Archives: August 2006

A new way to hedge against falling housing values

Posted by: Dean Foust on August 30

This development has gotten very little ink (in fact the only publicly accessible story I could turn up on it was this one from last June) but the Chicago Mercantile...

84 of 100 major markets overpriced

Posted by: Peter Coy on August 30

This just in from John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Giving it to you unedited: 84% of Markets Are Overpriced Of the 100 largest metropolitan areas (based on annual permit activity):...

Flipping is flopping in Cali

Posted by: Dean Foust on August 29

Interesting article on Inman News (read it quick; articles are free for a day or so but then available only to paying subscribers) about how flipping has turned into a...

Real Estate Reality

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on August 29

In the past couple of years the cable television networks have released a slew of shows devoted to the real estate business. Among them: House Hunters, What You Get for...

Prices down in Boston, Vegas, Miami ...

Posted by: Peter Coy on August 29

Boston was the only major metro area in the U.S. where single-family home prices fell between June 2005 and June 2006--a 1.9% decline, according to a measure released today by...

Are hidden "seller incentives" masking true price decline?

Posted by: Dean Foust on August 28

A poster on the Real Estate Cafe blog raises the question whether "seller incentives" are masking the true decline in housing values. I've read elsewhere about sellers offering a one-year...

50-year mortgages?

Posted by: Dean Foust on August 25

There's an intriguing item that I found on the web site of a Florida newspaper that talks about efforts within the real estate industry to develop a 50-year mortgage (don't...

New home sales down, down, down

Posted by: Dean Foust on August 24

New home sales fell 21.6% in July from the same month last year. That's the lowest level since February, and below the consensus estimate. Inventories of new homes for sale...

Movin' Out

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on August 16

Sales data released yesterday by the National Association of Realtors showed a clear pattern--the states with the biggest drops in home sales were the ones who've seen the steepest price...

Washington DC in trouble

Posted by: Dean Foust on August 16

As readers of the blog may now, I lived in Washington DC (about two miles from the Mount Vernon estate to be precise) for about nine years before transferring to...

A Bond Fund Looks at Housing

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on August 14

Pimco the big Newport Beach-based bond fund has been digging into the housing market for months now. No great surprises in their latest report. The market, they figure, "continues to...

Bright Idea

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on August 10

In the 'why didn't anyone think of that before' department let us now gaze in wonder at the FocusOn light. Yes, just as the real estate market looks like...

Well, at least the 'virtual' real estate market is booming ....

Posted by: Peter Coy on August 08

Feeling grumpy that the real estate market slumped right after you bought, or just before you sold? Here's some news that should cheer you up right away. Sales of virtual...

San Francisco, Boston, and Other 'Superstar Cities'

Posted by: Peter Coy on August 04

Economists have twisted themselves in knots trying to explain why housing prices in cities like San Francisco and Boston are so high. One theory says that the cities have better...

The FHA Wants to Make Zero-Down Loans. Is This a Good Idea?

Posted by: Peter Coy on August 03

When the FHA was started in the Depression to insure mortgage loans and thus help people of modest means buy homes, it required a minimum downpayment of 20%. That hefty...

Who Loses in the Real Estate Boom?

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on August 02

One topic largely missing in all the coverage of the nation's housing boom in the past few years has been that of gentrification. It used to be a big story...

And now a word from the gardeners ...

Posted by: Peter Coy on August 02

As soon as I mentioned gardening in my last blog I got an email from a p.r. guy who said this is a record year for gardening, and what's more,...

Non-housing blogs are horning in on our story

Posted by: Peter Coy on August 01

Housing blogs like Hot Property don't own the housing story. These days you can find anguished commentary about the softening market all over the blogosphere, from political blogs to econ...