Housing Blogs

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Peter Viles at the L.A. Times provides some excerpts from an analyst report: Analyst sees ‘ghost town’ in Inland Empire "At several properties, there were a significant number of fully built homes sitting vacant along with a large number of additional homes still under construction," Sandler O’Neill & Partners analyst Aaron Deer wrote today after touring developments in Corona and Ontario. "At…
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From the LA Times Money & Co: Regulators to Schumer on IndyMac: Please shut up

From a letter to Schumer today, John M. Reich, director of the Office of Thrift Supervision wrote: "Dissemination of incomplete or erroneous information can erode public confidence, mislead depositors and investors, and cause unintended consequences, including depositor runs and panic stock trades. Rumors and…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com

If you were reading the previous post, you know that I was helping out a reader with some advice about his home in Arizona and what to do. Tonight I’ll take on the opportunity of what to do with the funds he has available. My next article will tackle when to buy.
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Original Source: www.socalbubble.com

News item from Bloomberg News: "New foreclosures almost quadrupled in Los Angeles and doubled in Miami in the second quarter, with as much as $5 billion worth of loans going bad in L.A. alone, the on- line real estate data company P…
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S&P Leveraged Commentary & Data released today: Harrah’s joins 8 toggle issuers electing PIK; cash-pays buckle (link for those with access).

S&P reports Harrah’s Entertainment announced today that it will be paying the $1.4 billion in senior PIK toggle bonds with additional debt instead of cash. According to S&P, this is the 9th toggle bond, totaling $4.1 billion in debt, electing the PIK option…
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Rock-bottom home prices have finally begun to lure vulture real estate investors into the fray.
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Hope Now, the mortgage industry alliance of lenders, servicers and housing counselors, reported Wednesday that it helped roughly 170,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure in the month of May.
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The next wave of foreclosures is expected to gather strength when the million or so option ARMs start resetting in large numbers next spring. But it seems that many of these loans, which allow borrowers to make minimum payments that don’t even cover the accrued interest, are already going delinquent.

Strange, right? The loans were generally given to folks with good credit, most of whom are still only making minimum payments.

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From the DJC:A recently renovated condominium complex in Salem has been converted back to apartments after disappointing sales.The Spanish-style units at 2401 N.E.Wayside Terrace were being marketed as condos after the rundown 39-unit property was renovated. Strict loan approval guidelines enforced after the subprime loan crisis meant that potential buyers had trouble getting approved for loans to buy the condos….
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From the Oregonian:The stubborn real estate slump has forced Trinity Carpet Brokers, a major regional supplier of carpet and flooring, into bankruptcy. The Milwaukie-based company filed a Chapter 11 reorganization in late June.Barry Caplan, a Portland bankruptcy lawyer working for Trinity, said the company’s ability to borrow money was restricted by the failure of two large customers to keep current on their bills….
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From the WSJ: Businesses Take Less Office Space Nationwide For the second quarter in a row, businesses vacated more office space than they took nationwide, a phenomenon known as negative absorption. The national vacancy rate edged up to 13%, from 12.8% last quarter.
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The worst-hit areas of the country in terms of office space are those whose local economies are reeling from the housing-bubble…
Original Source: feeds.feedburner.com

The credit crunch is killing off home equity withdrawal. During the first three months of this year, home owners pulled out just 2 percent of personal disposible income through personal loans secured on their homes. Back in 2003, homeowners were pulling out close to 9 percent. …
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DOW off 20.8% from the peak of Oct 9, 2007.

S&P 500 off 19.4% from the peak of Oct 9, 2007.

Nasdaq off 21.3% from the peak of Oct 30, 2007.

I think investors realize that the 2nd half recovery has been cancelled, and that the economic problems will linger for "some time" (In Fed Governor’s Mishkin’s words)….
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Taking a long weekend. Need to gear up for “incoming” (no battle worn, tattered and shot up Old Glory pun intended) family and friends for the annual Clambake Lobsterfest at Chez Miller.

Best wishes to everyone on this holiday.

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Original Source: matrix.millersamuel.com

Problem Child - AC/DC
Do you get the impression from the behavior of speculators and HELOC abusers that it isn’t their problem? I do. Today’s featured property was bought in 2005, the equity was quickly extracted right up to the peak, and now that prices are dropping, the speculator is simply walking away. It isn’t his problem anymore, it is the problem of Residential Mortgage and Investment, Inc. or whatever CDO the loan was packaged into.
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This afternoon I was invited to appear on Bloomberg Television’s In Focus program to recap the results of the 2Q 08 Manhattan Market Overview I author for Prudential Douglas Elliman.

H…
Original Source: matrix.millersamuel.com

And you know what usually happens when I go incommunicado… Oh, crap.I’ll be in Russia for a bit, anyone have any Moscow advice chime in. Gonna go try to figure out how THAT city of all cities became the most expensive one in the world. …
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A financial analyst fresh from a tour of construction sites in the Inland Empire is warning Wall Street of a "ghost town" where finished homes sit vacant and additional homes are still under construction. 
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Hope Now, the mortgage industry alliance of lenders, servicers and housing counselors, reported Wednesday that it helped roughly 170,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure in the month of May.
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