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- Sales Tax Collections Decline in Most States
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From the Rockefeller Institute of Government: Sales Tax Collections Decline in Most States, Rockefeller Institute Survey Finds State sales tax revenues delivered the weakest performance in six years during the first quarter of 2008, while growth in overall state tax revenues continued to deteriorate, according to preliminary data in a new report by the Rockefeller Institute of Government. …
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/CalculatedRisk
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 23:33
- The News Is Bad, Unless You’re A Buyer
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The Union Tribune reports from California. “Dragged down by declines in hiring and home-building, San Diego County’s economic outlook continued to plummet in March…marking the 23rd time in 24 months that the index has fallen, according to an index of leading economic indicators released yesterday by the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego. The indicators suggest continued weakness through the rest of 2008, with flat or declining employment, said USD economist Alan Gin, who compiles the index.”
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Original Source: thehousingbubbleblog.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 23:32
- The News Is Bad, Unless You’re A Buyer
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The Union Tribune reports from California. “Dragged down by declines in hiring and home-building, San Diego County’s economic outlook continued to plummet in March…marking the 23rd time in 24 months that the index has fallen, according to an index of leading economic indicators released yesterday by the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego. The indicators suggest continued weakness through the rest of 2008, with flat or declining employment, said USD economist Alan Gin, who compiles the index.”
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Original Source: thehousingbubbleblog.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 23:32
- “The coast is not clear”
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From the WSJ:
HOUSE TALK
Another Full Year Of Housing Pain?
By JUNE FLETCHER
May 1, 2008 3:55 p.m.
Don’t look for the housing market to improve until the daffodils bloom next spring.
For home sellers, the continuing pain means that that homes likely won’t sell unless they are well-kept, priced below the competition and are marketed aggressively. Adding incentives like seller financing or lease-options can help bring in buyers who are having trouble getting conventional financing.
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Original Source: njrereport.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 22:42
- Tony Baloney Files For Bankruptcy
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Tony Marnella, or as we here at The Portland Housing Blog call him Tony Baloney, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.I told you nobody wants to buy your homes but you insisted that they were a great value. Apparently Portland buyers agreed with me.For more about the realtor/developer you can see our prior conversation. Here are my favorites:…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/portlandhousingblogspot
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 22:15
- Celebrity foreclosure: Jose Canseco loses Encino home
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You can’t make this stuff up: "Former U.S. baseball star Jose Canseco (pictured) said on Thursday he had lost his California mansion to foreclosure — …
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 22:07
- Fighting your property tax bill, without the fight
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Life gets more complicated every day, we’re all too busy, no one has time. That’s why this post will be short.
Because of falling housing prices, just about everybody in America believes they’re paying too much in property taxes. But fighting city hall takes time and effort, which we don’t have.
Enter companies like Tax Appeal Express: "Home values have fallen drastically in the past three years. As a result, many of you are over assessed which means you are PAYING TOO MUCH in property taxes. Tax Appeal Express is in the business of reducing your assessed value, lowering your property taxes, and in many cases getting a refund from the County Assessor’s Office."
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Original Source
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 21:57
- Auto Sales Sharply Lower in April
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From the WSJ: Detroit Auto Makers Post Sharply Lower April Sales GM, hobbled by a strike at a major axle supplier, posted a 16% sales drop while Ford sales slid 12%. Chrysler reported a 23% decline. Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp. … managed to snap a fourth-month streak of weaker sales and post a 3.4% rise. Another ugly month …
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Original Source
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 21:33
- Dems fend off mortgage bill challenges
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A bill meant to help homeowners caught up in the spreading mortgage crisis received committee approval Thursday after Democrats fended off numerous Republican challenges to the bill.
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Original Source: money.cnn.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 20:50
- Short
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Short People — Randy Newman
Short sellers got no reason to hope. They got little houses, little pets, they go round borrowing great big debts. They got little kitchens, little stoves, granite counters; they are selling in droves. Don’t want no short sales, don’t want no short sales round here.
Today’s featured property is a typical 100% financing deal gone bad. There are two types of distressed properties that have caused the 20%+ declines we have seen in the last year: 100% financing deals and HELOC abusers. We have profiled many of each type. They have set the stage for the next wave of foreclosures when all the ARMs begin to explode. We haven’t begun to see the fallout from that problem yet….
Original Source
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 20:30
- Buy Now, or Wait it Out?
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Now that prices are undeniably dropping in Seattle, a common refrain from real estate salespeople is that “you can’t time the bottom,” or “you can’t predict the future,” implying that you should go ahead and just buy now, because we’re probably at or near the bottom already, and if you wait you’ll be sorry.
This is an interesting line of reasoning, but while it is true that no one can know with certainty what the future holds, blindly making a gut decision based on our lack of knowledge would be foolish. Instead, we can and should consider the different possibilities and base our decision on a rational analysis of what we d…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com/SeattleBubble
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 20:29
- Centex: Cancellation Rate Falls
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On cancellation rates: “Our cancellation rate continues to fall at 29%, it’s the lowest in over a year.”It makes sense that cancellation rates are now falling. It takes about 6 months to build a new home, so anyone who bought after the August credit crisis was probably aware of the tighter lending standards and falling house prices, and made their plans accordingly. Still some buyers have probably been unable to sell their existing homes, and the cancellation rate remains high by historical standards. …
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 19:54
- Girls gone building
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The walls for a new home in Bellport will be raised by an all-women construction crew Friday.
The Donegan Avenue home being built for a single mom and her 11-year-old daughter is a project of the Suffolk Habitat for Humanity Women Build program sponsored by Lowe’s hardware chain. The program allows women to learn construction skills and then use those skills to be part of the housing solution.
Lowe’s provided a $30,000 grant to sponsor the home, which should be completed by winter. Women who work for Lowe’s on Long Island will make up part of the volunteer construction crew. The Roslyn Savings Foundation and Women Build volunteers are providing additional financial support.
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Original Source: spacedoutli.wordpress.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 19:21
- DOT gets smart
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The number one man in the state Department of Transportation’s Long Island region said he will work towards better cooperation with local communities on traffic calming and other smart growth issues.
A couple of elected officials and a handful of people from Long Island civic groups took part in a square-table discussion on smart growth with officials from the DOT and the Department of Environmental Conservation at Republic Airport last week, where DOT Regional Director Subi Chakraborti made the pledge.
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Original Source: spacedoutli.wordpress.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 19:21
- The Goal Of Home Ownership Has Turned Out Disastrous
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Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. AP, “Homebuilder Centex Corp. reported a loss of $911 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, as sales tumbled 37 percent and the company wrote down the value of unsold homes. To revive sales, Centex cut its average selling price 15 percent. The average selling price of a Centex house fell to $267,953 from $315,157 a year ago. Still, home closings declined in every region of the country. CEO Timothy Eller called this ‘the most difficult housing market in decades’ and said the outlook remained weak.”
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Original Source: thehousingbubbleblog.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 19:18
- Home Improvement Investment
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The BEA released the supplemental tables to the GDP report this morning. One of the interesting details is real spending on home improvement.Almost exactly one year ago, I wrote that home improvement investment was holding up pretty well (see What Home Improvement Investment Slump?) - and I didn’t expect that to continue….
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 18:53
- Then and Now: Home of the Week, May 1938
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Fun item from my colleague Larry Harnisch, who writes the very cool historical crime blog T…
Original Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 18:49
- Builders Facing Facts: No Congressional Bail-Out
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Posted By:Diana OlickYesterday I wrote about the rather uncomfortable situation of hundreds of home builders on Capitol Hill, asking lawmakers for help, after their association had brashly cut off Congressional contributions. …
Original Source: media.cnbc.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 17:39
- Home Depot Closing Stores
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Original Source: www.mortgagenewsdaily.com
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 17:17
- HOP Is Not A Plan
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I think the British term “scheme” might apply, however.And what, you ask, is HOP? It is the brainchild of the only Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation you happen to have, that’s what. Formally, it is the Home Ownership Preservation Loan: This proposal is designed to result in no cost to the government:* Borrowers must repay their restructured mortgage and the HOP loan.*…
Original Source
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1 May, 2008| housingblogs |
Comments (0) @ 16:55