Posted on 01/23/2013 7:44:34 AM PST by whitedog57
U.S. home prices climbed 5.6 percent in the 12 months through November as buyers competed for a dwindling inventory of properties, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Prices rose 0.6 percent from October on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Could it be, at last, the The Fed’s massive quantitative easing is FINALLY bear some economic fruit for the housing market?
Let’s take a look at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) mortgage application indices that were released this morning. On a non seasonally adjusted basis, mortgage purchase applications rose 8.57%. Mortgage refinancing applications rose 7.73% from the preceding week.
Despite this promising increase in mortgage purchase applications for the first couple of weeks of January, they remain in the “Valley of Sin” at levels from back in 1997 when the Clinton Administration’s “National Homehomeownership Strategy” was beginning to kick in. nhsdream2 I call it the “Valley of Sin” because this is the aftermath of disastrous Federal housing policy and we must pay for the “Sins of the Father” (or rather politicians’ folly).
We are back to sustainable levels of existing home sales and mortgage purchase applications from just before the housing bubble.
Unless we see a sudden swing from the current trend of renting back to home ownership, the “bubble” may simply be cash purchases of distressed housing and/or purchase of housing as an investment (e.g, individuals and hedge funds).
Or the Chinese! The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said that more than $7 billion of properties had been bought by Chinese in the US last year. Some high-end homes are now specifically built for rich Chinese with ponds for koi carp and a second kitchen for pungent cooking.
I agree with Dave Stevens, ex-FHA commissioner and current Mortgage Bankers Association president that the tidal wave of regulations from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) may strangle any true housing recovery.
You are seeing the impact of government tightening of debt where government agencies and enterprises control 90%+ of the mortgage finance market. Americans are relegated to renting while hedge funds while Chinese nationals, hedge funds and corporations purchase American homes. Well, we knew the Chinese would want something for that $1+ trillion in debt we owe them.
Say, I hope this isn’t the “new” National Homeownership Strategy from HUD. Aka, rent.
Here is a quote of me in the Washington Post today on New York’s mortgage fiasco with foreclosures.
Yea, rising applications mean squat, its the completion of those applications that aren’t getting done.
How can they be claiming a “declining inventory” after the massive bubble in construction five years ago, many of which were foreclosed on?
Meanwhile, my sister in Seattle has not made a mortgage payment in four years now. Yet they still have not foreclosed, though they threatened that they absolutely, positivley were going to last spring.
She is not alone.
How can they be claiming a “declining inventory” after the massive bubble in construction five years ago, many of which were foreclosed on?
The banks are still reticent to foreclose on a $500,000 mortgage on a house that is currently worth $275,000.
Could be that many of the foreclosed properties are not on the market yet. I have a friend that went through a busted marriage and the house was left to go back to the bank. I personally helped him move all his possession out of the house over two years ago, the wife was gone before that. The bank had issued the order to vacate which he did. I finally saw the property listed along with all the other sheriff sales in the paper last week. So in this case for whatever reason the bank chose to sit on this property for over two years.
Millions of these people suddenly have great, long term, secure, good paying jobs, with excellent benefits and fantastic credit histories.
Don't worry yankee, we give you time off to fill out that mortgage application for your new home..haha...You make big money...you buy more poonjab doggie yum yum tainted treats to celebrate...make you proud...hahah...
I’ve been seeing a lot of those stories over the years.
The author is either misinformed fool or a statistically-armed liar.
5.6% is an astounding number. It is tickling my BS meter. This number has just got to be skewed by a variable that is not obvious.
LOL!
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