Flickr, Images of MoneyA recent report on foreclosure abuses in San Francisco has dimmed the excitement of a settlement of foreclosure abuses among banks, the federal government and state attorneys general. The amount of that agreement will…
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index for February showed the confidence of builders at a five-year high. That is the best level since May 2007, which is about when the most severe period of…
The new $26 billion settlement between five banks on one side and a number of state attorneys general and the federal government on the other is extremely complex. One thing that homeowners can take from…
wikimedia commonsFive major U.S. banks accused of foreclosure abuses have agreed to a $26 billion settlement with the government, the largest payout from banks arising from the financial crisis. The amount, which will include…
Big government and corporations are careful to bury their failures in the fine print. The Treasury Department released its January analysis of the Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP) program. Readers must sift through a large…
The US housing market continues to collapse at a breathtaking pace despite a minor improvement in unemployment and record low mortgage rates Fiserv Case-Shiller reports that average US home prices are now a third below 2006…
Real estate values have begun to drop sharply in China. Some economists may argue that this will undermine the central government’s plan to stage a “soft landing” in which GDP slows to…
Flickr, Images of MoneyForeclosure rates are one of the proxies for the health of the housing market, along with housing starts, home prices and the number of underwater mortgages. During 2011, foreclosure rates improved…
US home prices fell -1.4% month-over-month in November and -4.3% year-over-year according to the latest report from research firm CoreLogic. The year-over-year drop in October was -3.7%. The declines come following some reasonably encouraging…
Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, sent the chiefs of the House Committee on Financial Service a 24-page note about the problems of the housing market and the need for them to be…
Flickr, Images of MoneyThe Conference Board reported that the Consumer Confidence index was 64.5 in December, a gain of almost 10 points from November. That is near the highest measure since the recession ended.…
The monthly S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for the month of October were released this morning, and the results failed to meet already low expectation. The annual decline in home prices in the 10- and…
Flickr, Images of MoneyIn another very modest indication that the housing market has bottomed, new home sales moved higher The Commerce Department: Sales of new single-family houses in November 2011 were at a seasonally…
Investors are chasing up rent-based assets because they are searching for yield. Earning 2% per year by lending Uncle Sam money is not enticing, so investors are still on the prowl for dividends with…
Flickr, Images of MoneyThe housing market is down — sales, prices, applications. And there is glut of research that shows how much and why. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said that in October prices fell 0.2%…