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NEWS ABOUT: housing crisis

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Federal Mortgage Plan Not Helping the Neediest: Critics

Only 2K in danger of foreclosure have been able to take advantage, stats show

(Newser) - A plan to federally subsidize the refinancing of troubled mortgages has in fact helped relatively few of the most at-risk borrowers, the New York Times reports. Though Bush administration officials said FHA Secure has benefited 150,000, federal statistics show that only 1,729 of those mortgages were delinquent. “... More »

First Tax Rebates Go Out Monday

Paulson happy to be ahead of schedule

(Newser) - Treasury is putting its rebate money where its mouth is—ahead of schedule, Reuters reports, with the first wave of checks going out Monday. “We're a little bit ahead of schedule, so we will start right on Monday with direct deposits," Henry Paulson tells Reuters. The Treasury secretary... More »

New-Home Sales Hit Lowest Level Since '91

8.5% drop much worse than expected; supply hits 27-year high

(Newser) - New-home sales fell yet again in March, the Wall Street Journal reports, with single-family sales off 8.5% to an annual rate of 526,000, the lowest level since 1991. Analysts had expected a drop of only 1.9%. The median price, meanwhile, plummeted 13.3%, to $227,600. With... More »

March Home Sales, Prices Fall

Buyers can't get loans, or are awaiting bigger price drops

(Newser) - Prices on existing homes fell in March, but buyers stayed away, either unable to get loans, or betting on yet bigger drops, Bloomberg reports. Sales dropped 2%, to an annual rate of 4.93 million, as the median price fell to $200,700 from $217,400 last year. The number... More »

Bush Tabs 'Problem Solver' to Head HUD

New secretary must face the housing market's troubles

(Newser) - With the housing market in turmoil, President Bush is turning to an investment banker-turned-bureaucrat to head HUD, the Washington Post reports. Steven Preston, 47, has run the Small Business Administration since 2006 after a stint at Lehman Brothers; he succeeds Alphonso Jackson, who announced his resignation 2 weeks ago amid... More »

March Foreclosures Up 57% Over Last Year; Worst Coming

February gains evaporate

(Newser) - Bank repossessions skyrocketed 129% over the 12-month period ending in March, and foreclosure filings rose 57% over the previous year, RealtyTrac announced today. March foreclosure notices rose 5%, after a 4% decline in February. All this “is ongoing fallout from people overextending themselves and using highly toxic loan products,... More »

Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill

Wins approval by wide margin, but House, Bush opposition leave fate uncertain

(Newser) - The Senate approved a $15 billion measure to address the housing slump today, including $6 billion in total tax breaks to homebuilding firms and a $7,000 tax credit for buyers of foreclosed homes. Though it passed by an 84-12 margin, opposition from President Bush and the House could yet... More »

Frank is Dems' Unlikely Lead Economy Dog

Mass. rep huddles with Paulson, Bernanke on housing measure

(Newser) - Democratic Rep. Barney Frank has become an unlikely power player in Washington’s “new economic trio” with Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson, writes David Rogers in Politico. His pet plan—a “humongous housing deal” to steady an ailing market—might be a tough sell to the White House,... More »

Mortgage Crisis Spreads Across the Atlantic

UK housing prices plunge; chancellor acts to shore up market

(Newser) - UK home prices tumbled 2.5% in February—the largest fall since the 1990s—as the International Monetary Fund warned that Britain could face a housing crisis similar to the US. British PM Gordon Brown insisted yesterday the decline was containable, but the Bank of England is now under serious... More »

Slump Stings Vegas McMansion Owners

Curious aspect of swelling home inventories: unsold palaces

(Newser) - The housing crisis has caused the number of homes for sale across the country to grow, but in Las Vegas, brokers are dealing with an unusual aspect of swelling inventory—an excess of $1 million-plus listings. Although they're luxury properties with pools and excesses of polished marble, those constructed more... More »

House Could Be Dead Giveaway

69-year-old seller will make home's buyer beneficiary of $500K insurance policy

(Newser) - If Bob Fanning dies in the next decade, the buyer of his Wisconsin home—listed at $498,900—will get a half-million dollar payday. That’s because the 69-year-old plans to make the new owner the beneficiary of a 10-year life-insurance policy, a carrot he hopes will sweeten the deal... More »

Lenders Turning Blind Eye to Overdue Payments

Overwhelmed banks taking much longer to foreclose on homes

(Newser) - With foreclosures skyrocketing, overwhelmed mortgage lenders are turning a blind eye to homeowners who haven’t paid up, letting them live in their houses despite delinquency, Bloomberg reports. The 3.6% of borrowers at least 90 days behind is almost twice the percentage foreclosed upon. Lenders’ delays are skewing foreclosure... More »

Hillary's 3am Ads Ring Again; McCain Answers

Now pre-dawn spots raise alarm over the economy

(Newser) - The very-late-night caller is back and this time he's raising concerns about the economy. Hillary Clinton has recycled her now-famous TV ad featuring a phone ringing at 3am to hit John McCain—and McCain was quick to strike back with one of his own, USA Today reports. The ads question... More »

Unsold Homes Handcuffing Job-Seekers

Housing crisis crimps mobility, prevents workers from moving

(Newser) - The housing crisis that’s kept many from selling their homes has, in turn, warped the job market, the New York Times reports. Those who can’t sell their houses can’t relocate to seek work. Usually, more than 5 million workers move per year. But now, tens of thousands... More »

Critics: Senate Plan Not Enough

Housing legislation doesn't do enough to help homeowners, they say

(Newser) - The Senate’s first major step toward trying to make sense of the US mortgage mess is a needed salve to businesses caught in the chaos, but it doesn’t go far enough to help homeowners, critics say. Lawmakers contend the plan is a start toward addressing a multitude of... More »

Senators Cut Tentative Deal on Housing

Package includes tax credits, $4B in grants, $100M for homeowner counseling

(Newser) - The Senate today struck a deal on a package of legislation intended to soften the impact of the foreclosure crisis, the New York Times reports. The bipartisan measures include $4 billion to help local governments buy foreclosed properties and $100 million for homeowner counseling. Harry Reid called the tentative deal,... More »

Real Estate Slump Strikes Manhattan

Average apartment price soars to record; big picture grim

(Newser) - Manhattan real estate prices hit record highs in the first quarter of 2008, but sales declined, showing that the housing crunch is starting to affect the island, Bloomberg reports. The average price of a Manhattan apartment was $1.7 million, up 33.5% from last year, the New York Times ... More »

Steal the Pipes, Ditch the House

As metal prices soar and housing prices dives, thieves find value in copper

(Newser) - Rising metal prices have rendered some foreclosed homes worth less than their plumbing, and thieves are stripping the vacant abodes of copper, aluminum, and brass to fuel a lucrative overseas trade. Several states have hardened penalties for metal theft, but skyrocketing nonferrous metals prices have thieves risking steel cages for... More »

Lawmakers Go Bipartisan on Housing

It wasn't April Fool's Day, it was 2 weeks with voters that did it

(Newser) - Lawmakers are suddenly coming together on housing, with Republicans supporting a bill they left for dead two weeks ago, and Democrats cooling the political rhetoric for a change. The difference: those two weeks were spent back home with constituents, Politico notes. “Unless every member of the Senate was in... More »

'Tinker Bell Market' Fallout Wallops Taxpayers

Built on the fairy dust of borrowed money, Wall Street was doomed to fall

(Newser) - Although he doesn't foresee long-term catastrophe, Allan Sloan of Fortune sounds an alarm in today's Washington Post, saying he's "more nervous about the world financial system now than I've ever been in my 40 years of covering business and markets." He dissects "the collapse of a Tinker... More »

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