Archives: October 2006

Are There Haunted Houses on Your Street?

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 31

Tonight, look for the telltale signs that houses on your street are haunted. No, not the toothless guy in the attic window, swinging a lantern and cackling madly. I'm talking...

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 30

The banking system is stacked against mortgage applicants who have scanty formal credit history--”thin files,” in banker lingo. They might have done fine if they got a normal loan. But...

Oh, the Humanity!

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 28

Every problem has to have a public face, and to many people, David Lereah is the public face of the housing slump. There is an entire blog devoted to trashing...

Which Bounces Back Faster? Phoenix or San Francisco?

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 27

I wrote an article for the current issue of BusinessWeek called Boom! Bust! Boom? Here's a link. My main finding is that around 40% of the major markets where there...

A House With a History

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 26

Sure housing sales are slowing and prices nationally declined year over year for the first time in a long while, but one notorious Los Angeles property has managed to find...

Mozilo the Magnificent

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 25

Angelo Mozilo started in the mortgage business as a delivery boy and built Countrywide Financial into the largest home lender in the land. He's never been shy about compensating himself...

A Tale of Two Banks

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 19

Two of the nation's largest banks reported earnings this week. Bank of America, which has big consumer banking focus but did not jump on the mortgage bandwagon as aggressively as...

The Housing Bust: Sorry, It Ain't Over Yet

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 18

People are getting very excited about the report today that starts on construction of private housing rose 5.9% in September. Sorry: Despite the September uptick, the housing bust ain't over...

Who Really Gets Hammered When Housing Slows...

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 17

Most of the coverage of the companies impacted by the housing slowdown has focused on homebuilders and mortgage lenders. But what about everyone else associated with a new home purchase?...

More on Sprawl

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 16

Last May I blogged on a new index of urban sprawl that said Pittsburgh, of all places, was the most sprawling. Discover Magazine picked up on the research in its...

This Winter: The Mortgage or the Heat?

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 14

We've all heard stories about people who had to choose between paying the mortgage and paying the winter heating bill. Maybe some of us have even been there. A new...

A Real Estate Angle on the Yankee Pitcher Plane Crash

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 13

This post from NYC appraiser and ace blogger Jonathan J. Miller proves my point that there is a real estate angle on every item in the news. And I mean...

Canadian Market Holding Up Better

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 12

Canada's housing market is softening but not nearly as much as the U.S. market, says Action Economics LLC, a forecasting firm. Action Economics says that, "Indeed, still-high price growth suggests...

Moving to a Cheaper Neighborhood Doesn't Always Pay

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 11

Interesting report out today from the Center for Housing Policy, which concludes that most of the savings that moderate-income families get from moving to a neighborhood with cheaper housing are...

What Determines Demand for Housing?

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 11

Interesting discussion over at calculatedrisk.com on determinants of demand for housing. In the early 2000's nearly 200,000 housing units died per year--they burned or were bulldozed or whatever. An increase...

Be Nice to Your Friendly Neighborhood Mortgage Banker ...

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 10

... because your friendly neighborhood mortgage banker is making a lot less money these days. That's according to a recently released study by the Mortgage Bankers Association. High points: --In...

Why the U.S. Slump Could Be Worse Than the U.K. One

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 06

Don't count on the U.S. to escape from a housing downturn as easily as the United Kingdom did, Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg says today. Here's Rosenberg's argument for why...

Margaritas With The Donald

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 04

Donald Trump may soon have to learn how say 'you're fired' in Spanish. The perpetually well-coifed mogul launched a new development, Trump Ocean Resort in North Baja, Mexico today. Located...

The $75 million vacant lot

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 02

A 12-acre parcel of land in Los Angeles' ritzy Bel-Air neighborhood is up for sale, making it potentially the highest-priced single family home site in America. The property has sweeping...