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Started by S Goldstein; Last updated Feb 29, 08 6:23 AM CST by D Lim | View history

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Housing Market

Navigating today's real estate market is a tricky task for buyers, sellers and those whittling away at that 30-year mortgage; steer yourself in the right direction with these relevant articles

Stories

Stories 21 - 40 of 191

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July 2008
- Feds Mull Possible Bailout for Freddie and Fannie
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 10, 08 9:49 AM CDT
  
  With the shares of mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plummeting to their lowest points in more than 15 years, the Bush administration is weighing what to do in the event of a collapse, reports the Wall Street Journal. No rescue plan is imminent—both companies are expected to be able to raise needed capital—but as home values continue to decline and more homeowners default, Treasury officials are studying contingency plans. More »
- June Foreclosures Jump 53%
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jul 10, 08 7:19 AM CDT
  
  The number of homeowners stung by the rout in the US housing market jumped last month as foreclosure filings grew by 53% over June a year ago, according to data released today. One in every 501 US households was hit with a foreclosure filing last month. More »
- Housing Industry Funnels Cash to Lawmakers
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jul 5, 08 7:16 AM CDT
  
  The housing industry has given more campaign cash to lawmakers and political parties this election cycle than it gave through the entire 2006 cycle, the Wall Street Journal reports, as an emergency housing bill containing favorable provisions for the industry has been working its way through Congress. Cash has flowed to legislators who control the bill, including Senate Banking Committee members and those on the House Financial Services Committee. More »
June 2008
- Retirees Scoop Up Bargains in Housing Slump
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 27, 08 2:05 AM CDT
  
  Retired Americans who can afford new bargains are enjoying the drop in housing value in once-exorbitant sun havens where prices have plunged as much as 25%. Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas—formerly at the forefront of soaring prices—are now leading the decline, the New York Times reports. Homebuyers who waited to purchase took a risk because prices could have surged, but were rewarded with more than $100,000 in savings. More »
- Illinois to Sue Countrywide, CEO Over Foreclosure Fiasco
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jun 25, 08 8:57 AM CDT
  
  The state of Illinois will sue Countrywide and its CEO today for "unfair and deceptive practices" in the first suit related to the current mortgage crisis. The company is accused of pushing loans on homeowners even if they couldn't repay them, the Wall Street Journal reports. Illinois' attorney general blamed Countrywide's actions for widespread foreclosures. More »
- Energy Prices Hammer Suburban Housing Market
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 25, 08 8:17 AM CDT
  
  The soaring cost of energy has started the buck the half-century-old trend of migration to suburbs and exurbs, the New York Times reports. The cost of reaching a far-off home, let alone heating and cooling it, is becoming untenable for many. From Atlanta and Philadelphia to San Francisco and Minneapolis, prices of homes outside the urban core have fallen faster than those downtown. More »
- Huge Homeowner Aid Bill Nears Approval
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 25, 08 4:54 AM CDT
  
  With 8,000 foreclosures daily and looming elections, Congress is close to approving the most sweeping changes to mortgage financing since the New Deal, reports the New York Times. The pricey aid bill aimed at helping hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure has bipartisan support, despite the threat of a presidential veto. More »
- Home Prices Take Steepest Tumble Since 2000
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jun 24, 08 10:42 AM CDT
  
  US home prices tumbled in April at the fastest rate since the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index started keeping track in 2000, with all 20 metropolitan areas surveyed posting annual declines for the first time. The index fell by 15.3% in April versus a year ago, according to today's report. Prices nationwide are at levels not seen since August 2004. More »
- Housing Slump Won't Ease Anytime Soon, Says Study
  
  newser | Reuters | Jun 23, 08 7:48 AM CDT
  
  Rising mortgage rates and a tenacious slump in sales and home values will continue to depress the worst housing market in decades, reports Reuters. Don't expect potential saviors—new home buyers—to make a dent any time soon, says a Harvard study. With mortgage rates at a 9-month high, credit tight, and foreclosures on the rise, they will likely wait until the market hits bottom, and it appears to have a ways to go. More »
- Rise in Renters Wiping Out Gains in Homeownership
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 21, 08 7:29 AM CDT
  
  Americans are shifting from being homeowners to renters in rising numbers, the New York Times reports, all but wiping out gains made during the boom. The percentage of homes headed by homeowners dropped from 69.1% to 67.8% this year, which sounds modest, but is, in fact, the biggest decline in 20 years. President Bush's ambitious "ownership society" plan hoped to see more low-income and minority families own their own homes, but these groups have been hardest hit by the subprime crisis. More »
- Stealing Home: Five Signs It's Time to Lowball
  
  newser | Newsweek | Jun 20, 08 1:18 PM CDT
  
  It's not always the economy, stupid. Even in a weak market, buyers should consider a homeowner's situation before hurling a lowball bid, writes Daniel McGinn in Newsweek . One real estate broker offers five sure signs that a seller is ready to deal: Nobody's home. Sellers who have moved on, or will soon, probably want to unload the property fast. More »
- Banks Play Hide-and-Seek With Bum Loans
  
  newser | Wall Street Journal | Jun 19, 08 10:19 AM CDT
  
  Banks are increasingly finding creative ways to lessen the impact of shaky loans on their bottom lines, shifting them to subsidiaries or changing their definition of non-performing, the Wall Street Journal reports—a legal, if not exactly confidence-inducing, strategy. "Spending all the time gaming the system rather than addressing the problems doesn't reflect well on the institutions," one analyst said. More »
- Creditors Fed Off Equity Boom, Creating 'Double Bubble'
  
  newser | USA Today | Jun 18, 08 3:55 PM CDT
  
  As home values boomed, banks raised credit limits and extended offers for new cards, urging consumers to pay off the debt by drawing on their equity, USA Today reports. Many of those borrowers now face high interest rates on homes tapped of equity and hemorrhaging value—and the boom in foreclosures has been accompanied by a 6-year high in credit-card delinquencies. More »
- GOP Hesitates on Call for Mortgage Probe
  
  newser | Politico | Jun 17, 08 5:11 PM CDT
  
  GOP lawmakers are leery of investigating mortgage deals Countrywide may have arranged for members of Congress, even though a fellow Republican is leading the charge, Politico reports. More Democratic ties to the troubled lender would give the GOP ammo in a cycle seemingly stacked against it—but the people who must pull the trigger are apprehensive about “opening Pandora’s box,” said one aide. More »
- Countrywide Scandal Extends to Senate
  
  newser | Portfolio | Jun 13, 08 12:45 PM CDT
  
  Countrywide Financial made sweetheart deals for lawmakers and other high-profile pols who received mortgages from the disgraced lender, a Portfolio exposé reveals. The deals, which appear to violate both company rules and federal law, benefited "Friends of Angelo"—as in CEO Angelo Mozilo—including at least two US senators, Clinton and Bush Cabinet members, and an ex-UN ambassador. More »
- Foreclosures Surge 48% in May
  
  newser | Associated Press | Jun 13, 08 9:35 AM CDT
  
  The number of US homeowners swept up in the housing crisis rose further last month, with foreclosure filings up 48% over a year earlier. Nationwide, 261,255 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in May, up 7% from April and the second straight monthly record. That's one in every 483 US households, the highest number since the foreclosure listing company started the report in 2005. More »
- TV Home Shows Boom During Bust
  
  newser | New York Times | Jun 12, 08 9:20 AM CDT
  
  Home shows are becoming the heavyweights of reality television, even as the housing market continues to plummet, the New York Times reports. HGTV and TLC have million-plus nightly audiences as shows that provide step-by-step guidance to potential homesellers and buyers appeal to viewers weary of past hits that traded on big bucks through real-estate speculation. More »
- Spitzer Moves On to Dad's Real Estate Firm
  
  newser | New York Sun | Jun 10, 08 4:41 PM CDT
  
  Having laid low for two months after exiting in disgrace from the New York governorship, Eliot Spitzer is back in business. He’s recently been shopping a plan to start a vulture fund that would flip distressed real estate assets, the New York Sun reports. Spitzer gathered labor union officials in his dad's Manhattan real estate office, presenting a decidedly more nonchalant view of his indiscretions than he did in his farewell speech. More »
- America's Top 10 Cities
  
  newser | Kiplinger | Jun 8, 08 2:11 PM CDT
  
  The best cities are those where you can not only find work and affordable housing, but are also infused with culture and creativity, Kiplinger's Personal Finance writes. Its (somewhat surprising) top 10: Houston: Flush with museums, nightlife, and a teeming job market. More »
- New Wave of Foreclosures Expected in '09
  
  newser | BusinessWeek | Jun 7, 08 10:44 AM CDT
  
  America’s subprime victims may have grudgingly accepted their fate, but there’s a new class of borrowers primed to suffer, BusinessWeek reports. Homeowners who took out ARMs, or adjustable rate mortgages, will soon face skyrocketing payments as their loans reset. About a million people have the mortgages, but only a small number have already fallen due. “It's a ticking time bomb inside your house that you can't get rid of,” one insider said. More »

Stories 21 - 40 of 191

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A house for sale is seen in Somerville, Mass., Tuesday, April 24, 2007. Sales of existing homes plunged in March by the largest amount in nearly two decades, reflecting bad weather and increasing problems... (Associated Press)

Real estate sale signs sit in front of a home in Montpelier, Vt., Tuesday, July 24, 2007. Sales of existing homes fell for a fourth straight month in June and even a small increase in home prices was... (Associated Press)

Real estate sings mounted on homes are shown in Philadelphia, Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. First-time homebuyers and people with poor credit would have greater access to federally insured mortgages under... (Associated Press)

Jose Flores, who calls himself a "Mexican hillbilly," sits in his real estate office in Dodge City, Kan., April 3, 2007. When he arrived in 1987, the only Mexican-owned business in town was a secondhand... (Associated Press)

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Subprime Collapse • Is It Recession? • Credit Market Chaos • Fannie & Freddie • So You Like Lists? • Congress • The Markets • Ben Bernanke • Bush 43 • Henry Paulson

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