http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/housingbubble/ en-us Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:36:57 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408077/posts Regular readers may recall that I have occasionally declared the Claremont Review of Books (subscribe here) to be my favorite magazine. The Fall issue is in the mail and the Claremont folks have once again let me select two pieces from the new issue to preview. First up is James Keller's "Is Deregulation to Blame?" In the review Keller evaluates two new books on cause of the financial crisis. Taking issue with Judge Richard Posner'sA Failure of Capitalism, Keller asserts that the financial crisis wasn't caused by financial deregulation. The solution to the crisis is therefore not more regulation. The... Powerline http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408077/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:36:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406722/posts In an interview with Bloomberg Friday morning Bob Toll, CEO of Toll Brothers, says the housing market is “coming back”. He sees the pressures in real estate alleviating as consumers rebound and government programs help boost up the market. Toll says we’re on the verge of a “serious good time”: I don’t see prices going down any longer. I think you’re gonna see them start to go up. As they accelerate we’ll get closer to a serious good time again, but we’re not there yet. Despite this, the Toll Brothers CEO has dumped hundreds of millions in stock and company... Seeking Alpha http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406722/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:00:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395056/posts New Geography, the online magazine created by Joel Kotkin and others with a special focus on demographics and trends, has been tracking the implosion of California in an interesting way: by comparing it to Texas. Texas and California are America’s two most populous states, together numbering approximately 55 million people, which is only about 6 million less than the United Kingdom, where I live. California, as everyone knows, has a coolness factor that Texas cannot match. Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and wine. Say no more. But, unless one has been living in a cave, everyone knows that the cool state is... The American http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395056/posts#comment Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:20:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390567/posts ... In its efforts to prop up a shattered housing market, the government is greatly extending its traditional support of real estate, including guaranteeing the mortgages of middle-class and even upper-class buyers against default. In 2007, the government did not insure a single mortgage in [San Francisco], one of the most expensive in the country. Buyers here, as well as in Manhattan, Santa Monica and every other wealthy area, were presumed to be able to handle the steep prices and correspondingly hefty down payments on their own. Now the government is guaranteeing an average of six mortgages a week here.... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2390567/posts#comment Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:54:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2386243/posts "HE SEEMS TO SPEND 10 MINUTES writing his columns," observes Columbia Business School Professor Charles Calomiris, "and he makes up his facts as he goes along." The object of the professor's low opinion is [NYT] columnist Paul Krugman. Three years ago, I published a book called Econospinning, with several chapters devoted to Krugman's gaffes. I guess that prompted the Nobel committee to give him the prize, thereby magnifying his enormous influence. So perhaps a brief update on Krugmania is in order. No, his coverage isn't always misleading or misinformed. But let's say an expert in science were to tell me... Barron's http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2386243/posts#comment Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:08:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383737/posts America’s mainstream religious denominations used to teach the faithful that they would be rewarded in the afterlife. But over the past generation, a different strain of Christian faith has proliferated—one that promises to make believers rich in the here and now. Known as the prosperity gospel, and claiming tens of millions of adherents, it fosters risk-taking and intense material optimism. It pumped air into the housing bubble. And one year into the worst downturn since the Depression, it’s still going strong. ... America’s churches always reflect shifts in the broader culture, and Casa del Padre is no exception. The message... The Atlantic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383737/posts#comment Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:17:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380031/posts Home prices are on the rise across Asia Fears about the battered real estate market give way to bubble concerns By Kevin Brown Friday, November 6, 2009 SINGAPORE -- Residential property prices are rising across much of Asia, prompting fears of a real estate bubble. Apartments are selling for staggering prices, and central banks and finance ministries have begun to rein in property-related stimulus measures. It seems like only yesterday that prices were falling. Now fears are rising once again that property investors could be in for a hard landing, destroying personal wealth and delaying the economic recovery. In Hong... WP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380031/posts#comment Fri, 6 Nov 2009 16:23:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378466/posts Here it comes, more artificial support for the housing market. You can't blame people for speculating on houses when they know the government will come in and try to save them. So here we are again, warping market expectations and sowing the seeds for the next housing bubble with an extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credits. NYT: The Senate might pass its version as early as Wednesday, and aides to Congressional leaders say the House could accept it this week, sending the bill to President Obama to sign into law. After weeks of partisan delay in the Senate,... The Business Insider http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2378466/posts#comment Wed, 4 Nov 2009 18:06:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2175234/posts In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Coporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders. The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets -- including the New York metropolitan region -- will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring. [And they did] Fannie Mae,... The New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2175234/posts#comment Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:36:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373150/posts Just about everyone has become familiar with America’s foreclosure capitals – metropolitan areas like Las Vegas with the nation’s highest rate of foreclosed properties (1 in 20) or No. 2 Merced, Calif., (1 in 27). But the problem is expanding to new cities. In fact, as the subprime-mortgage crisis eases for some of the top metro areas, like Merced and No. 3 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., economic pressures are creating new foreclosure capitals. One of them, Reno-Sparks, Nev., broke into the Top 10 foreclosure metros in the third quarter, according to a RealtyTrac report released Thursday. And others are gaining... Christian Science Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373150/posts#comment Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:45:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2371751/posts Without question, Tejada's loan is toxic--to her and to the taxpayers who are backing the loan.... In case you're not in tune with exactly where housing prices are set to keep plunging like an overworked plumber for the next several years, it's... drumroll please... California. And if (or, to be more accurate, when) she gets sick, or loses a job, or gets into an auto accident, or simply can't sell her house for what she needs to sell it for, you get to help cover the losses! Aren't you excited? The Melting Pot Project http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2371751/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:19:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2359816/posts William White predicted the approaching financial crisis years before 2007's subprime meltdown. But central bankers preferred to listen to his great rival Alan Greenspan instead, with devastating consequences for the global economy. William White had a pretty clear idea of what he wanted to do with his life after shedding his pinstriped suit and entering retirement. White, a Canadian, worked for various central banks for 39 years, most recently serving as chief economist for the central bank for all central bankers, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Then, after 15 years in the world's most secretive... Der Spiegel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2359816/posts#comment Sun, 11 Oct 2009 03:18:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2352261/posts Amherst Sees 7m Foreclosures Poised to Distress House Prices By DIANA GOLOBAY September 24, 2009 10:34 AM CST Advertisements Recent analysis by the Amherst Securities Group indicates the housing industry will not only worsen as a delayed pipeline of foreclosed loans begins to liquidate, but that the Administration’s Making Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) will have no lasting effect on keeping delinquent loans current. The early signs of stabilization seen among housing industry observers may soon recede as an overhang of the shadow inventory of foreclosures waits to enter the market. The general outlook that the housing market has bottomed... Housing Wire http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2352261/posts#comment Thu, 1 Oct 2009 05:45:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2339949/posts Today the President went to Wall Street where he laid out his vision of the countries economic future First, we're proposing new rules to protect consumers and a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to enforce those rules. This crisis was not just the result of decisions made by the mightiest of financial firms. It was also the result of decisions made by ordinary Americans to open credit cards and take on mortgages. And while there were many who took out loans they knew they couldn't afford, there were also millions of Americans who signed contracts they didn't fully understand offered... IBD/Media Circus/The Lid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2339949/posts#comment Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:48:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2335466/posts Only 12 percent of U.S. homeowners eligible for loan modifications under the Obama administration's housing rescue plan have had their mortgages reworked, and millions more foreclosures are coming, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday. A Treasury report showed 360,165 people had their monthly payments reduced through August, up from 235,247 through July, but a senior Treasury official conceded much more must be done to soften the impact of a severe and prolonged housing crisis. ABCNews/Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2335466/posts#comment Wed, 9 Sep 2009 15:47:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2334992/posts Whatever faults the Republican Party has had, the basic problem has been that many Republican politicians forgot what they were supposed to stand for once they gained office. The program of the Democratic Party, however, is entirely based on lies and deceptions. Most of the time they are afraid to let voters know what they really stand for. Right now they are trying hard to pass a "public option" disguised as something else so voters won't realize what they are doing. It is against this backdrop that concerned Americans not forget the origins of the housing and financial crisis that... From Sea to Shining Sea http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2334992/posts#comment Tue, 8 Sep 2009 23:55:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2317049/posts Democratic Party senators, Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad were "caught" receiving Sub-Prime "VIP" Loans from lender Countrywide Inc. The Loans were at favorable interest rates. Despite the fact that the lender has testified that both men knew that they were getting a sweetheart deal, Senator Dodd claims he didn't know he was getting favorable rates. This revelation came from Robert Feinberg, the official who handled their loans in testimony to congress. According to the Washington Post:Dodd got two Countrywide mortgages in 2003, refinancing his home in Connecticut and another residence in Washington. Conrad's two Countrywide mortgages in 2004 were for... WSJ/The Lid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2317049/posts#comment Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:49:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2301465/posts It's 3 p.m. on a recent weekday, and Andy Brantley, 24, and Eli Montague, 23, are relaxing on blue, oversized couches, watching “SportsCenter” on a 40-inch, flat-panel TV. Montague's SUV is one of the only cars left on Idlewood Circle, a quiet, tree-lined street between Park Road and Freedom Park. Most of the neighbors are at work. Brantley will have to leave in a couple of hours for his part-time job as a busboy at a nearby bar. Montague – who interns for the Panthers – plans to spend the afternoon playing Xbox 360 at the $375,000 house the roommates... The Charlotte Observer http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2301465/posts#comment Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:37:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2296845/posts Who’s to blame for the subprime housing bubble? A popular answer – especially on the right side of the aisle - is Massachusetts Democrat, Barney Frank. Why? The argument, best summed up in an Investor's Business Daily editorial published in March 2009, goes like this: "Starting in the early 1990s," Rep. Barney Frank "(and other Democrats) stood athwart efforts by regulators, Congress and the White House to get the runaway housing market under control." It goes on to say in, "2002, Frank nixed reforms" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and that in 2003, "led by Frank, Democrats stood as... Yahoo Finance http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2296845/posts#comment Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:18:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2296841/posts Who’s to blame for the subprime housing bubble? A popular answer – especially on the right side of the aisle - is Massachusetts Democrat, Barney Frank. Is it true? Frank doesn't think so. .. Frank not only denies it, he shifts the blame to the Bush administration. When it came to a Republican bill to reform Fannie and Freddie, President Bush gave his own party "the one finger salute," he colorfully says. Second, Democrats not only did not cause the crisis, they were aginst subprime lending all together: . . Finally, the real estate crash was not something even the... Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2296841/posts#comment Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:14:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2290160/posts This Past Tuesday the Republican Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released a staff report that provides the reasons for the Housing Bubble Burst 2007. The Report finds that the housing bubble burst that led to a financial crisis can be traced back to federal government intervention, pushed by the Democratic party, in the U.S. housing market. “The spin on the financial crisis by those who favored government efforts to erode lending standards is that the housing bubble didn’t cause this recession,” said Rep. Darrell Issa the Committee’s Ranking Member. “The findings in this report should... IBD/The Lid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2290160/posts#comment Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:00:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288713/posts Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the chief culprits in the housing crisis because they encouraged people who could not afford payments to borrow money, according to a congressional report released Tuesday. The claims in the report have long been advanced by conservatives, who argue that the Community Reinvestment Act and other federal programs fed the housing bubble that burst in 2007 and led to the economic downfall in 2008. But the report explains in detail how Fannie and Freddie -- government sponsored enterprises (GSE) that were not subject to the same oversight as other publicly traded firms -- “privatized... CNS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288713/posts#comment Thu, 9 Jul 2009 10:00:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288072/posts In a stunning report (pdf) released yesterday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the current financial crisis was traced back to government intervention in the U.S. housing market.  Yes, you read that right.   The report issued by the Republican minority didn’t disclose the names of the culprit individuals, but it sure pointed a lot of fingers at organizations, politicians, lobbyists and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. According to the report, government intervention “created ‘affordable’ but dangerous lending policies which encouraged lower down payments, looser underwriting standards and higher leverage.  Finally, government intervention created a nexus of vested interests... HumanEvents.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288072/posts#comment Wed, 8 Jul 2009 15:39:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288070/posts As a people we need, at all times, the encouragement of home ownership. HERBERT HOOVER, 1932The idea that home ownership confers special benefits on American society is deeply embedded in our culture—so much so that our national tax policy confers a special benefit of its own on it. Home ownership is granted an advantage over all other forms of ownership in the form of an enormous deduction on the interest payments most individuals incur in financing their homes. Nothing else in the tax code comes anywhere near that deduction in scope or size. We have decided, as a nation, that home... Commentary http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288070/posts#comment Wed, 8 Jul 2009 15:37:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287898/posts Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the chief culprits in the housing crisis because they encouraged people who could not afford payments to borrow money, according to a congressional report released Tuesday. The claims in the report have long been advanced by conservatives, who argue that the Community Reinvestment Act and other federal programs fed the housing bubble that burst in 2007 and led to the economic downfall in 2008. But the report explains in detail how Fannie and Freddie -- government sponsored enterprises (GSE) that were not subject to the same oversight as other publicly traded firms -- “privatized... CNSNews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287898/posts#comment Wed, 8 Jul 2009 10:33:43 GMT