Housing Blogs

The Oregonian is reporting this morning on a JPMorgan Chase memo titled “Zippy Cheats & Tricks”. The Oregonian obtained a copy of the memo, and the memo apparently offers tips on how to get loans through Chase’s in-house automated loan underwriting system:The document recommends three “handy steps” to loan approval: Do not break out a borrower’s compensation by income, commissions, bonus and tips, as is typically done in a loan application. Instead, lump all compensation as the applicant’s base income. …
Original Source

Mortgage rates were mixed this week as the index of leading indicators fell for the fifth straight month, home prices continued their decline and consumer confidence reached a 5-year low, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.
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Original Source: money.cnn.com

Posted By:Diana OlickI have to give a shout-out to Ray Schmitz, an associate broker at Coldwell Banker Previews International in New York City. A week ago last Monday, when several employees of Bear Stearns were leaving the building with cartons and plants, Schmitz was standing outside the building, handing out his business card.    …
Original Source: media.cnbc.com

From the Oregonian:Portland’s slowing real estate market pushed investors to turn a third downtown tower from for-sale condos to rental apartments, a California investor announced Wednesday.JB Matteson Inc. has purchased a 24-story, 185-unit tower from Portland Center Investors, a group that included Portland developer Homer Williams. …
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The Orlando Sentinel reports from Florida. “She misses her grandchildren, who live in Winter Park, but Ann Ortstadt had to move away. She couldn’t afford Central Florida. The grandmother of two now lives in Atlanta, which ranked second in population growth last year, according to today’s U.S. census report. ‘Although prices in Central Florida have come down a lot, it is still very expensive compared to the rest of the country, especially when you add in taxes and the cost of insurance,’ said Dan O’Hara, a Maitland real-estate agent and mortgage broker with 24 years of experience.”
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Original Source: thehousingbubbleblog.com

A friend forwarded me a copy of a report "The Bell Curve of Doom?  - The Case - Shiller Price Index."  I thought the following paragraph from this report did a great job of putting price declines in perspective:

According to the Case-Shiller Composite 20 (metro areas) index, the price of an existing home peaked in July 2006. From the July 2006 peak through January 2008, the price of a representative home has fallen 12.5%. To put this in perspective, if someone had purchased an existing home in July 2006 for $1 million with a downpayment of $125 thousand (12.5% of the purchase price), that someone’s equity in the house as of January 2008 would be approximately zero. Unless there was a radical reversal in the direction of home price changes in February, that July 2006 home purchaser was upside down – i.e., had negative equity in his or her home. The Case-Shiller home price index represents a bell curve of doom for recent home purchasers and home lenders….
Original Source: housingdoom.com

From homebuilder Lennar’s press release: Stuart Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lennar Corporation, said, “Market conditions have remained challenged and continued to deteriorate throughout our first quarter of 2008. The housing industry continues to be impacted by an unfavorable supply and demand relationship, which restricts the volume of new home sales and, concurrently, depresses home prices in most markets across the country.”…
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This morning we have Vikas Bajaj in the NYT reporting on second-lien lenders refusing to go quietly:Americans owe a staggering $1.1 trillion on home equity loans — and banks are increasingly worried they may not get some of that money back. To get it, many lenders are taking the extraordinary step of preventing some people from selling their homes or refinancing their mortgages unless they pay off all or part of their home equity loans first. In the past, when home prices were not falling, lenders did not resort to these measures.U…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/CalculatedRisk

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Original Source: www.mortgagenewsdaily.com

More people moved to Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas than to any other metropolitan area in the United States last year.
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Original Source: money.cnn.com

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.
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Original Source: thehousingbubbleblog.com

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When you run with the big dogs, you have to lift your leg high. Today’s property is a big house for throwing big parties attended by people with big names. This is a property for those who live a big life and spend money big time. When you live here, you don’t have to keep up with the Jones’s, you have to pass them — they have to keep up with you. It is a big church where you pray to the big God of financial consumerism. If you aren’t a big player, a person of distinction and importance, you can’t live here. This is the big time…
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Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/IrvineHousingBlog

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Original Source: www.mortgagenewsdaily.com

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Original Source: www.mortgagenewsdaily.com

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Original Source: www.mortgagenewsdaily.com

Congratulations to Mary J. Blige on her skillfully executed Saddle River Lowball!

Original List Price: $17,000,000
Last List Price: $13,900,000
Sale Price: $12,300,000
(28% under original list price!)
From the Daily News:
M…
Original Source: njrereport.com

445 Johnston Court, Watchung NJ
Purchase Price: $915,000
Purchased: 4/26/2006
Current Asking Price: $749,900 (Short Sale)
18% under 2006 purchase price
History
MLS# 2468806
Listed: 12/20/2007
Original List Price: $749,900
Days on Market: 98
Active
S…
Original Source: njrereport.com

9 Little Tarn Court, Hardyston/Hamburg NJ
Purchase Price: $850,000
Purchased: 3/3/2006
Current Asking Price: $698,800 (Short Sale)
18% under 2006 purchase price
History
MLS# 2270030
Listed: 4/24/2006
Original List Price: $935,000
Reduced: $885,000
Days on Market: 338
Withdrawn
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Original Source: njrereport.com

From Bloomberg:
U.S. Economy Probably Expanded at Slower Pace in Fourth Quarter
The deepening housing slump brought U.S. growth to a near standstill in the fourth quarter and has now probably tipped the world’s biggest economy into a recession, economists said ahead of a government report today.
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Original Source: njrereport.com

As you all know the Federal Reserve is supposed to be independent.Yeah, right.Ben Bernanke’s head is so far up Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson’s ass (oops, I mean US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s ass) that they might as well be the same person. …
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