housing posts
FeedPosted Oct 26th 2009 5:30PM by Joseph Lazzaro (RSS feed)
Filed under: Politics, Housing, Recession

Put this one under the the category of 'a half-loaf is better than none.'
Senate leaders are apparently poised to extend the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers, Bloomberg News
reported Monday.
However, the extension will not please all in the housing sector, as the Senate is working on a plan that would extend the credit, which expires November 30, for homes that close before April 1, 2010. The credit would then be reduced to $6,000, then $4,000, then $2,000 for homes that close in each successive quarter, until the end of 2010, at which time the credit program would end.
Continue reading Senate seen extending a reduced first-time home buyer tax credit
Posted Oct 24th 2009 10:00AM by Michael Shulman (RSS feed)
Filed under: Housing, Recession
People not only feel poorer, they are poorer. Personal wealth will continue to decline in 2010, as home prices fall even further, fueled by a wave of 7 million homes that will go into foreclosure in the next 12 to 18 months. And foreclosure rates will remain above historical norms well beyond that.
More foreclosures mean more downward price pressure in the housing market. And homeowners will experience a commensurate loss of wealth as the value of their homes decline. And this is on top of all the money that had previously been lost in the stock market -- as much as 40% of accumulated consumer wealth.
Continue reading Reason #1: Dramatic loss of wealth
Posted Oct 20th 2009 12:40PM by Michael Fowlkes (RSS feed)
Filed under: Forecasts, Consumer experience, Housing, Recession
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that housing starts rose a bit in September, helped by a rise in single-family home construction, but this bit of good news came with some bad news that applications for new home construction were down in the month.
According to the report, construction of new homes and apartments rose by 0.5% in the month, to an annualized rate of 590,000 units. While any growth for housing starts comes as good news in the current market, it is not as good as it appears at first glance, considering that analysts had been expecting to see the annualized rate increase to 610,000 units.
Continue reading Housing starts rose in September, but applications for new construction fell
Posted Oct 3rd 2009 10:30AM by Ted Allrich (RSS feed)
Filed under: Comfort Zone Investing
No one thinks good times are here again. Unemployment is too high and will most likely get worse before everyone agrees that the recession is over. (If you're one of the many jobless who have been looking for months for a job, this is a depression, not a recession.)
No, times aren't good yet. But there are signs, both anecdotal and data driven, that show the worst is most likely over. Many of these signs aren't very visible. They don't make headlines, yet they do give credence to the idea that consumers are starting to spend, that the economy has stopped its downward spiral.
Continue reading Comfort Zone Investing: Small signs of a recovery
Next Page >