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Archive for the 'Real Estate' Category

The Homebuyer Tax Credit: Another Government Boondoggle

by Doug Mataconis @ Tuesday, April 27th, 2010. Filed under Economics, Politics, Real Estate

The homebuyer tax credit is set to expire at the end of the week, and while it has clearly played a role in the uptick in home sales over the past few months, it’s also quite evident that it was an entirely inefficient use of the tax code:
Though the Treasury Department and the real estate [...]

The Coming Crisis In Commerical Real Estate

by Doug Mataconis @ Wednesday, March 31st, 2010. Filed under Business, Credit Crisis, Economics, Real Estate

For almost a year now, there’s been talk that we would see a Commercial Real Estate crisis that could be as bad as, or worse than, the mortgage crisis that threw the economy into a deep recession in 2008.
Well, it looks like it’s coming:
By the end of 2010, about half of all commercial real estate [...]

Obama Administration Set To Unveil The Next Unconstitutional Bailout

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, March 25th, 2010. Filed under Barack Obama, Credit Crisis, Economics, Politicos & Pundits, Politics, Real Estate

This time, it’s a mortgage bailout:
The Obama administration plans to overhaul how it’s tackling the foreclosure crisis, in part by requiring lenders to temporarily slash or eliminate monthly mortgage payments for many borrowers who are unemployed, senior officials said Thursday.
Banks and other lenders would have to reduce the payments to no more than 31 percent [...]

Signs Of Another Housing Market Collapse

by Doug Mataconis @ Wednesday, March 24th, 2010. Filed under Credit Crisis, Economics, Real Estate

First, there is yesterday’s news on existing home sales:
Existing-home sales fell for the third consecutive month in February, fueling concerns that the tax credit for home buyers that helped revive the market last year won’t provide a comparable boost during this spring’s buying season.
An $8,000 tax credit for qualified first-time home buyers helped give the [...]

First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Cost $ 43,000 Per House Sold

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, October 29th, 2009. Filed under Credit Crisis, Economics, Politics, Real Estate

I say we officially call this one Cash For Houses:
With 85% of 1st time home buyers who were eligible to collect the tax credit planning to buy a home anyway, the Brookings institute estimates that the $8,000 credit equates to a cost to the taxpayer of $43,000 per home. This is based on the belief [...]

Just In Time For 2010, The Next Economic Crisis Around The Corner

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, October 22nd, 2009. Filed under Credit Crisis, Economics, Real Estate

Get ready for the collapse of commercial real estate:
That big whoosh you’re hearing is the air rushing out of a commercial real estate bubble.
More than two years into the worst housing crisis in decades, commercial real estate is shaping up as the second half of what some are calling a “double bubble.” Owners of shopping [...]

The Next Big Bailout

by Doug Mataconis @ Friday, October 9th, 2009. Filed under Economics, Real Estate, Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis

Time for all of us to learn about the Federal Home Administration:
A year after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teetered, industry executives and Washington policy makers are worrying that another government mortgage giant could be the next housing domino.
Problems at the Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees mortgages with low down payments, are becoming so acute [...]

Get Ready For Round Two Of The Foreclosure Crisis

by Doug Mataconis @ Thursday, September 24th, 2009. Filed under Credit Crisis, Economics, Real Estate

Tim Cavanaugh at Hit & Run catalogs the signs that the housing market may be about to take another big hit:
• A record 7.58 percent of U.S. homeowners with mortgages were at least 30 days late on payments in August, says Equifax, up from 7.32 percent in July. Delinquencies are not only rising from month [...]

The Next Bailout Candidate

by Doug Mataconis @ Friday, September 18th, 2009. Filed under Credit Crisis, Economics, Politics, Real Estate

The Federal Housing Administration:
The Federal Housing Administration has been hit so hard by the mortgage crisis that for the first time, the agency’s cash reserves will drop below the minimum level set by Congress, FHA officials said.
The FHA guaranteed about a quarter of all U.S. home loans made this year, and the reserves are meant [...]

Signs Of A Real Estate Turnaround In Northern Virginia

by Doug Mataconis @ Tuesday, September 15th, 2009. Filed under Economics, Prince William County, Real Estate, Virginia

Northern Virginia, especially Prince William and Loudoun Counties, was one of the hardest-hit areas when the real estate market collapsed starting in 2007. Now it looks like things have started turning around:
Average home prices rose for the first time in at least two years in Virginia’s Prince William and Loudoun counties, the Washington area’s most [...]

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