housing market

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Housing Crash Spawns Ghost Subdivisions

Residents live solitary lives in half-built developments

(Newser) - The housing bust has left ghost towns scattered across the nation, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a tour of half-built or largely empty developments, the paper finds residents who moved in early, only to find themselves leading lonely lives surrounded by eerily deserted homes and weed-strewn lots. One woman...

Bush Signs Housing Bill to Provide Mortgage Relief

(Newser) - President Bush today signed the massive housing bill intended to provide mortgage relief for 400,000 struggling homeowners and stabilize financial markets. The measure, signed without the ususal fanfare, is one he earlier threatened to veto. Regarded as the most significant housing legislation in decades, it lets homeowners who cannot...

Home Prices Fall Again; Rate of Decline Sets Record

Consumer confidence numbers offer ray of hope

(Newser) - Home prices continued to nosedive in May, a signal that the housing crisis may be worsening and a red flag for the credit markets and Wall Street, reports the New York Times. Every region covered by the S&P/Case-Schiller home-price index showed a drop compared to May 2007, with the...

Housing, Labor Pummel Stocks
 Housing, Labor Pummel Stocks
MARKETS
Jul 24, 2008 3:29 PM CDT

Housing, Labor Pummel Stocks

Bleak economic reports and some poor earnings make for steady losses

(Newser) - Stocks saw big losses today as bad news on housing and employment soured investors’ hopes of a looming economic turnaround, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow fell 283.10—a 2.43% drop—to close at 11,349.28; the Nasdaq shed 45.77, to 2,280.11; and...

In Switch, Bush Will Sign Bill Overhauling Fannie, Freddie

Measure that would allow feds to insure $300B in mortgages expected soon

(Newser) - President Bush will support a housing package being considered in the Senate, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bush threatened to veto the bill, which includes as much as $300 billion of insurance for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but decided, given market turmoil, that now “is not the time...

FBI Begins Fraud Probe of IndyMac Mortgages

Failed bank may have given improper loans to people with bad credit

(Newser) - The FBI is investigating failed bank IndyMac for possible fraud related to its mortgage-lending business, Bloomberg reports. The agency is looking into whether the bank gave improper loans to people with shaky credit. It is working closely with the FDIC, which seized the bank's assets last week. IndyMac specialized in...

US Smacked by the Invisible Hand
 US Smacked by
 the Invisible Hand 
ANALYSIS
Jul 16, 2008 2:12 PM CDT

US Smacked by the Invisible Hand

Americans are moving away from faith in free market

(Newser) - Are we losing confidence in market mechanisms? Years of unfettered free markets contributed to the current gloomy economic situation, and even the market-championing White House has lurched into government regulation of the financial world, the Los Angeles Times reports. With housing prices falling and oil prices rising, “the message...

Tough Job Market May Last Through Late 2009

'Slow motion' recession will continue to pare jobs

(Newser) - US jobs are eroding and they're unlikely to rebound until late 2009, reports the New York Times. May’s 5.5% unemployment rate is a point higher than a year ago and the 9.7% underemployed rate is up from 8.3% in May 2007, reports the Labor Department—which...

Retirees Scoop Up Bargains in Housing Slump

Sunbelt home prices plunge 25%

(Newser) - Retired Americans who can afford new bargains are enjoying the drop in housing value in once-exorbitant sun havens where prices have plunged as much as 25%. Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas—formerly at the forefront of soaring prices—are now leading the decline, the New York Times reports. Homebuyers who...

Energy Prices Hammer Suburban Housing Market

Reversing trend, buyers look to stay near city center

(Newser) - The soaring cost of energy has started the buck the half-century-old trend of migration to suburbs and exurbs, the New York Times reports. The cost of reaching a far-off home, let alone heating and cooling it, is becoming untenable for many. From Atlanta and Philadelphia to San Francisco and Minneapolis,...

Housing Slump Won't Ease Anytime Soon, Says Study

Tight credit, interest rate worries keep homebuyers on sidelines

(Newser) - Rising mortgage rates and a tenacious slump in sales and home values will continue to depress the worst housing market in decades, reports Reuters. Don't expect potential saviors—new home buyers—to make a dent any time soon, says a Harvard study. With mortgage rates at a 9-month high, credit...

Rise in Renters Wiping Out Gains in Homeownership

Effects of subprime crisis evident as percentage of owners drops

(Newser) - Americans are shifting from being homeowners to renters in rising numbers, the New York Times reports, all but wiping out gains made during the boom. The percentage of homes headed by homeowners dropped from 69.1% to 67.8% this year, which sounds modest, but is, in fact, the biggest...

Stealing Home: Five Signs It's Time to Lowball

Forget the market and climb inside the seller's head

(Newser) - It's not always the economy, stupid. Even in a weak market, buyers should consider a homeowner's situation before hurling a lowball bid, writes Daniel McGinn in Newsweek. One real estate broker offers five sure signs that a seller is ready to deal:
  1. Nobody's home. Sellers who have moved on, or
...

Consumer Mood More Downbeat Than Economy
Consumer Mood More Downbeat Than Economy
ANALYSIS
Jun 18, 2008 3:17 PM CDT

Consumer Mood More Downbeat Than Economy

Pessimism could lead to real recession

(Newser) - The economy, statistically speaking, is sluggish, but hardly Great Depression-like—though American consumers seem to disagree, the Washington Post reports. They're paying more for everything from gasoline to grapefruit, are watching the value of their homes decline and fear their jobs may be disappearing—which, policy-makers worry, could breed behaviors...

TV Home Shows Boom During Bust

'People loved comedies during the Depression, too,' producer says

(Newser) - Home shows are becoming the heavyweights of reality television, even as the housing market continues to plummet, the New York Times reports. HGTV and TLC have million-plus nightly audiences as shows that provide step-by-step guidance to potential homesellers and buyers appeal to viewers weary of past hits that traded on...

New Wave of Foreclosures Expected in '09

ARM holders will see payments soar as their mortgages reset

(Newser) - America’s subprime victims may have grudgingly accepted their fate, but there’s a new class of borrowers primed to suffer, BusinessWeek reports. Homeowners who took out ARMs, or adjustable rate mortgages, will soon face skyrocketing payments as their loans reset. About a million people have the mortgages, but only...

'Evangelist' Renter: Time to Buy
 'Evangelist' Renter: Time to Buy 
ANALYSIS
May 28, 2008 8:32 AM CDT

'Evangelist' Renter: Time to Buy

NYT analyst says buying begins to make sense again

(Newser) - As property prices head back down, a self-proclaimed "evangelist" of renting is trading in the lease for a mortgage. David Leonhardt of the New York Times has been advising people for years not to buy a home and get their money tied up in a housing bubble, but he...

Foreclosure Sales Rebound as Buyers Snap Up Deals

But prices drop drastically as lenders bite the bullet

(Newser) - April generally was not a great month for home sales, the Wall Street Journal reports—except in the areas hardest hit by the subprime crisis as lenders slash prices on foreclosed homes and buyers snap them up. Subprime-riddled Detroit, for example, has seen home sales rise 48% in the past...

Dismal Day Ends Dismal Week
 Dismal Day Ends Dismal Week 
MARKETS
May 23, 2008 3:34 PM CDT

Dismal Day Ends Dismal Week

Housing, oil continue to pummel equities

(Newser) - Stocks fell today, rounding out a gloomy week as the familiar themes of housing malaise and energy costs manifested in widespread big losses, MarketWatch reports. The Dow fell 145.99 to close at 12,479.63, the Nasdaq lost 19.91, settling at 2,444.67, and the S&P...

Oil Surges; Markets Record Weekly Gains

Consumer confidence hits 28-year low

(Newser) - Stocks fell, then climbed back almost to opening levels today to wrap up a generally strong week. Yet another record oil price—almost $128 a barrel—drove early losses, and a report of the lowest consumer-confidence rating in 28 years did not help. The Dow closed down 5.86 at...

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