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Real Estate News

Economy

New Home Sales Up; New Home Sales Down: A Real Estate Economy In Flux Makes Trends Hard To Define

by Charles Feldman | August 27, 2008

35.3 percent. By any measure, a staggering number. It is by how much new home sales have dropped from July 2007.
But we are in one of those wierd times when figures seemingly contradict one another and “trends” are hard to keep up with.
For example, while it is true that new home sales are down more [...]

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Mortgages & Lending

Warren Buffet Says The “Game Is Over” for Fannie and Freddie

by Rob K. Blake | August 23, 2008

Warren Buffet, the oracle from Omaha, said today in a CNBC interview the “game is over” for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He stated the not-so-obvious fact that the two GSEs both have a zero net worth which means stock and bond holders are holding an empty bag.
Hank Paulson’s recent law gives him the [...]

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Commentary

Housing Rescue Bailout and the Future of Lending

by Tom Koziol | July 31, 2008

This must be a bad week for my state of mind. Nothing, including the new housing rescue bill, has been positive regarding the housing scenario. In fact, two of our local banks were even caught up in the debacle and were FDICized.
It seems these banks had to be taken over with Mutual of Omaha as [...]

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Housing

Another One Bites the Dust: Wachovia Shuts Mortgage Unit

by Joshua Dorkin | July 22, 2008

The Associated Press is reporting today that Wachovia Bank, the nation’s fourth largest bank in terms of assets, will be shutting down it’s mortgage lending division.
“Wachovia Corp. lost $8.86 billion in the second quarter, and said Tuesday it was slashing its dividend and cutting 6,350 jobs after losses tied to mortgages soared.” In addition, [...]

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Real Estate News

Falling, Falling, Falling: Citigroup Head Predicts Two Year Slide

by Charles Feldman | July 19, 2008

Two more years of falling house prices? Could it be? Well, the chairman of Citigroup thinks so and he’s made that prediction in an interview Saturday with the BBC.

Win Bischoff, whose name certainly doesn’t match his bank’s performance, says he thinks prices will continue to go down, down, down–both in the U.S. and Britain–for another [...]

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Economy

A Storm Cloud Named Bernanke: The Real Estate Skies Have Just Darkened

by Charles Feldman | July 16, 2008

There he sat, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, telling lawmakers in Washington what most of the rest of us have known or at least guessed at long ago.
It was as if a dark storm cloud churned by wind and ignited by electricity had somehow broke into the room and sat down on [...]

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Economy

FEDS BAIL OUT FANNIE AND FREDDIE; EMERGENCY MEASURES TAKEN

by Charles Feldman | July 13, 2008

In a clear sign the federal government is far more concerned about the financial health of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than its public comments indicated as late as Friday, the U.S. government Sunday night announced what some are calling a “massive aid” package to the two shareholder owned and run companies [...]

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Credit

BREAKING: IndyMac Bank is Shut Down and Taken Over by Feds

by Joshua Dorkin | July 11, 2008

INDYMAC IS OFFICALLY CLOSED!!!
In the past minutes newswires around the country and world are now reporting that the Federal Government has shut down IndyMac Bank and has handed it to the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) as conservator.
Couple the shut down with the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac troubles, and we’re in for some really rocky waters [...]

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Housing

Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac: What Will The Feds Do?

by Charles Feldman | July 11, 2008

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, combined, own or back up some $5 trillion dollars of debt. That is about half of ALL the mortgages in the U.S. They have already lost some $11 BILLION since the current mortgage/credit crisis began, so it is easy to see why there is profound concern about their fiscal health–or [...]

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Foreclosures

Feds Come Out Of Coma; Say Mortgage Crisis Worse Than They Thought

by Charles Feldman | July 9, 2008

It’s like one of those TV shows where after an entire season in which everything goes wrong for the star, he finally awakes to find it was all just a bad dream–everything was just fine!
Only, in this case, what we have are government officials who have been saying repeatedly that the economy is not as [...]

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Commentary

Real Estate’s Perfect Storm – Are you ready?

by Rob Powell | July 6, 2008

“BOOM!  Here comes the BOOM….ready or not!” – from the song Boom by P.O.D.
Greetings from the Metropolis of Cedar Crest, New Mexico!
With a torn achillies tendon, I hobbled my way into the gym and turned up my Ipod.  The song Boom by P.O.D. (one of the best workout songs there is) came on and I [...]

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Economy

The Underbelly of the Failing Real Estate Economy

by Tom Koziol | June 27, 2008

I don’t want to come across as a crepe hanger but it seems to me those of us who are in the foreclosure trenches have at least a semblance of a handle on the what Mr. and Mrs. America are actually facing. Even if you aren’t in the foreclosure trenches you know the number one [...]

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Foreclosures

The Senate & The Housing Rescue Plan: Christmas in July?

by Charles Feldman | June 25, 2008

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas—in July–for distressed homeowners. IF–if–a rescue plan just voted on in the Senate by a vote of 83-9 can avoid a Bush veto and be restructured to please the White House, the Congress, the lenders and, oh yes, the homeowners! Experts making educated guesses think all that is [...]

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Real Estate Deals

Sign of the Times: Buy One Home Get One Free

by Joshua Dorkin | June 3, 2008

Deal of the Century?
I guess home builders have decided enough is enough. In a sign of the times, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that Michael Crews Development out of San Diego is offering a buy-one-get-one free deal on homes that they have developed in Escondido.
The company came up with this idea as a [...]

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Economy

Good News, Bad News: Home Prices Fall Off A Cliff; Big AntiTrust Case May Help Home Buyers

by Charles Feldman | May 28, 2008

Good news, bad news time for real estate and the general economy this week.
The bad is, I am afraid, very bad, indeed.
Prices for single-family homes took a nose dive in the first quarter of 2008…down an enormous 14.1 percent from the year before.
Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller report, according to Reuters, says this is at “a [...]

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