http://www.dailyreckoning.com/Issues/20 ... 30406.html
Where Have All the Buyers Gone?
Could it be? Is the real estate bubble edging closer to its pin?
This past Tuesday, Toll Brothers, the U.S.'s largest builder of luxury homes, reported a 29 percent decline in their first quarter, that ended January 31. At year-end of 2005, there were 2.8 million houses and condos on the market - up 26 percent from the year before. And Goldman Sachs Chief U.S. economist tells us that existing home inventories, adjusted for seasonal variations, have climbed 38 percent since April - the largest eight-month increase on record.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_ ... mortgages/
Foreclosures increase on high-risk mortgages - Boston.com
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --More Rhode Islanders losing their homes as the number of foreclosures on high-risk mortgages increases.Mortgage companies give people with less-than-perfect credit subprime loans that carry higher-than-average interest rates.
Rhode Island has the largest portion of subprime loans in the nation. More than one in four mortgages issued to Rhode Islanders in 2003 carried terms that are considered subprime.
Now, more of those mortgages are ending in foreclosure, according to LoanPerformance, a San Francisco firm that analyzes mortgage data. The foreclosure rate on subprime loans jumped 0.41 percent in the third-quarter last year -- the largest increase in the nation.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pi ... tl1w3WyheI
Bloomberg.com: Bloomberg Columnists
Fortunately, the art of property pricing is becoming more consumer-friendly as the deflating home market grabs headlines. Sales of previously owned homes fell 2.8 percent in January -- the fifth monthly decline in a row and the slowest pace in two years -- according to the Chicago-based National Association of Realtors. New-home sales dropped 5 percent in the same month, the U.S. Commerce Department reported.
Another sign of a slowdown is that more than a half-million new homes are sitting unsold, staying on the market about five months, the longest time in a decade, according to the Realtors' group. Builders are increasingly offering incentives such as free kitchen upgrades and swimming pools in some markets, although they are finding fewer takers as mortgage rates rise.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlein ... OUSING.XML
US mortgage bonds face risk if house prices fall-BIS | Reuters.com
FRANKFURT, March 5 (Reuters) - The expansion of new types of home loans in the United States means mortgage bond holders may be exposed to bigger than expected losses if the housing market cools, Bank of International Settlements staff research said.
An article published in the latest BIS quarterly review said the boom in private mortgage lending and the extension of loans to households with less than perfect credit histories had exposed investors to higher risks.
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/re05_article1.html
Are Real Estate Prices Ready to Fall?
The 13 Riskiest Housing Markets
If your hometown is on this list, the value of your house may be in jeopardy.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060306/ap_ ... g_slowdown
Housing Slowdown Ripples Through Economy - Yahoo! News
DALLAS - The five-year housing boom is indeed over, judging from growing statistical evidence and the performance of some of the nation's leading builders, and the slowdown is already rippling through the economy.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... HJT1H1.DTL
Minority populations leaving large cities / Other metropolitan areas more diversified
Minority populations shifted dramatically within the United States between 1990 and 2004 as Latinos and Asians moved away from large metropolitan areas and African Americans moved to the South, according to a study to be released today.
http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20060307_discounts.htm
Realty Times - Real Estate News and Advice
There's little doubt that 2005 was a banner year for new home construction. According to the National Association of Home Builders, single-family home sales reached a record 1.282 million units last year, up 6.6 percent from the record set in 2004.
But if the full-page ads in my local paper are to be believed, new home demand has begun to flag. The issue is not how many units will be sold, rather it's the way they'll be priced. Recent ads have offered new home discounts ranging from $70,000 to as much as $100,000.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/03 ... 3_7_06.txt
Unsold home inventory builds North County Times - North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County News - NCTimes.com - Californian.com
NORTH COUNTY ---- In one of the strongest signs yet that the housing market is cooling, San Diego County's inventory of unsold existing homes is fast approaching 16,000 ---- twice the total one year ago and five times the number in March 2004, a local real estate agent said Tuesday.
http://www.startribune.com/535/story/284247.html
Seller contingencies return
Some sales agents say that as the housing market cools, the number of home-sale contingencies is rising.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/r ... 87,00.html
Rocky Mountain News: Real Estate
Home-sale prices in the Denver area took a larger than expected drop in February, prompting some experts to wonder if the upper-end housing market is starting to cool.
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/site/app ... ct=2039913
Housing - Voice of San Diego
In the last few years, as those condo conversions have flooded onto the market in University City, however, prices have stagnated there, leading some Realtors and home owners to worry about the future of their neighborhood's real estate prices.
Sherry Sangan is a Realtor with Prudential California Realty who lives and lists in University City. She said the past couple of years have been tough for sellers in all but the best University City condo projects.
"I have buyers who bought two years ago over in Lucera (a condo conversion project) that are getting less right now to sell it than they paid, and that doesn't include our commissions," said Sangan.
"They're getting killed," she added.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/stocks/ ... &cm_ite=NA
Downgrade Hits Homebuilders
Homebuilding stocks came under pressure Wednesday after one analyst cut his earnings forecast for the group for 2006 and 2007, citing order drops and other negative housing fundamentals that he says not even the spring selling season can save.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/S ... e&keyword=
Don't expect the consumer to keep this market going - MarketWatch
U.S. household debt reached a record high $11.4 trillion. The increase in debt was the highest in 21 years. And U.S. households spent 13.75% of disposable income on servicing their debt -- another record high. Credit card delinquencies are at their third-highest level ever. Also, the savings rate of the consumer fell to its lowest since the Depression in 1933.
Unfortunately, the consumer can no longer rely on escalating real estate prices to financially bail them out. Due to soaring property prices, consumers have utilized mortgage refinancing, home equity loans and profits from home sales for their spending. Based on a study by the mortgage company, Freddie Mac, $205 billion was taken from home values in 2005. The number compares to $142 billion in the previous year. A huge jump of over 44%. The money from home values alone was worth as much as 8% of total consumer spending.
Record home prices won't provide monetary support to the consumer anymore. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan stated that the borrowing against these homes contributed $700 billion to consumers' spending power in 2004. Think of the ramifications to the economy if the consumer reduces expenditures in a significant way.
The various indicators point to a slower real estate market. The housing inventory has shot up by nearly 36%. This backlog will hurt future sales. The chief economist of Fannie Mae, David Benson, believes housing activity will decline 8% in the current year. While the National Association of Home Builders predict home starts should decrease by 6%. We suspect the news could be worse. It's our contention that a hard landing is in the cards. Not a soft one.
http://realestate.msn.com/buying/Articl ... tid=338165
Buying a House - MSN Real Estate
Risky borrowing is catching up with a number of homeowners across the U.S. Foreclosures rose 45% in January compared to a year ago, and experts only expect the pace to accelerate.
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