Friday, May 02, 2008

CAR - "Mortgage bankers find fault with appraisal rules" (5-2-08)

"
The Mortgage Bankers Association is calling on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to back out of agreements with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that would create a code of conduct for home appraisals."

Bloomberg - "
Home Prices Fall in 22 U.S. Cities as Foreclosures Reach Record" (5-2-08)

"Home prices fell in 22 U.S. metropolitan areas in February, led by Sacramento and Las Vegas, as record foreclosures deepened the housing slump. The price per square foot in Sacramento, California's capital, dropped 29.8 percent to $161 from a year earlier, according to a report released today by New York-based Radar Logic Inc., a real estate data company. Las Vegas declined 26.2 percent to $133 a square foot."

Bloomberg - "ResCap to Start Exchange Offer on $14 Billion of Debt" (5-2-08)

"
Residential Capital LLC, the mortgage- finance company owned by GMAC LLC, is offering as little as 80 cents on the dollar to exchange or buy back $14 billion of bonds to stave off bankruptcy. ResCap will offer cash or notes as part of the tender that it plans to start next week, according to a statement today. The exchange will enable Minneapolis-based ResCap to push back maturities until 2010 and 2015, the company said."

Bloomberg - "Buffett Plots Buying Spree as Crunch Diverts Bidders" (5-2-08)

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Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett, who has used dozens of acquisitions to beat every major U.S. stock index, is poised to extend his lead with more than $40 billion to spend as the credit crunch sidetracks other bidders. With the U.S. on the brink of recession, investors expect Buffett to deploy Berkshire's cash to scoop up bargains. Berkshire rose 22 percent in New York trading in the past 12 months as the worst housing slump in a quarter century slowed the economy, led to record losses for banks and securities firms and caused the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to decline 6.8 percent. The shares gained at an annual rate of 19.5 percent during the past two decades, outpacing the S&P 500's 11 percent advance."

Realty Times - "
Realty Viewpoint: Loans Bottleneck Housing" (5-2-08)

"The economy still grew in March, although at a crawl. Housing inventories are at previous 1991 recession highs, while mortgage interest rates are four points lower today. But there's a lot to fear in the news. Inventories could get worse if the credit crunch doesn't improve. The elimination of subprime loans is being exacerbated by the large point spread between conforming and jumbo loans of as much as two percent."


MSN - "5 best cities for home sellers" (5-2-08)

"West Coast sellers are faring better. In San Jose, Calif., No. 1 on our list, tough regulatory measures make it difficult to overbuild. New home construction dropped 63% last year, while jobs grew by 1.2%. Home vacancies, which were already low at 1.6%, fell to a national bottom at 0.8%, helping to make San Jose one of the country's tightest markets."

Orange County Register - "
Builders’ home pricing at ‘02 levels in mid-April" (5-2-08)

"Fresh DataQuick stats show how hard O.C. developers are working to sell homes: Median selling prices for the 22 business days ended April 14 of $499,500 is 42% below the new home market’s February 2005 peak. ($864,000, ouch!) If such low pricing holds for the entire month, it would mark the second cheapest builder pricing since June 2002; and only the second time under a half-million bucks since then. (Prices briefly dipped to $469,000 in January ‘06.)"

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