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Recession Spreading from Housing to Starbucks, Eye Surgeries and Restaurant Meals by Nouriel Roubini - snips:While the housing figures are getting worse and worse (literally plunging new home sales, falling existing home sales, falling housing starts and permits) the effects of this housing recession and the ensuing financial crisis on the real economy are now in full swing…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/nychousingbubble

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 23:51

Otteau April Newsletter & Weekend Open Discussion Part II

From the Otteau Group:
ECONOMY & CREDIT CRISIS SPOILING SPRING HOUSING MARKET
New Jersey home sales in March ran well below last year’s pace despite an increase above the February level. In March, contract-sales activity ran 27% below one year ago despite a 9% increase from February. The clear signal is that the housing market has further to fall.
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Original Source: njrereport.com

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 22:36

Big Downtown Land Deal Evaporates

Almost a year ago, a family that has accumulated ownership of 13 near-contiguous acres of downtown real estate in the Denny Triangle finally put the whole lot of it on the market.
M…
Original Source: seattlebubble.com

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 22:34

Why Haven’t Existing Home Sales Fallen Further?

The first graph compares New Home sales vs. Existing Home sales since January 1994. Click on graph for larger image. …
Original Source: bp1.blogger.com/_pMscxxELHEg/SBJPucncve

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 22:25

California builders aren’t building

Home production in California is grinding to a halt. The number of single-family home permits dropped 61% to 8,189 during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2007, according to an A…
Original Source: www.businessweek.com

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 21:32

Tip

Tiptoe Through The Tulips — Tim Tiny
Isn’t that the most annoying song you have ever heard? Can you fathom a reason why someone would write and record it? In the same way, can you imagine why someone would buy this old condo backing on the 5 for $699,000? Some things you look back on and go, WTF?
Actually, this does illustrate the mindset of the bubble rather well. Any property is a good property when prices are going up. Quality doesn’t matter because the property’s desirability comes from increasing prices, not from the characteristics of the property itself. This guy bought the tip; he purchased on the high tick of the market action. There was nowhere to go but down….
Original Source

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 20:30

The coming tidal wave: Bank sees 6.5 million foreclosures

The investment bank Credit Suisse is now predicting that 6.5 million American homowners — that’s one out of every eight that has a mortgage — will end up in foreclosure over the next five years.
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Original Source

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 20:21

The Real Estate Gold Rush Is Clearly Over

The Rocky Mountain News reports from Colorado. “The slump in the new-home sales market in the Denver area continues. Experts predict that new-home sales will drop another 10 percent this year, on top of a 31 percent drop in 2007. And with fewer consumers taking out loans because of stricter underwriting standards, lack of confidence in the economy and no sense of urgency, hard times are at hand for formerly highly compensated mortgage brokers.”
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Original Source: thehousingbubbleblog.com

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 19:58

Photo of the Day: She’s real fine, my $4.09

I didn’t go looking for expensive gas this morning, it found me, on Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica. What does it have to do with housing and the economy? Not much if you live in Manhattan and take the subway to work. A lot of you live in southern California and drive everywhere.
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Original Source

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 19:23

When $100,000 makes you Go Broke: The Invisible Hand Forces Americans Into Debt.

Many people reading this blog from states with moderate housing prices have a very hard time understanding how a family earning $100,000 a year is having a challenging time staying in the middle class ranks. The idea of a six-figure income certainly doesn’t connote the same wealthy status as it did a decade ago. But where is all the money going then? Now that we are quickly approaching the great W…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/DrHousingBubble-HowILearnedToLoveSocal

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 19:10

Stagflation - we are getting there

First quarter GDP data is just out, and the the UK economy is definitely winding down. On an annualized basis, the economy grew by around 1.6 percent, which is the slowest rate in about 3 years.Where is the drag coming from - the financial services sector, which are now rapidly slowing. The days of 5 percent growth are over the banks and building societies. No housing bubble means now growth….
Original Source: bp0.blogger.com

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 19:02

Stiglitz: "One of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression"

From CNBC: Nobel Winner Stiglitz: US Facing Long Recession (hat tip squeezed)The U.S. economy is already in recession — and may echo the 1930s, Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz said Friday….”This is going to be one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression,” said Stiglitz. See video at CNBC: “Roubini is not far off.”
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Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/CalculatedRisk

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 18:54

Genworth: Hoocoodanode?

Here is another comment from Genworth Conference Call (hat tip Scott): Question Eric Berg, Lehman Brothers: Is there anything that sort of stands out in this whole experience - whatever inning we are in here - whether it’s what’s happening in California or the extent of the decline in Florida, the willingness of certain high fico score borrowers to walk away….
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/CalculatedRisk

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 17:05

Your Back Yard Could Be "Seed" Of Valuable Asset

Posted By:Diana OlickIt makes a whole lot of sense. When food prices soar, seed sales begin to grow. Harold Stone is hearing it from a whole new crop of gardeners at a Washington, DC community garden that he runs. “Food is just becoming astronomical and they really want to get an edge on that and be able to create some of their own food.” …
Original Source: media.cnbc.com

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 16:39

Cherry Pickers, Scavengers, Hyenas And Bottom Feeders

The Sun News reports from South Carolina. “Grand Strand real estate sales continued seeing some of the steepest decreases in the state in March, according to an S.C. Association of Realtors report. All areas of the state saw declines compared with March 2007. On the Grand Strand, there was a 33.3 percent drop in sales. The only areas with bigger decreases were the Southern Midlands, with a 44.07 percent drop, and the Charleston area, with a 33.86 percent drop.”
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Original Source: thehousingbubbleblog.com

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 16:16

Getting bagged

The state labor department found that two supermarkets in Brooklyn and Queens were shortchanging their baggers.
A Fine Fair Supermarket in Brooklyn has agreed to pay back more than $96,000 in back pay and a C-Town Supermarket in Queens has been issued violations for not paying more than $329,000 to its baggers, according to a labor department statement.
Labor investigators found that during a period of six years, Fine Fair and C-Town Supermarket employed baggers but did not pay them any wages. Instead, the baggers worked for tips only.
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Original Source: spacedoutli.wordpress.com

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 16:10

Genworth Financial Conference Call Comments

Here are a few comments from the Genworth conference call.First, look at the significant change in their outlook for house prices and unemployment: “First, U.S. housing market conditions have worsened and liquidity remains constrained. At year-end, we shared the view with many in the market that the magnitude of the house price declines from the peak in Q4 2005 would be 13% to 15%. Based on what we have seen to date, w…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/CalculatedRisk

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 16:10

Consumer Sentiment Falls to 26 Year Low

From Bloomberg: U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index Fell More Than Forecast U.S. consumer confidence fell … to its lowest level in 26 years, a sign record gasoline prices and rising unemployment will prompt Americans to curb spending. The Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment decreased to 62.6, the weakest since 1982, from 69.5 the prior month….
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/CalculatedRisk

25 April, 2008| housingblogs | Comments (0) @ 15:19

3 Little REALTORS® Jumping Off Horizon Court

REALTOR® Javier earned his salesperson license in 2001. As he rode the boom up, he developed a keen nose for value and bargain. In the summer of ‘06, he spotted a must buy in San Elijo Hills and he snatched it up before anyone else can get their grubby little hands on his prize….
Original Source