Collapse Was Our Fault
Nicholas Kristof
Dec 1, 2011 10:08 AM CST

Ex-Banker: Yeah, Collapse Was Our Fault

So why haven't homeowners been bailed out?

(Newser) - If you were trying to get a loan in southern Florida in 2007, bankers like James Theckston were there to help. "If you had some old bag lady walking down the street and she had a decent credit score, she got a loan," Chase's then-regional VP of...

FHA May Soon Need Its First-Ever Bailout

Auditors say agency will need taxpayer funds if home prices keep falling

(Newser) - The US housing market is in such sorry shape that the Federal Housing Administration may soon need an injection of taxpayer funds for the first time since it was created as part of the New Deal 77 years ago. The agency's cash reserves have dropped to $2.7 billion,...

Buffett Buys $10.7B in IBM
 Buffett Buys $10.7B in IBM 
Nov 14, 2011 8:13 AM CST

Buffett Buys $10.7B in IBM

He now owns 5.5% of the company

(Newser) - Warren Buffett typically shies away from tech companies, but not this year. In an interview on CNBC this morning, Buffett revealed that he’s bought $10.7 billion worth of IBM stock since March, a purchase that had been kept confidential in Berkshire Hathaway’s recent filings. The buy gives...

Downturn Slams Gen-Xers; Boomers, Not So Much

Housing prices are the real culprit

(Newser) - The recession is hurting most of us, but Gen X has taken the brunt of it—thanks to housing prices that fell off a cliff 5 years ago and are still tumbling. Consider the 30-year-old Gen-Xer who bought a house in 2006 for $250,000. That value has now dropped...

Foreclosures Shoot Up 7%
 Foreclosures Shoot Up 7% 
Nov 10, 2011 9:07 AM CST

Foreclosures Shoot Up 7%

RealtyTrac calls it the end of the robosigning 'rain delay'

(Newser) - Banks let loose a flurry of foreclosures in October, filing foreclosure actions on 230,678 homes in total—a 7% jump from September, according to new figures from RealtyTrac. First notices of default were sent out on 77,733 houses, a 10% jump from the month before. The numbers “...

Fannie Mae Needs Another $7.8B

Taxpayer bill for mortgage firm's rescue now $94B

(Newser) - In a sign that the US housing market is still in deep, deep trouble, Fannie Mae is tapping the Treasury for another $7.8 billion to stay afloat. The mortgage finance company posted a loss of $5.1 billion for the third quarter of this year, its 16th loss in...

Luxury Home Sales Surge in Beverly Hills

Just ask Jennifer Aniston's accountant

(Newser) - Luxury real estate in and around Beverly Hills is selling at a hot pace despite a swell in foreclosures on high-end homes elsewhere in the US, reports the Wall Street Journal . One high-profile example: Jennifer Aniston sold her mansion last summer for $36 million—nearly triple the $13.5 million...

Want a Massage? Hit an Open House

Specifically, an open house for a luxury home in Southern California

(Newser) - Lest you think the housing market is entirely in the crapper, know this: Some people are still buying luxury homes, but the competition for them is fierce. So they're being wooed, in part, by open houses that are pretty insanely over-the-top. How insane? Think open houses peppered with: male...

Senate Bill: Want a US Visa? Buy a Big House

Buy $500K worth of homes, and you can be a legal US resident

(Newser) - Are you a wealthy would-be immigrant with a penchant for real estate? Well, then have Chuck Schumer and Mike Lee got a deal for you. The Democrat and Republican senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would grant a visa to foreigners who buy at least $500,000 worth of...

London Sets Record for Luxury Home Sales

Foreign buyers are pouring in money to escape volatility at home

(Newser) - The market for London's most luxurious homes is skyrocketing as foreign buyers, seeking safe investments, swoop in to purchase the city's priciest residences. Sales of properties worth more than $8 million spiked 31% to a record 262 in the past year, reports Businessweek . House-hunters hailing from the Middle...

Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015
Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015
new report
Sep 21, 2011 11:07 AM CDT

Housing Market Will Stink Through 2015

Economists, builders, mortgage analysts fear 'lost decade'

(Newser) - Even more bad economic news from a report released today: Housing prices will remain depressed for years, dropping by an expected 2.5% this year and rising only 1.1% each year through 2015, according to the survey of more than 100 economists. Since the 2005 peak, housing prices have...

Obama's Jobs Bill Goes to Congress Tonight

But it's missing one crucial element, 'Los Angeles Times' notes

(Newser) - "Pass this bill," President Obama said more than two dozen times during his two speeches last week touting his jobs bill —and he’ll say it again tonight when he officially sends the American Jobs Act to Congress. “He will call on Congress to pass the...

Appraisals Are Still a Big (but Different Kind of) Mess

Conservative appraisals killing many sales, say experts

(Newser) - Just as overly generous property appraisals fueled a bubble that led to the housing bust, now overly stingy appraisals are keeping the American economy in the doldrums, reports the Wall Street Journal . The problem is causing increasing disputes over valuations, with sale cancelations jumping to 16% in June from 9%...

Why Banks Are Knocking Down Foreclosed Homes

Land donated to local governments

(Newser) - Did the bank repossess your home? Well, we’re not sure if this will make you feel better or worse, but there’s a chance the bank won’t profit from it—or even use it in any way. Banks have such a glut of repossessed homes that they are...

Paul Krugman: Don't Let Mortgage Lenders 'Off the Hook'

 Don't Let Bankers 
 'Off the Hook' 
paul krugman
Jul 18, 2011 11:39 AM CDT

Don't Let Bankers 'Off the Hook'

Deals with banks for paltry sums won't fix the crisis: Paul Krugman

(Newser) - The mantra of recent US fiscal policy has been "go easy on the bankers," writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Trouble is, that attitude neither holds them accountable nor does it put us on the road to recovery. Now, federal officials are calling on states to...

More Foreclosures Means More Mold

Abandoned homes are perfect environments for mold and mildew

(Newser) - At least one population is benefiting from the housing foreclosure crisis—mold. As more foreclosed homes sit unused for months or years while bureaucracy holds back sales, mold and mildew are growing at an alarming rate, reports NPR . More than half of all forecosed homes in some states are thought...

British Homes Now Cheaper Than Ritzy London Parking

There's a disconnect betwee London and the rest of the country

(Newser) - Much like the US, Britain is seeing home prices plummet—well, except in London, that is. There, prices are soaring, thanks largely to foreign buyers. How bad is it? So bad that the average price of a home in the country as a whole has now fallen to around $260,...

10 Most Affordable Home Markets in US

No. 1: Niagara Falls, New York

(Newser) - Coldwell Banker crunches some numbers to find the least expensive housing markets in the US. The report looked at average listing prices of four-bed, two-bath homes in 2,300 markets, according to MarketWatch . The results:
  1. Niagara Falls, New York: $60,820
  2. Riverdale, Georgia: $61,618

Goldman Preps Counterattack on Senate Report

Subcommittee's numbers are wrong, firm says

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs is ready to take a stand against a Senate subcommittee report that slammed the firm for allegedly misleading clients . Goldman will argue that the report exaggerates the firm’s 2007 bets against the housing market; it may release documents that support its belief that the subcommittee’s investigation...

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