housing market

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July Home Sales Plummet 27.2%
 July Home Sales 
 Plummet 27.2% 


LOWEST LEVEL SINCE '95
Aug 24, 2010 9:20 AM CDT

July Home Sales Plummet 27.2%

Largest drop since records began in 1968

(Newser) - Sales of previously occupied US homes fell to the lowest level in 15 years last month as the economy weakened. The National Association of Realtors says July's sales fell by more than 27% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million. It is the largest monthly drop noted...

Your House Isn't Going to Appreciate Like Mad

Those days are done, say economists

(Newser) - In the good old days, a house was generally synonymous with "cash cow," a rapidly appreciating investment that all but guaranteed a comfortable retirement and paid for college tuition and vacations along the way. Those days of quick appreciation are gone, say economists, and have been replaced by...

Tax Credits Gone, New Home Sales Plunge 33%

May numbers are lowest since 1963

(Newser) - Sales of new homes collapsed last month, sinking 33% to the lowest level on record as potential buyers stopped shopping for homes once they could no longer get government incentives. The Commerce Department says new home sales fell in May from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales...

Troubled Homeowners Try New Policy: Just Don't Pay

With 438 days before the average eviction, why bother?

(Newser) - Some homeowners in foreclosure are done with trying to wrangle loan modification from the banks. They've adopted a different policy: evict me if you dare. With more than 1.7 million households in foreclosure, it can take a long time for the courts to actually eject homeowners. Last year, the...

New Home Sales Take Huge Leap
 New Home Sales 
 Take Huge Leap 

Apr 23, 2010 10:08 AM CDT

New Home Sales Take Huge Leap

Crucial metric scores biggest jump in 47 years

(Newser) - Sales of new homes surged 27% last month, bouncing off the previous month's record low and blowing past expectations as better weather and government incentives boosted sales. In all, new home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 411,000 in March, the biggest monthly jump in 47...

Goldman Sachs Investor Made Billions on Housing Mess

Paulson not charged in SEC's takedown

(Newser) - As the housing market imploded, John Paulson laughed all the way to the bank, pocketing billions on his correct prediction of impending doom. But when the SEC charged Goldman Sachs yesterday with defrauding investors by not disclosing Paulson's bets against the mortgage-backed securities Goldman was peddling, one name was noticeably...

Foreclosures Hit New High as Banks Clean House

One in every 138 homes taken

(Newser) - A record number of US homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign that banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report. RealtyTrac said today that the number of homes...

After 5 Quarters of Decline, Rent Just Went Up

Stabilizing prices might signal ravaged sector has found bottom

(Newser) - Rents crept up nationally in the first quarter, notching a 0.3% increase that ended five straight quarters of decline in a sector that's been particularly battered by the recession. The vacancy rate—closely linked to unemployment—held steady at 8%, while 60 of the 79 markets surveyed reported higher...

NPR's New Pet: A Toxic Asset
 NPR's New Pet: A Toxic Asset 
'WATCH IT DIE'
Mar 12, 2010 5:54 PM CST

NPR's New Pet: A Toxic Asset

Reporters buy a window into the financial crisis

(Newser) - Despite being widely blamed for the financial crisis, the bundled mortgage bonds commonly known as "toxic" assets still exist, and trading is beginning to recover. In hopes of getting a new perspective on the financial crisis, NPR's Planet Money decided to buy a toxic asset. After some searching—the...

Obama Weighs Foreclosure Ban

Proposal would require HAMP to review all delinquent mortgage loans

(Newser) - The Obama administration is considering kicking up the fight against foreclosures by banning any that haven't been reviewed by its Home Affordable Modification program. The move would prevent lenders from initiating foreclosure unless HAMP had screened the loan and found it unsalvageable. it would also require them to halt existing...

New Home Sales Plummet 11.2%, Erase All '09 Gains

Drop surprises analysts, wipes out recent gains

(Newser) - New home sales took a stunning plunge in January, dropping 11.2% to a new record low, wiping out all the gains the housing market had made over the past year. The figure blindsided analysts, who had expected a 3.8% increase, according to a Wall Street Journal poll. The...

Millions Considering Walking Away From Mortgages

10% of mortgages expected to be underwater by June

(Newser) - The long slide in property values has left huge numbers of homeowners considering just walking away from their mortgages. People start thinking about jumping ship when their home value falls below 75% of what they paid for it, according to new research. Over 5 million Americans are expected to be...

Now's the Time to Buy a New Home
 Now's the Time to 
 Buy a New Home 
analysis
Dec 29, 2009 5:35 PM CST

Now's the Time to Buy a New Home

Prices and mortgage rates are down—a 'winning combination'

(Newser) - Today's new stats on housing prices yield one shakable fact amid tons of useless information: If you’re in the market for a house, this could be your moment. “Homes are now cheap,” writes Brett Arends. The combination of a 30% drop in home prices since 2005 and...

Home Sales Jump 7.4%
 Home Sales Jump 7.4% 
Dec 22, 2009 9:14 AM CST

Home Sales Jump 7.4%

November figures up a record 44% from 2008

(Newser) - Home resales surged to the highest level in nearly three years, reflecting an extraordinary level of federal support that has pulled the housing market back from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. The National Association of Realtors says sales rose 7.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of...

Mortgage Defaults Top 1M, Keep Rising

Even those with lowered payments are defaulting

(Newser) - The number of troubled home loans continued to rise in the third quarter, despite the Obama camp's efforts to stem the tide by mortgage modification. For the first quarter ever, the number of homes in foreclosure with mortgages serviced by US banks topped the 1 million mark, the Los Angeles ...

House-Flippers Target Foreclosure Sales

Big profits loom as lenders offload homes at auction

(Newser) - House-flipping is making a comeback as investors seek fast profits from foreclosure auctions. Lenders are overwhelmed with property, especially in foreclosure hotspots like California, Nevada, and Arizona, and their haste to sell off their huge supplies of homes can mean big flip profits for investors with knowledge of local markets,...

Chinese Weddings Fuel Real Estate Boom

Newlyweds help boost property prices by 80%

(Newser) - The biggest wedding boom in history is helping power China's economic growth and may push its housing market into dangerously overinflated territory. Children of China's baby boomers are coming of age in the tens of millions, and as coddled only-children who did not inherit their parents' thrift, are throwing lavish...

1 in 4 Homeowners Underwater
 1 in 4 Homeowners Underwater 
Nov 24, 2009 6:34 AM CST

1 in 4 Homeowners Underwater

Swell of those owing more than home value a risk to market

(Newser) - Nearly 1 in every 4 homeowners owes more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, a serious obstacle to any kind of housing recovery. According to a report from First American CoreLogic, a real estate information company, nearly 10.7 million households are “underwater,” with 5.3...

FHA Helps High-End Buyers
 FHA Helps High-End Buyers  
Nov 20, 2009 5:34 AM CST

FHA Helps High-End Buyers

Raised guarantee limit may be tough to roll back

(Newser) - When the government last year doubled the amount the FHA will guarantee on a home loan, to more than $700,000, it moved the agency into uncharted territory: backing loans for the middle-class and the wealthy, too. It also moved the FHA, designed to help low-income buyers who can't raise...

Dow Ends Shaky Day Up 76
 Dow Ends Shaky Day Up 76 
MARKETS
Nov 2, 2009 3:09 PM CST

Dow Ends Shaky Day Up 76

Markets continue 7th day of wild variations

(Newser) - Stocks seesawed today as good economic data on industry and the housing sector drove big early gains, which then fell victim to selloffs in the financial sector, the Wall Street Journal reports.
  • The Dow climbed 76.71 points to close at 9,789.44.
  • Nasdaq tacked on 4.09 to
...

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