Mortgage Rates: The Housing Market Is More Fragile Than Expected
Mortgage rates are near multi-year lows, so it would seem that if buyers were going to be lured back into the housing market, now would be the time. But, even the most modest increase…
Housing
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Newest first · Page 203Housing Inventory Down, But Figures Not Meaningful
Housing inventory came down a bit in May, but not enough to put a real foundation on faltering home prices. ZipRealty reported “the supply of homes available for sale in 28 major metropolitan areas at…
Fixing Housing Prices By Encouraging A Free Fall
There are a number of market reasons that housing could continue to fall over the next two or three years. Robert J. Shiller of Yale makes the point, writing in The New York Times,…
As Housing Market Struggles Increase, Home Sellers Slash Prices
Analysts watching the housing market are about to see whether falling real estate prices will bring buyers back into the market. Many home shoppers believe that the value of houses will fall another 10%…
Mortgage Rates At Level That Could Stall Any Housing Recovery
Freddie Mac has announced a sharp increase in the 30-year fixed-mortgage rate. Information released by the agency says that rates moved to 5.29% for the week ending today, up from 4.91% a week ago.…
Slightly Good News From Homebuilder Earnings (HOV, TOL, XHB)
Traders are lightly selling Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) and Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) after the two homebuilders reported earnings between yesterday’s close and this morning’s open. The news is also impacting the…
Stat of the Day: 1 Million Foreclosures Already in 2009 (XHB)
The Center for Responsible Lending estimates that there have now been 1,000,000 foreclosures filed so far in 2009. It also noted that the Mortgage Bankers Association’s most recent data shows some 12% of all…
Manufacturing & Construction Revival Seen
The Institute for Supply Management, or ISM, just posted the May reading for manufacturing activity. The reading was 42.8, up from the Bloomberg consensus estimate reading of 42.0 and the prior level was 40.1…
Notions of Housing Recovery Only Seem Relative To Price (XHB)
The Commerce Department data for April’s new home sales looks good on the surface, but there are perhaps more problems than there are winners here. On an annualized basis, there were 352,000 new homes…
Housing Is Not Just Bad, It’s Getting Worse
The market’s reaction to the S&P Case Shiller data showing the home prices dropped almost 19% in March was that the data is old, so there is no point in giving it much attention.…
When Power Companies Underwrite Appliance Recycling (ARCI, XEL)
Appliance Recycling Centers of America Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCI) is far from a household name. Xcel Energy, Inc. (NYSE: XEL) is known, literally, if you live in parts of Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North…
Case-Shiller Housing Data May Not Be What It Seems
The S&P Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index dropped by another record. The March report was another drop of 2.2%. The Q1-2009 period does have a look-back to it that is older than more…
The Failure Of The Mortgage Modification System Threatens Housing
The theory was simple and elegant. By offering homeowners who could not afford their monthly mortgage costs lower monthly payments, people could be able to stay in their homes. That would lower the US default…
Unique Green Incentive: No Sales Tax on Energy Star Appliances
Whether your goal is to go as green as possible regardless of costs or if the goal is to simply cut down on utility expenses, appealing to everyone’s pocketbook is generally an incentive that…
Analysts: Tweaks May Not Save Congress’ Failed Foreclosure Fix
by Alexandra Andrews, ProPublica The Hope for Homeowners program was created by Congress last summer to help an estimated 400,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure. But it could more aptly be called the Hope for A…