Archive for April, 2009The Five Questions You MUST Ask Your RealtorBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. As a growing number of economists, pundits and real-estate professionals assure us the housing market’s worst days are over, prospective home buyers need a trusted advocate to make sure they don’t end up on the wrong side of someone else’s trade. More often than not, that [...] Government to Banks: We Recommend Throwing Good Money After BadBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. Every month, it seems, Washington dreams up new and fantastic ways to funnel taxpayer money towards a growing list of undeserving recipients. Now, in the latest attempt to coerce banks into modifying delinquent mortgages en masse, the Treasury Department plans to offer cash incentives to lenders [...] Housing Perspective: February Case/Shiller Home Price IndexFebruary’s Case/Shiller Home Price Index was released today, showing continued price declines across the country. According to Bloomberg, home prices slid 18.6% from the previous year — a steep drop to be sure, but less severe than January, which saw a record-setting 19% decline. With recent “positive” news on existing home sales, new home sales [...] Deal or No Deal Results: Something Missin’ In The MissionCirios Verdict: DEAL San Francisco isn’t for everyone, but with the rental market still expensive relative to just about everywhere but New York, buying a condo or TIC (Tenant in Common) is a pretty viable option. It didn’t used to be, but low-end condo and TIC prices are falling, as overbuilding, lower rents and the [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/27/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. Luckily, the FDIC has a lot of money. 9. When bad news is actaully good for GM. 8. Countrywide is no longer … and you thought that happened more than a year ago. 7. A flu from a pig is financial market news? 6. [...] Housing Perspective: March New Home SalesNew Home Sales in March came in higher than expected, even as prices fell from this month last year. According to Bloomberg, the Commerce Department reported that builders tallied sales last month at an annual pace of 356,000, down just slightly from February. Inventories dropped to the lowest level in 7 years, while prices dipped [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/24/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. The future for banks is cloudy … riveting. 9. At least Japanese banks can tell the truth. 8. Positive spin of the day: New-Home sales decline but they beat economists forecasts. 7. How did it take this long to get to bankruptcy … oh [...] Housing Perspective: March Existing Home SalesEconomic data is inherently backwards looking. Forecasts, estimates and any other prediction of the future is a stab in the dark likely based on an esoteric predictive model and a bunch of educated guesses. And of all the economic phenomena, the hardest of all to predict is the cusp, the turning point. Nevertheless, despite the [...] The Foreclosure Epidemic: The Bulldozers ComethBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. Simply put: There are too many homes in America. Travel to the outskirts of Phoenix, California’s inland empire — or even suburban Washington, DC — and you’ll find scores of vacant homes, for-sale signs, and soon-to-be ghost towns. Sprawling Lennar (LEN) cookie-cutter developments, Pulte Home (PHM) [...] Keepin’ It Real Estate: Beware The False Bottom in HousingBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. Residential real estate is about to get very weird. In the coming months, housing-market data is likely to show price stabilization in many of the country’s hardest hit areas. Pundits, government officials and real-estate professionals will loudly proclaim the worst of our real estate woes are [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/23/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. Who has the credit to buy homes right now?…. First-time home buyers. 9. In today’s edition of the B of A – Merrill blame game, Hank Paulson gets thrown under the bus. No word if he got the news on his yacht floating off [...] Deal or No Deal: Something Missin’ in the Mission?This week’s Deal or No Deal is a remodeled condo in the Mission District of San Francisco. Rehabilitated after a fire a few years ago, this building has been completely redone and the units are being unloaded onto the market. This neighborhood is desirable for young professionals looking to live near bars and restaurants, as [...] Deal or No Deal Results: Gettin’ Gritty in South CityCirios Verdict: DEAL Last week, elated we had finally found a Deal, Cirios posted 269 Sequoia Ave in South San Francisco is what would be our first Deal of the Deal or No Deal column. Sadly (or happily?), the suspense was ruined the next day when the property went under contract. This home is well-maintained [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/22/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. We open with a very tragic story. 9. Morgan Stanley pays the price for being more honest than its competitors. 8. The banks don’t want to give consumers more power. 7. Some interesting thoughts on how to fix the banking system. 6. The FSHA [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/21/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. At least these guys are making money. 9. Geithner completely disagrees with most banking analysts. 8. Bankruptcy in this country is about to become a bigger mess than it already is. 7. Small businesses with profitable ideas can’t get loans but GM and Chrysler [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/20/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. Congress is looking to reform the mortgage industry. Isn’t it hard to regulate something you don’t understand? 9. Oracle has decided that they want to be better than IBM. 8. A Realtor calls the bottom … again. 7. Apparently, the folks at Bank of [...] Deal or No Deal UPDATE: Gettin’ Gritty In South CityYesterday, we highlighted 269 Sequoia in South San Francisco as the Cirios Deal or No Deal. Not to give away the exciting conclusion, but this house was slated to be the first Deal of Deal or No Deal’s short life span. Alas, the suspense is no longer. The property went under contract today. Where will [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/17/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. Servicers don’t like to say foreclosure. They also don’t like to say “we know how to help people in trouble” 9. Americans helping Americans. … revolutionary stuff. 8. How many people who bought houses at auction are now underwater? Almost everyone. 7. There is [...] Deal or No Deal: Gettin’ Gritty in South CityCLICK HERE to view the results of this Deal or No Deal. This week’s Deal or No Deal comes to us straight out of the Industrial City. While 50 years ago that moniker meant factories, today South San Francisco’s industry means Biotechnology. Genentech (Roche) and numerous other Bio-tech firms call the Oyster Point section of [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/16/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. JP Morgan made tons of money but mortgages are still a huge problem for them. 9. Moody’s continues their campaign: “If we downgrade everyone, you will forget that we were a major enabler of the financial crisis.” 8. Median household income: $74,700 + Median [...] Banks Rev Up Foreclosure MachineBy ANDREW JEFFERY This post first appeared on Minyanville. For almost 2 years, we’ve been told government-backed loan modification efforts and foreclosure moratoriums would help ease the pain of the ongoing housing crisis. It’s not working. Despite recent calls to the contrary — this morning’s came courtesy of real-estate mogul Sam Zell — residential home prices are still in free [...] Housing Perspective: April Homebuilder SentimentEchoing similarly rosy readings from other segments of the housing market, Homebuilder confidence jumped in April to 14 from 9. According to Bloomberg, this is the biggest jump since May 2003. Economists, which continue to be lost in the woods when it comes to predicting housing data, were expecting the index to come in at [...] Cirios Top Ten at Ten – 4/15/09The Top Ten Stories YOU Need to Read This Morning 10. A good question posed by Housing Wire: “Are Affordable Mortgages a Myth?” 9. Its about time. 8. “Green” does not equal Green yet but it will eventually. 7. You and Us: Unless “you” means that you are an employee. 6. Don’t look now but [...] House of the Week UPDATE: No Way San JoseA couple weeks ago, we highlighted 1660 Duvall Dr, San Jose, CA in our House of the Week. Our exact words: “This week’s house of the week redfines the term ‘over-listed.’ ” Indeed. Listed at $665,000 we valued the property at $525,000 on 3/26/09 . Then today, 4/14/09, the list price was dropped by more [...] |