Real Estate

It does appear that property is moving more slowly in the "hot" markets.

There have been articles in several places recently, such as this one at the Volokh Conspiracy that would seem to indicate that housing prices are starting to soften in several formerly hot markets.

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Read more from this blogger: Housing market starting to turn

Not clear yet how housing destruction from the 2005 hurricane season will impact housing prices.

Reduced quantity in the face of persistent demand yields intense upward pressure on prices. Given the time required to replace housing inventory, it will take years to replace the lost housing inventory. This impacts housing prices far from the Gulf coast, as displaced families resettle elsewhere. Could it be that the press is intentionally providing misleading coverage of housing market performance out of their fear to admit anything is going well in the U.S.?

In as much as the most severe hurricane damage takes place right at the shore, it may be that the destruction of rental property and 2nd homes will mitigate price pressure.

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Read more from this blogger: Housing Bubble Meme More ‘Reverse Vietnam’?

From our friends at Carnival of the Vanities, this post on online mortgage rates.

4. Pacesetter Mortgage Blog: The Truth about Online Mortgage Rates Comments: Here is an article that explains to the consumer the truth and history of Online Mortgage Rates.

If you blog about the housing market, submit your post to Blog Carnival with the submit button at the top of the left column.

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Read more from this blogger: Carnival of the Vanities

This blogger writes about the impact of housing prices on life.

Low housing prices and low employment market in the Milwaukee area. Extreme housing prices and not-high-enough-to-make-live-here employment market in the Washington area. Comparing those two statements, it is an easy toss up. Move to Milwaukee, somehow find a job because whatever it is, it’ll still be more in relation to cost of living than the higher paying job out here. But, there is still the little extra employment duration time needed, which mean temporary housing before permanent housing. So, stick it out here for a year or two making a bit more and throwing a chunk away on rent or drive out west and make little and save a little. Guess it all comes back to the point where the land meets sky and what that works out to be. Loving Maryland is going to be hard, if that is what I’ll have to do. Not sure that it’ll ever be possible when it means busting your ass just to pretend to be scraping by.

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Read more from this blogger: ode to this state

The mortgage broker hiring frenzy is over.

I remember a few years back that mortgage brokers were in hiring frenzy especially here in the Triad to service the refinancing boom that was happening. That frenzy lasted less than two years after all of the major refinancing had already taken place and the growth in business slowed dramatically. People rarely refinanced more than once every few years thus repeat business was unlikely.

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Read more from this blogger: The economy’s shaking foundation

Standing on the housing market sidelines.

Are we on the cusp of a drop in housing prices? More and more I'm thinking the answer is yes. Interest rates continue to rise. We've got inflationary pressures in the North American economy, and the US Federal Reserve is likely to continue in the current reasoning. After all, inflation is considered the enemy, and we've got to control it. It seems the weapon of choice continues to be interest rates.

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Read more from this blogger: More Fun with Open Houses

Some actuarial problems noted here with post-hurricane home insurance of last resort.

Yep, let’s let coastal wind rates continue to be inadequate, and permit the burden to fall on the shoulders of other policyholders in those states, and on admitted insurers doing business there.

Read the entire article.

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Read more from this blogger: Wind pool price changes

A second look at wealth building schemes based on real estate acquisition.

I totally disagreed with Mr. Bach’s suggestions that everyone should buy a home. He quoted a study that showed the homeowners have more than 30 times the net worth of renters. So, are homeowners wealthy because they own a home or do they own a home because they are wealthy? I doubt there is a causal relationship between the two. At any rate, it is a bit irresponsible to suggest that someone in a lot of credit card debt and very little in savings (Mr. Bach’s primary audience), buy a home with nothing down, mortgage themselves to the hilt, pay a premium on prevailing interest rates and pay the maximum private mortgage insurance at a time when real estate prices are expected to soften.

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Read more from this blogger: David Bach’s Find the Money Seminar

I've found that it makes no sense from a cash flow perspective to buy a house in California right now when rents are so low.

Now, this is pretty cool. A simple mortgage calculator with very interesting results: it specifically calculates the difference in your buying versus renting. So, it can tell you over the course of the loan how much you save thanks to the tax deduction on interest, and it’ll tell you how big of a loan you can take on at your current rent payment.

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Read more from this blogger: Neat calculator

If you're on the sidelines of the housing market, you might want to stay there a bit longer.

If housing prices do fall, or “readjust downward” in real estate speak, as they must since something like 30% of working folks no longer can even afford a house, that might not be a bad thing. With interest rate hikes, the new bankruptcy law changes and the pending credit card minimum payment hikes due in January, it may be a good idea to wait if you‘re looking to buy.

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Read more from this blogger: Housing Bubble Boom Hissing

The problem is in timing of housing prices and the overall housing market.

Even in uncertain economic times like these, history shows that real estate is one of the soundest investments a family can make. During the Great Depression of the 1930s when the stock market plummeted as much as 89 percent, housing prices dropped only 39 percent. So, according to most of the research on housing trends, prices continually stay at the same level as, and most often appreciate faster than the rate of inflation. In fact, the prices of houses actually increased by 10 percent during the economic recessions of the mid-19702 and the early 1980s.

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Read more from this blogger: Real Estate: A Strong Investment

Expect the Fed to increase short term rates through January, at least.

Additionally, in order for a borrower to qualify for a loan, there are debt-to-income ratios that have to be met. The higher the payment, the harder the qualifying. As those ratios rise, they exert negative pressure on housing prices. A $200,000 seller has to reduce his home price by $10,000 to drive the payment at 7% down to where it was at 6.5%. A $150,000 home has to be discounted to $142,500. Per $10,000 of home value, a .5% rise in mortgage interest rates strips $500 off the price of the house. The rise in interest rates from 5.75% in June to 6.25% has cost homeowners $500 for every $10,000 of value in their home.

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Read more from this blogger: Mortgage Rates Are Rising

Good news if you're buying a house in Bulgaria!

Mortgage rates slipped 1 percentage point over the past week after 3 banks lowered the cost of borrowing for home buyers, the central bank reported on Tuesday, November 1.

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Read more from this blogger: Bulgarian mortgage rates down 1 pct point w/w to 7.6%

When interest rates go up, buying power goes down for home buyers.

A drop in housing prices would most likely be coupled with higher interest rates. Assuming home buyer's (especially 1st timers) are strecthing themselves to qualify for a loan at a certain monthly payment, each 1.5% rise in interest rates translates in a 17% reduction in buying power.

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Read more from this blogger: Stretching to Buy Your First Home in the Bay Area

I don't think politicians are likely to reduce mortgage payment tax deductions.

The item attracting intention from the proposals is the mortgage interest deduction. It is proposed that the tax code convert the home mortgage interest deduction into a credit, while lowering the $1 million limit on mortgages eligible for the tax break to an amount closer to average housing prices, with adjustments for geographical differences. The problem is that an average is not really representative of housing mortgages. Two houses very similar in design and features may have two widely different mortgages depending where they are located in an area as the price is strongly determined by location. So one’s person’s home may be under the limit the other will be over and will lose out. New houses cost more than existing homes as a general rule. So the unintended consequences will be a move away from new larger homes to existing homes located in less expensive neighbourhoods. Needless to say, homeowners and home builder associations are against this change. What politician today wants to remove or change one of the most popular tax deductions?

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Read more from this blogger: The irrelevancy of the Tax Panel Commission

Click through for Joe Kennedy's famous quote!

Instead, the time is coming to pick up the pieces from “devil may care” investors who bought at market value and can’t pay their loans if the job market changes, interest rates escalate and notes balloon, or housing prices fall.

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Read more from this blogger: Joe Kennedy’s famous quote and the real estate market

Speculation in Las Vegas? Preposterous!

Subdivisions continue to be built around the valley. Homebuilders remain optimistic but a recent report suggests Las Vegas housing prices may be overvalued by 25 percent.

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Read more from this blogger: That soft hissing sound

Increasing housing prices are great for owners, but create changes in communities.

This evening, I participated in a march from the Pasadena School District admin building to the Pasadena City Council meeting. We hit the major thoroughfares of downtown Pasadena, up Lake Ave and west on Colorado Blvd. There were maybe 75-100 people at the march’s peak, mostly Latinos who are struggling to make ends meet and still live in Pasadena. There were several of us NWN folks who joined in solidarity with our neighbors about these issues in Pasadena. In a nutshell, the public schools suck, are poorly managed and budgets are being cut (with possible school closures). Housing prices are going up and many people are being priced out of our neighborhood (new housing is being built, but 85% of it is “unaffordable housing”). The people who are hurt most by these things are the people who can’t afford to send their kids to private schools, and can’t afford the increased rent. The owners and landlords don’t seem to care, as their kids are being educated and they need to get their investment return. It felt good to join in this march, but it is only the beginning, and marching is not in and of itself going to make any change.

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Read more from this blogger: Que Queremos? Justicia!