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Housing Market Slides, but Some Silver Lining Visible

Tom Johansmeyer — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Indices, Housing, Recession

Home prices fell yet again in November, losing 0.2% month-over-month (on a not seasonally adjusted basis), following a 0.1% drop in October. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller's home price index reported only five out of 20 metro areas with gains, and from November 2008 to November 2009, home prices are off 5.3%. Need a benchmark? It's late 2003: Six years of appreciation have been obliterated by the financial crisis.

The slide worries analysts who wonder if the housing recovery is strong enough to keep moving forward. A stall on the housing side, of course, could push through the rest of the economy, ultimately putting the squeeze on consumer spending (further) and impeding overall growth.

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Housing Market Slides, but Some Silver Lining Visible originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home values could creep up next year

Tom Johansmeyer — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Economic Data, Housing

If you're worried about the value of your home, 2010 could bring a little bit of good news. The National Association of Realtors reported Friday that home prices could edge 4% higher next year. In 2009, home prices declined by 13%. The association's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, says, "Going into 2010, I anticipate that prices will also begin stabilizing or begin to modestly improve." He continues, "I don't think the fear factor will be at play in 2010."

First-time buyers taking advantage of a range of incentives -- including an $8,000 tax credit -- accounted for 47% of transactions this year, up from 41% in 2008. With the credit extended to April 30, 2010, there's hope that first-timers will continue to breathe some life into the real estate market. According to Yun, approximately 2 million people gobbled up the tax advantage.

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Home values could creep up next year originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nationwide home prices fall in 123 of 153 metro areas

Connie Madon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:20:00 EST

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Economic Data, Personal Finance, Housing, Recession

The housing market is still mired in price declines during the third quarter. Prices declined in 80% of metro areas. Of the 153 metro areas surveyed, 123 still saw price declines, while 30 saw price increases. Overall, the national median price has fallen 11.2% from last year.

Let's look at specific towns and cities with the highest price declines and the highest price increases:

Fort Myers, Florida tops the list with a 40% decline. Median home prices were $98,000.00
Las Vegas, Nevada saw a 35% decline. Median home prices were $138,500.00
On the up side, Cumberland Maryland saw a price increase of 19% Median home prices rose to $122,100.00
Davenport, Iowa was next with a 14% increase. Median home prices were $115,600.00.

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Nationwide home prices fall in 123 of 153 metro areas originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Housing market to dip again next year; Goldman says by 10%

Tom Johansmeyer — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:20:00 EST

Filed under: Bank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Economic Data, Housing

If you've become comfortable with the current state of the housing market ... don't. Economists at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Bank of America's Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) say there's still plenty of risk in the housing market.

Alec Phillips, the head of Goldman's Washington office, said, "The risk of renewed home price declines remains significant." His "working assumption" is a drop of between 5% and 10% by the middle of next year.

Continue reading Housing market to dip again next year; Goldman says by 10%

Housing market to dip again next year; Goldman says by 10% originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Homebuilder confidence hits 12 month high

Michael Fowlkes — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

Homebuilder confidence hit a 1 year high today, providing another sign that the worst of the housing melt down may have passed.

The housing market started to crumble back in 2006, and since that time foreclosures and falling home prices have hit the economy hard, and played a major role in the recession that has effected millions. Today the The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo confidence index climbed to 18, the highest level that it has been since June 2008.

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Homebuilder confidence hits 12 month high originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lowe's Q2 earnings preview

Michael Fowlkes — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:40:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades, Forecasts, Good news

Home improvement retailer Lowe's Companies (NYSE: LOW) will be reporting its second quarter earnings before the market opens on Monday, and there are some positive indicators that it may have been a good quarter for the company.

Over the past year, weak consumer confidence has put a strain on Lowe's, as home owners who have worried about job security and a weak housing market have put off home repair projects. As a result, Lowe's stock fell as low as $13.00 back in March, but has rebounded nicely over the past few months to its current trading price of $22.71.

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Lowe's Q2 earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engine of growth-wise, it's a whole new ballgame for the global economy

Joseph Lazzaro — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: International Markets, India, China, Brazil, Russia, Recession

At times, during this protracted global recession, it seems as if the entire world depended on home equity loan-fueled U.S. consumption to maintain GDP growth.

De-coupling -- the notion that the emerging market economies of China, India, Brazil and Russia were independent of the developed world, from a GDP growth standpoint, and were self-sustaining -- has been quickly dispelled. "De-coupling" has about as much validity as another ruse that made the rounds in the last boom (as it does in all expansions): the fallacy of "this time it's different" - the notion that some economic phenomenon can continue indefinitely. During the last expansion there was a widely-held view that housing prices, despite numerous metrics that showed that housing prices had hit bubble levels, could rise at double-digit rates annually, for a decade or more.

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Engine of growth-wise, it's a whole new ballgame for the global economy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Homebuilder sentiment rises to highest level in 10 months

Michael Fowlkes — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Money and Finance Today, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

We have all been waiting to hear news that the housing market has rebounded, and we got a little indication that things were improving today as homebuilder sentiment rose this month to its highest level since September.

According to the National Association of Home Builders its index of builder confidence jumped two points in July to 17. This is the first time the index has hit 17 since last September.

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Homebuilder sentiment rises to highest level in 10 months originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New home construction jumps in May

Michael Fowlkes — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Major Movement, Forecasts, Good news, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Economic Data, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

It was the largest jump in three months, as new home construction increased by 17.2% during the last month.

The increase was much higher than analysts had been expecting, and last month we moved up to an annual rate of 532,000 units... well above the 500,000 units that had been forecast.

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New home construction jumps in May originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home prices become more affordable

Michael Fowlkes — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Good news, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Employees, Money and Finance Today, Economic Data, Housing, Federal Reserve, Recession, Financial Crisis

As the housing market continues to find its footing, one welcome trend for potential home buyers has been falling home prices. The main consequence of the troubled housing market has been a sharp increase in home inventories, and this has led to a massive drop in home prices, and we see news today that home prices are the most affordable that they have been in the past 18 years.

The Housing Opportunity Index tracks home prices, and it reported that during the first three months of this year, 72.5% of homes for sale fell within the affordability range, up from 60% during the last quarter of 2008. This sharp jump is another testament to just how quickly home prices have eroded over the past few months.

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Home prices become more affordable originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Freddie Mac's earnings fall as delinquencies increase

Mark Fightmaster — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:40:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, Earnings Reports, Housing

Late Tuesday, Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) reported that its quarterly net loss checked in at $9.9 billion thanks to rising delinquencies. The company also blamed the results on continued impairments on its holdings of mortgage-backed securities. On a per share basis, FRE's quarterly loss increased to $3.14 a share, compared to $151 million a year ago, or 66 cents a share. The mortgage lender's total revenue dropped to $771 million from $1.41 billion a year ago.

FRE put aside $8.8 billion in provisions in order to cover credit losses for the first quarter, up from $7 billion in the final quarter of 2008. FRE attributed this to the increase in the number and rate of delinquent mortgages, coupled with increasing foreclosure-related losses.

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Freddie Mac's earnings fall as delinquencies increase originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 13 May 2009 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More homeowners look to rent unsold properties

Michael Fowlkes — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

As we all know, the housing market has been taking a beating over the past couple years. The global recession seemed to spark right out of the American housing market, and things have not really been improving too much. With all the homes that are unsold in the country, more and more homeowners have decided to rent instead of sell their properties.

As the housing market began to come apart at the seams, home inventories started to swell, and prices started to drop. Everyone has been waiting anxiously to see a point where the lower prices would bring massive buyers back into the market, but that still has not happened yet, and instead of lowering prices even further, homeowners have decided to hold onto properties a little longer and pull in some rental income instead.

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More homeowners look to rent unsold properties originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 12 May 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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KB Home first quarter earnings preview

Michael Fowlkes — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:20:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Forecasts, Products and Services, Competitive Strategy, KB HOME (KBH), Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

We will see earnings from one of the major home builders in the morning, as KB Home (NYSE: KBH) gets its chance to impress Wall Street when it reports its first quarter numbers prior to the market open.

The company, which last year ranked the 5th largest home builder in the country, is expected to show a loss for the quarter of $0.81 per share. Should the company be able to match these estimates, it would be a great improvement over its fourth quarter loss of $3.96 per share. When looking back at the same period last year, KBH showed a loss of $3.47 per share for its first quarter last year.

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KB Home first quarter earnings preview originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New home sales jump in February

Michael Fowlkes — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:40:00 EST

Filed under: Forecasts, Good news, Economic Data, Housing, Financial Crisis

Wall Street is trading up nicely today, in part due to the news that new home sales made a big jump last month.

The sales figures for February are a welcome relief after we saw January hit a record low. During February, however, new home sales did pick up, and gained 4.7% during the month. While we have to keep in mind that February sales do rank second worst on record, it is encouraging to see things move in the right direction.

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New home sales jump in February originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Doomsday Scenario: Hedge funds front running clients, Twitter bubble peaks

Alex Salkever — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:50:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Newspapers, Scandals, Headline News, Recession

It's Friday, and a big storm is approaching the West Coast, a fitting end to a wild week. The SEC is investigating whether certain hedge funds allowed employees and favored clients to redeem their money before less favored clients. If allegations are true, then this gives new meaning to the term "front running", and should prove a great way to rebuild the reputation of an industry already viewed as having questionable ethics.

Continue reading Doomsday Scenario: Hedge funds front running clients, Twitter bubble peaks

Doomsday Scenario: Hedge funds front running clients, Twitter bubble peaks originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Home prices continue to drop, but is it really a bad thing?

Michael Fowlkes — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:04:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Consumer Experience, Economic Data, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

We all know that the real estate market is in trouble, and another sign of just how bad things are came out today as the National Association of Realtors announced another steep drop in home prices during the fourth quarter.

The NAR started keeping comprehensive data on home sales back in 1979, and in that time period there has not been another quarter that saw home prices drop as much as they did in the fourth quarter of last year. So just how much did values drop? A massive 12.4%.

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Home prices continue to drop, but is it really a bad thing? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mortgage applications drop to eight-year low as buyers wait for government incentives

Lita Epstein — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Housing, Financial Crisis

Mortgage applications fell almost 25% last week with new loan applications for home purchases hitting an eight-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. People continue to sit on the sidelines, waiting for prices to drop. Who wants to buy a home today if the price for that home might be lower soon after the deal closes?

Adding to that wait-and-see attitude are some major incentives that could be part of the stimulus package making its way through Congress. The biggest incentive of them all is a Senate provision that would give all home buyers a $15,000 tax credit. Who wouldn't wait to see if that provision survives the House/Senate negotiations?

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Mortgage applications drop to eight-year low as buyers wait for government incentives originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seven reasons the market is not going up any time soon: #1 The housing crisis isn't over

Michael Shulman — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:40:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

The epicenter of everything -- the credit crisis, financial crisis, economic crisis and crisis of confidence -- is housing.

Not just bad mortgages, but a continuing fall in housing prices -- already down 20% with another 15%-20% to go.

Yup, it is not close to being over. Home sales continue to fall, inventories are equal to more than a year of sales, and the vast majority of new mortgages being applied for as interest rates fall are for refinancings.

Be sure to read all 7 reasons the stock market isn't going up any time soon.

Michael Shulman is a contributor to OptionsZone.com.

Seven reasons the market is not going up any time soon: #1 The housing crisis isn't over originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Before the Bell: Will Santa think investors are naughty or nice?

Jonathan Berr — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Before the Bell, Earnings Reports, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Economic Data

Will Santa bring investors toys or a lump of coal today? The picture is a little murky.

Stock futures are pointing to a slightly higher open and investors await new economic later today that is expected to show that the economy continues to be weak. Economists expect final Gross Domestic Product figures released later this morning by the Commerce Department to show a decline of 0.5% in the July through September quarter, according to the Associated Press. Reports on new home sales scheduled to be released today are expected to show declines.

Meanwhile, falling oil prices are pushing down stocks in Europe even though the U.K. economy posted its worst third quarter since 1990. Markets in Asia fell amid investors' concerns about interest rate cuts in China and Toyota Motor Corp.'s (NYSE: TM) first quarterly loss in 70 years. Bloomberg News is reporting that Toyota is considering cutting its North American payroll.c

In the U.S., all eyes will be on the housing market. Investors will be looking for some reason to be optimistic. That may be tough. According to the Wall Street Journal, record-low interest rates is spurring a wave of refinancing and not home purchases. Home resales appeared to stabilize in the fall but that was because of record levels of foreclosures.

"Ivy Zelman, chief executive of housing-research firm Zelman & Associates, estimates that, even with such a low rate, only about 67% of U.S. households can afford a house," the paper said. "Home ownership was nearly 68% in the third quarter, according to the Census Bureau, implying there is virtually no untapped demand for homes."

Santa's nice list may be small this year.

Before the Bell: Will Santa think investors are naughty or nice? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Falling home prices hit one California town hard

Michael Fowlkes — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:10:00 EST

Filed under: Forecasts, Bad News, Consumer Experience, Market Matters, Money and Finance Today, Economic Data, Housing, Recession, Financial Crisis

As home prices continue to weaken, more and more homeowners are facing the real possibility that their homes will wind up "underwater" before the market starts to rebound. Of all the areas in the country that are facing tough times, the worst of times are being felt in the California city of Mountain House.

So what exactly does it mean to have your house underwater? Simply put, a mortgage goes underwater when the balance a homeowner owes on his house is more than the house is worth.

Just how bad has the situation gotten in Mountain House? The figures are staggering. According to figures released yesterday, roughly 90% of all homeowners in Mountain House are now facing mortgages that are underwater. Nine out of every 10 homeowners woke up this morning facing the fact that their home values have been in free fall and there is little that they can do to correct the current situation.

Continue reading Falling home prices hit one California town hard

Falling home prices hit one California town hard originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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