Skip to content

Archive for February 2009

27
Feb

Housing Bust –Ideas to Cure & Prevent in the Future

 

Yale economics professor Robert Schiller on ideas to cure and prevent the current housing & mortgage collapse.

 

Robert Schiller is an academic, and best-selling author. He currently serves as the Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at Yale University and is a Fellow at the Yale International Center for Finance, Yale School of Management. Shiller has been a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) since 1980, was Vice President of the American Economic Association in 2005, and President of the Eastern Economic Association for 2006-2007. He is also the founder and chief economist of the investment management firm MacroMarkets LLC.

Shiller is ranked among the 100 most influential economists of the world.

 

 

[youtube]59x5N9TETpk[/youtube]

 

San Diego housing

Related posts by other bloggers: 

You Call This a Housing Bust? – The Money Times
- You Call This a Housing Bust? We all know about the bust-up of the U.S. housing market. Defaults are up, credit is gone, the stock market is down, and we all feel poorer. And all of that means few want or can afford a new home. …

Russ Lemmon: Housing bust has left development a ghost town …
- What was supposed to be a gated community with $500000 homes has turned into a modern-day ghost town. The only residential units in The Fountains at Amber Lakes are the five original model homes — all of which currently are occupied.

San Diego real estate blog » Housing Bust – Who Really Lit The …
- Housing Bust – Who Really Lit The Fuse & How To Cure It! by bob711 — published on February 15th, 2009. San Diego real estate market – housing bust. There has been lots of finger pointing and conjecture over whom or what started our …

Housing Bust Update | Mother Jones
- Byline: Kevin DrumDek: HOUSING BUST UPDATE….The latest from ground zero of the housing bubble:For the first time in the current housing downturn, the majority of Southern California homes sold in October ? 51% ? had been foreclosed, …

26
Feb

HOME EQUITY CASH-OUT AT EIGHT-YEAR LOW

home equity loansIn the fourth quarter of 2008, U.S. homeowners cashed out $17.5 billion in home equity through the refinance of prime first-lien mortgages, the lowest amount since the first quarter of 2001, according to a recent Freddie Mac report. In addition, 14 percent of refinancing homeowners paid in extra money when they refinanced, reducing their mortgage debt, the highest cash-in share since the fourth quarter of 2004 when 19 percent of refinancing homeowners put cash into home equity. The share of refinance loans resulting in new loan amounts that were at least 5 percent higher than the paid-off first-lien mortgage balances fell to 62 percent in the fourth quarter, also at a four-year low, compared with 76 percent in the third quarter of 2008. <!–[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]–>                         San Diego housing market

 

 

Related posts by other bloggers: 

Home Equity Loan
- In general, go with fixed when rates are low and an adjustable when rates are high. Many people have their own reasons for wanting to apply for a home owner secured loan online. One of the top reasons is because they have become past-due …

Calculated Risk: Summary Post: New Home Sales at Record Low
- Summary Post: New Home Sales at Record Low. by CalculatedRisk on 2/26/2009 08:34:00 PM. Another summary post and open thread (for discussion). New home sales in January 2009 (309 thousand SAAR) were 10.2% lower than last month, …

26
Feb

New Tax Credit for First-Time Homebuyers

 

Treasury Department Touts Expanded Tax Credit for First-Time Homebuyers

 

Credit Offers Up to $8,000 to Qualifying Taxpayers Now

 

Latest Move in Swift Implementation
of Administration's Recovery, Stability, Affordability Plans

 

 

Washington, DC � In an ongoing effort to deliver on swift implementation of the Obama Administration's recovery, stability and affordability plans, the U.S. Department of the Treasury touted today the availability of an expanded tax break for first-time homebuyers � a provision under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that will make up to $8,000 available now to qualifying taxpayers who buy homes this year. 

 

 

 

First-time home buyers represent a significant portion of existing single-family home sales.  In 2008, nearly one out of every two homebuyers were buying for the first time, and the expansion in the first-time homebuyer credit will make it easier for first-time home buyers to enter the housing market this year.   

 

 

 

"The expansion of the first-time home buyer tax break as part of the President's recovery agenda gives money to taxpayers when they need it most, while also targeting an important group of buyers," said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. "We view our economic recovery plan, our financial stability plan and now this homeowner affordability plan as three legs of the same stool � an integrated whole that represents our immediate response to the current crisis. We remain committed to swift, efficient and effective implementation of all of these components." 

 

 

 

The announcement comes on the heels of the first Recovery Plan Implementation meeting led by Vice President Joe Biden at the White House this morning; Secretary Geithner was among several Cabinet secretaries to attend and offer updates on implementation efforts in progress at Treasury and its bureaus. Vice President Biden is overseeing the Administration's implementation of the Recovery Act's provisions. 

 

 

 

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has posted on IRS.gov a revised version of Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit to incorporate provisions from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Under the new law, qualifying taxpayers who buy a home this year before December 1 can claim up to $8,000, or $4,000 for married individuals filing separately, on either their 2008 or 2009 tax returns.  Unlike the prior first-time homebuyer credit, this is money individuals do not need to pay back.  

To view the form and additional information on who can and cannot claim the credit, income limitations and repayment of the credit, please visit IRS.gov.                           San Diego real estate sales

 

Related posts by other bloggers: 

Bird on a Wire: More Tax Credit info… – The new household maximum tax credit amount is $1500 (unless otherwise noted)—so now is the time to improve your home, as you will reduce monthly energy costs and cut your taxes! QUALIFIED BUILDING ENVELOPE COMPONENTS …

$10000 Tax Credit for Home Buyers in California « Mortgage Minutes … – The tax credit incentive represents hope for struggling home builders, but is it a repeat of the same thinking that brought about this economic turmoil? A large part of how we got into this mess was by making it easy for home buyers to …

Home Buyer Tax Credit: Restrictions Apply – MashGet – Home Buyer Tax Credit: Restrictions Apply. Related stories, videos, tweets, photos about Tax Credit, First Time Home, Pockets, Irs Commissioner, Shulman.

26
Feb

New Home Sales Drop to New Low Record

 

San Diego new home salesYesterday, existing home sales took yet another tumble,;today it's new home sales. The Commerce Department reported that new home sales fell 10.2 percent in January. This was the worst showing on records going all the way back to 1963.

 

Here in the West, new home sales plunged 28%. The majority of home sales in San Diego are distressed and bank owned homes.

 

With the Obama $8,000 home buyers tax credit now in place, it will be extremely interesting to view home sales for February. One can only hope that the $8,000 credit combined with the extremely low mortgage rates around 5% will at least stabilize our housing market.                San Diego real estate

Related posts by other bloggers:

Video: Pre Market: New Home Sales | Daily Markets – The stories, data, and stocks that may have the greatest impact during the next trading session.

Calculated Risk: New and Existing Home Sales: The "Distressing" Gap – For a number of years the ratio between new and existing home sales was pretty steady. After activity in the housing market peaked in 2005, the ratio changed. This change was caused by distressed sales – in many areas home builders …

The Mess That Greenspan Made: Existing home sales look for a new … – On a year-over-year basis, sales were down 8.6 percent and, what looked to be a bottom in home sales last fall (not to be confused with home prices), may now be giving way to a new lower range of activity. …

25
Feb

Existing Home Sales & Values Drop in January

 

housing marketThe National Association of Realtors said today that sales of existing homes dropped in January to the lowest level in nearly 12 years. Some, did not expect this drop because sales had surged in December, providing some hope that the long-awaited housing market bottom was in sight.

The median sales price in January plunged to $170,300, down 14.8 percent from $199,800 a year earlier. That was the lowest price since March 2003.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for The National Association of Realtors said: "Roughly two in five home sales are 'distress' transactions where the mortgage company must erase some of the original loan amount in order to complete the sale. We are seeing worsening economic conditions – loss of housing wealth and in the stock market… Very low confidence."                San Diego real estate market

Related posts by other bloggers: 

Bubble Meter: January existing home sales decline
- Existing home sales unexpectedly rose in December as rock-bottom prices attracted some buyers in certain distressed markets. That led some analysts to speculate that the housing market was nearing its bottom after months of weak sales …

Interest Rate Roundup: Existing home sales drop 5.3% in January to …
- Existing home sales fell 5.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.49 million from 4.74 million in December. That was much worse than the forecast for a reading of 4.79 million and the lowest level on record. …

The Mess That Greenspan Made: Existing home sales look for a new …
- The National Association of Realtors reported sharply lower sales of existing homes during the month of January with more large price declines driven by distressed sales. A full 45 percent of all existing home sales are said to be …

Long Island Business News » January existing home sales fall by …
- Sales of existing homes unexpectedly plunged in January to the lowest level in nearly 12 years as pessimism about the economy grew and buyers waited for President Barack Obama’s plan to help revive the U.S. housing market

25
Feb

San Diego Home Values Drop 24.8%

The latest Case-Shiller report shows San Diego homes lost 24.8% in 2008. Ihe 20-city index showed that no area experienced year-over-year price gains, the ninth straight month that has happened. 

Below is the Case-Shiller 20 city detail:

Home Prices, by Metro Area

San Diego home values 

(About the numbers: The Case Shiller indices have a base value of 100 in January 2000. So a current index value of 150 translates to a 50% appreciation rate since January 2000 for a typical home located within the metro market.)

Source: Standard & Poor’s and FiservData

 Related posts by other bloggers:

San Diego Real Estate Blog » Blog Archive » 2009 San Diego Median …
- This means if you’re buying a home in these areas it could very well drop in value less than other areas of San Diego County. From January 2008 to January 2009 this was exactly what happened and is a good trend going into 2009 for home …

Foreclosure Sales and Pretend Pricing — The San Diego Home Blog
- Now, the lender pricing method, or as we call it, the pretend pricing method (PPM) is an entirely different and oft-mysterious approach to the whole conundrum of determining what the market value really is for a home. …

Luxury home prices keep falling in California as market continues …
- Meanwhile, San Diego, often cited as a bellwether in the California real estate market, saw luxury homes lose 8.3 percent in value over the past year and 2.2 percent since the third quarter — down to an average of 1.93 million dollars. …