Blog entries tagged market

FHA Needs Funds: You Read It Here 6 Weeks Ago

Nick Will — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:30:26 +0100

Okay so reading this blog is like getting the news 6 weeks early. Granted, I thought it would make the news at the end of September, and here it is in today's Times:

The Federal Housing Administration said Thursday that its cash reserves had dwindled significantly in the last year as housing prices slumped and many of its borrowers defaulted on their mortgages.

Still, government housing officials stressed that the agency, which insures loans made by private lenders, Read More...

New vs Resale Stats: More of My Case

Nick Will — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:18:04 +0100

The inestimable Lucia Mutikani reports for Reuters that existing home sales rose to a 2-year high in September. These numbers are more meaningful than how, in two posts ago as I mentioned, new home builders have just been messing all over themselves. From Mutikani's article:
The National Association of Realtors said sales of existing homes jumped 9.4 percent in September to an annual rate of 5.57 million units, the highest level since July 2007. Financial markets had expected sales to rise to aRead More...

New Home Sales Stats: Some Truth to Power

Nick Will — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:41:56 +0100

Okay so new home sales numbers weren't reported to be up last week. So? First of all, the housing market is local in nature. If all politics is local as Tip O'Neill said, then real estate and housing is darn near skin-tight.

Here's what Deutsche Bank said in the linked article above: "Overall, we think today's weak number supports our contention that based on waning government stimulus the housing recovery could end up being W-shaped..." What blather.

&nbsRead More...

Zillow vs. Realtor.com

Nick Will — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:06:11 +0100

In recent years, the real estate website Zillow.com has seen increasing traffic. According to the traffic reporting site Alexa.com, Zillow's traffic is close to reaching, at long last, the venerable and dominant Realtor.com, which in years past we have favored over all other sites, mostly because of its excellent and fair search results (giving users what they need, not what advertisers want), and because of its towering dominance in national listings websites.

Here's a currRead More...

Austin: Construction Contracts Down 50%

Nick Will — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:05:44 +0100

Austin is an odd bird in the Texas aviary of real estate, both commercial and residential. The Austin Business Journal is reporting that commercial and residential contracts combined are down almost 50% through August of this year over last year, which itself was not a stellar year.

That blowing sound you hear could be the air coming out of the Austin real estate market. I'm a bull when it comes to Houston area real estate, a serious bull, but with Austin... not so much. AusRead More...

Top Luxury Builder Debuting in The Woodlands

Nick Will — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:04:09 +0100

If you think I've been overly optimistic, please note this. It needs no commentary. From The Houston Chronicle Tuesday:
Toll Brothers, a publicly traded home building company, has earned the industry's top three awards, including America's Best Builder from the National Association of Home Builders, the National Housing Quality Award and Builder of the Year.

It plans to offer its luxury homes in the high $400,000 to $500,000 price range in Tupelo Woods in Creekside Park and PlayerRead More...

Housing Starts at 9 Month High: Things Turning?

Nick Will — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:57:12 +0100

From Reuters on Friday:

The Commerce Department said on Thursday housing starts rose 1.5 percent from July to an annual rate of 598,000 units, a touch below market forecasts for 600,000 units.
In another report, the Labor Department said the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell by 12,000 last week to 545,000, the lowest level since early July, defying market expectations for a rise to 555,000.

This is very encouraging. Both housing starts are at a 9-month hRead More...

Will Congress Extend the $8,000 Home Buyer Credit?

Nick Will — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 21:35:12 +0100

The Associated Press is reporting that the administration and congress are undecided about whether to extend the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, which is set to expire November 30 of this year. The credit allows up to an $8,000 refundable tax credit on the purchase of a first-time home. It's been a very effective policy for the past year, key to improving economic conditions in the U.S.

From the article:

The credit is helping stabilize the housing market, but there arRead More...