Archives: October 2009

Lance Armstrong, from cycling to real estate

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 30

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong is going into commercial real estate. According to a news release today: Armstrong ... has joined with longtime agent Bill Stapleton and...

Should Wall Streeters Give Their Bonuses to the Homeless?

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 30

Economist and writer Katerina Alexandraki has launched a creative idea for easing the housing crunch this holiday season. She’s asking Wall Streeters getting big bonuses to contribute them to...

Expanded Home Buyer Tax Credit to Cost $10.8 Billion

Posted by: Prashant Gopal on October 29

Majority Leader Harry Reid's office just sent me an outline of the Senate Democrats' plan to extend and expand the home buyer tax credit. Much of this was covered in...

O.C. Great Park: if you build a little of it, they will come

Posted by: Peter Coy on October 29

Landscape architect Ken Smith has precisely the right idea for how to build Orange County Great Park, the ambitious urban park planned for the site of the El Toro...

The FDIC's Sheila Bair: "There Will Be Losses."

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 28

FDIC Chief Sheila Bair spoke at the Town Hall Los Angeles this morning, sharing her thoughts on financial markets and some of the policy issues she faces as one of...

Home Buyer Tax Credit Could Soon Be Extended, Expanded

Posted by: Prashant Gopal on October 28

It's increasingly likely that Congress will extend and expand the popular home buyer tax credit, which will expire next month. CNN.com reported today that a compromise proposal based on bills...

Home Prices Rise Again ... But Don't Get Used to It

Posted by: Prashant Gopal on October 27

Home prices rose 1% in August from the seasonally-adjusted July level -- the third month in a row of increases, according to S&P/Case Shiller home price index. The 20-city index...

Lessons From Being A Landlord

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 26

Regular readers of this blog may remember that I bought a bank-owned home as an investment property last March. Here’s an update. I lost my first tenant in September....

First-Time Homebuyer Program Rife With Fraud, Four-Year-Olds File For Credit

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 22

Government investigators revealed today that fraud is rampant in the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit program. Over 100,000 taxpayers have tried to cheat the system, the IRS says. Some of...

Which Lenders Made the Worst Home Loans?

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 21

The worst mortgage loans were made in 2006, according to research by data provider MDA DataQuick. And those loans are begining to blow up now. According to DataQuick’s numbers,...

The Slow Growth of Home Construction

Posted by: Prashant Gopal on October 20

Don't expect a rebound in home construction anytime soon. New building permits for single-family homes fell 3% in September, the Commerce Department said today. Builders are likely anticipating a drop...

California Bans Neg Am Loans

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 19

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a flurry of bills designed to reign in abuses in the mortgage market today. The new laws eliminate the use of negative amortization features...

Office Vacancies Creep Up, Apartments Stabilize

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 16

There's more empty space in U.S. office buildings, shopping malls and industrial parks, says CBRE Econometric Advisors. The good news the rate of increase is slowing. "Like with job losses,...

Second Home Buyers Look for More Urban Environments

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 15

When Andy Bush went to market with the Walnut, a condo complex in Boulder, Colorado, he figured the buyers would be young single professionals and empty nesters. Instead many...

Houses You Can Buy For Practically Nothing

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 14

The real estate industry is justifiably worried about what will happen to home sales if the $8,000 credit for new home buyers is allowed to expire on Dec. 1....

Could Home Prices See A Double-Dip?

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 13

Home price numbers have ended their free-fall, but a lot housing experts are still concerned about a possible double-dip. Integrated Asset Services, which tracks troubled properties, says its House...

Jumbo Loan Rates Dip Below 6%, Lowest In Four Years

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 12

Mortgage interest rates are trending steadily downward. The research firm HSH reports that jumbo loans—those for higher-priced homes—dipped below 6% for the first time since September of 2005. This...

More Troubles At KB Home

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 12

Big builder KB Home revealed in a Securities Exchange Commission filing that the federal regulator is examining the company's accounting. The stock fell about 6% today. The filing doesn't...

The Bonus for Homes Charity Idea

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 10

Economist and writer Katerina Alexandraki has come up a creative idea for easing the housing crunch this holiday season. She’s asking Wall Streeters getting big bonuses to contribute them...

Will Risky FHA Loans Prompt Another Big Bailout?

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 09

The excellent cover story last year by my colleagues Chad Terhune and Robert Berner laid out the fact that the nation’s housing market was becoming ever more dependent on...

Federal Stimulus Funds Connect A Denver Housing Project

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 08

A lot of people, including Republican lawmakers who want to give the President grief, are asking, where exactly is that $787 billion passed in February through the American Recovery...

Is the Housing Recovery Real?

Posted by: Prashant Gopal on October 06

The U.S. government has been helping to prop up housing sales by keeping interest rates artificially low and by offering $8,000 to renters who purchase homes. A new report by...

U.S. Treasury Coming Out With New Rules For Short Sales

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on October 02

A story in this week’s magazine follows up on our blog posting from two weeks ago about banks getting tougher on folks looking to sell their homes for less...

Full-size Lego House Demolished, Lego Cat Missing

Posted by: Prashant Gopal on October 01

I've been reading a bunch of stories about the two-story Lego house erected in England for a BBC show called "Toy Stories." It was just demolished despite the owner's...