housing

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Home Prices Plunge Record 15.3%, Boosting Sales

Median US price was $175,400 in December, off 15.3%

(Newser) - US home prices took an unprecedented dive in December, Bloomberg reports, with prices of existing units dropping 15.3% over the same month last year—the biggest drop on record, and probably the biggest since the Great Depression. Sales, however, unexpectedly ticked up 6.5% in December, the National Association...

Job, Housing Woes Sink Stocks
 Job, Housing Woes Sink Stocks 
MARKET Open
Jan 22, 2009 8:53 AM CST

Job, Housing Woes Sink Stocks

(Newser) - Stocks headed south this morning, following worse-than-expected housing and job data. Jobless claims rose by 62,000 last week, and housing starts slid 15.5%, to their slowest pace on record. The Dow sunk 144 points, accompanied by an 18-point decline in the S&P. A strong quarter from Apple...

Scamsters Cash In on Foreclosure Crisis

Phony rescuers collect big upfront fees from desperate homeowners

(Newser) - A new breed of crook is getting rich preying on homeowners desperate to fend off foreclosure, the New York Times reports. Scamsters set themselves up as "foreclosure rescue companies,” collect big upfront fees for the promise to modify loans, then do little or nothing to help. Some people...

McMansion Era May Be Over




 McMansion Era 
 May Be Over 
Jan 6, 2009 5:33 PM CST

McMansion Era May Be Over

Strapped Americans now prefer cozier homes

(Newser) - As strapped Americans develop a conscience and, er, sense of taste about living, the practice of razing existing homes to make way for super-size replacements is slowing, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Languid McMansion sales have brought quiet back to historic neighborhoods, drowned out for years by bulldozers and upset...

Hey, Gen-Xers, Housing Mess Is Your Fault

They borrowed too much to avoid fractured family of their youth

(Newser) - Stung by the divorces and TV dinners of their youth, Gen-Xers spent whatever it took to make a happy home for themselves and their kids—even when they couldn't afford it, writes Susan Gregory Thomas in Babble. OK, that may be "harsh and exaggerated," she notes. But from...

Home Sales, Prices Plunge
 Home Sales, Prices Plunge 
Dec 23, 2008 10:52 AM CST

Home Sales, Prices Plunge

Everyone was really surprised

(Newser) - The housing market had another staggering setback in November, with sales of new and existing homes tumbling while prices took their biggest hit on record, the Wall Street Journal reports. Existing-home sales fell a worse-than-expected 8.6%, while the national median price fell 13.2% to $181,300, the steepest...

Oprah House-Hunting in DC
 Oprah House-Hunting  
 in DC  
Dec 19, 2008 12:19 PM CST

Oprah House-Hunting in DC

Oprah Winfrey starts housing search in DC.

(Newser) - Call it Chicago on the Potomac—Oprah Winfrey and the Obamas may soon be neighbors again. The multimedia titan, an early and enthusiastic supporter of the president-elect’s campaign, is house-hunting in Washington, the New York Post reports. The hot rumor is that she's leaning toward a $50 million Georgetown...

Forget That Stimulus Bill: 5 Things Obama Should Fix

Obama shouldn't rely on a stimulus package for a cure-all

(Newser) - Barack Obama and his team are devoting much effort to a proposed stimulus package for 2009, but that is simply a superficial fix, writes James K. Galbraith in Mother Jones. “The effect ends when the stimulus does, when the sugar shock wears off,” says Galbraith, who suggests five...

Existing-Home Prices Take Record Dive

11.3% decline is biggest on record; sales down again in Oct. after Sept. uptick

(Newser) - After a brief, unexpected rise in September, sales of existing homes plunged again in October, with the median price taking its biggest drop on record, the Wall Street Journal reports. Home resales fell 3.1% to a 4.98 million annual rate, from September’s revised 5.14 million pace....

Obama: We've Got to Stop Foreclosures

President-elect also backs aid for auto industry, but not a 'blank check'

(Newser) - Saving people's homes from bank foreclosures will be a priority of his economic crisis plan, President-elect Obama said in an interview airing tonight on 60 Minutes. "We've got to set up a negotiation between banks and borrowers so that people can stay in their homes. That is going to...

Fannie, Freddie to Offer Mass Loan Modifications

Housing giants aim to reduce foreclosures

(Newser) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will roll out a plan today to modify hundreds of thousands of loans in an effort to prevent foreclosures, the Wall Street Journal reports. The mortgage giants, under federal conservatorship, aim to reduce mortgage payments to no more than 38% of household income. Private banks...

Home Sales Up 5.5%, Biggest Gain in 5 Years

Inventories still at historic highs

(Newser) - Sales of existing US homes rose by the largest amount in more than five years in last month, a real estate trade group said today. The data offer a glimmer of hope that the housing slump could be starting to bottom out. The National Association of Realtors said sales of...

Clinton Housing Chief Paved the Way for Risky Loans

How American Dream Became Economic Nightmare

(Newser) - The top housing chief of the Clinton administration helped launch a major financing wave that transformed the American dream of homeownership into reality for thousands of people—whether they could afford it or not, reports the New York Times. From his post, Henry Cisneros loosened mortgage restrictions for first-time buyers,...

McCain Talks Economy as Women Break for Obama

Housing seen as way to win over white moms

(Newser) - John McCain is shifting focus to the economy in a bid to win over white women who are rapidly flocking to Barack Obama. Any bump McCain saw with female voters after selecting running mate Sarah Palin has utterly evaporated, the Boston Globe reports. Polls show Obama leading by 17% among...

Paulson Tacks Toward Middle on Fannie, Freddie Rescue

Conservatorship would toe line between opposing views

(Newser) - As concerns mount for troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two camps have emerged: one, led by free-market analysts, is pushing a temporary government takeover of the companies; the other, led by congressional Democrats, would rather see billions of tax dollars rescue the firms. Treasury secretary Henry Paulson...

Home Sales Climb, but Prices Keep Falling
 Home Sales Climb, but
Prices Keep Falling
Economy
Aug 25, 2008 10:19 AM CDT

Home Sales Climb, but Prices Keep Falling

Expanding inventories still damaging market

(Newser) - Existing home sales were better than expected in July, rising 3.1% to an annual rate of 5 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. But inventories continued their steady expansion anyway, driving prices further downward. The median home price for July was $212,400, down 7.1% from July 2007....

Freddie CEO Dismissed Bad Omens for Years

Execs charge Syron was warned of disaster

(Newser) - The CEO of Freddie Mac disregarded several warnings from inside the company that the mortgage giant faced imminent disaster. More than two dozen current and former high-ranking employees told the New York Times that Richard Syron dismissed repeated recommendations from as early as 2004 to limit its exposure to bad...

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...

Study: Homeless Numbers Drop
 Study: Homeless Numbers Drop
Jul 30, 2008 7:43 AM CDT

Study: Homeless Numbers Drop

First study to count homeless over a full year finds numbers down 15% in '07

(Newser) - The number of chronically homeless Americans fell by 15% last year, a study has found. The survey is the first to track homelessness over a full year, the Los Angeles Times reports. Homeless advocates argue that the promising numbers may in part be due to different counting methods—and that...

Raging Rangel Denies Rent Deal

Lawmaker defends taking up 4 rent-controlled units in city short of housing

(Newser) - A testy Charles Rangel yesterday brushed off accusations that he had enjoyed special treatment in occupying four rent-controlled apartments, reports the New York Times. The veteran Democratic congressman denied he had a "sweetheart" deal with his landlord and slammed the Times article that started the controversy. The 78-year-old chairman...

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