News, commentary and opinion on the course of the Housing Bubble. Blogs devoted to this topic are encouraged to add their article to Zimbio for inclusion in the wikizine. All strands of opinion are encouraged with the expectation of a...
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News, commentary and opinion on the course of the Housing Bubble. Blogs devoted to this topic are encouraged to add their article to Zimbio for inclusion in the wikizine. All strands of opinion are encouraged with the expectation of a mature and informed level of social and economic analysis. Contributions emphasizing the macroeconomic effects are especially welcome.
Posted by Jim Minkey on October 21st, 2008
Since September 15, when Lehman went belly up and AIG got bailed out and the stock market started it’s decent, there have been 15 properties sell in Foster City. I personally know of 4 properties in Belmont and San Carlos that had multiple offers and went over asking in the last two weeks. We’ll see how Foster City does with these recent sales. If all of these homes are selling now, in these circumstances, and some are even getting... Read Full Story
Now may be the time to go ahead and sell your timeshare . If you are not using your timeshare it will quickly become an unused luxury you’d be better off without. Having said that, if you want to keep your timeshare but are falling behind on the loan payments, try to work with the lending institution that made you the loan before it is in danger of foreclosure. Your loan is one that is considered “secured” with the timeshare deed – and is worth salvaging from the loan writers’ perspective... Read Full Story
Power Outages Plague Oahu ; Airport Faces Problems Many residents on Oahu felt the earthquake off the Big Island on Sunday. The biggest problem was a power outage. The outage affected the entire island shortly after the earthquake. Many areas were still without power 11p.m. Hawaiian Electric Co. reported that about 147,000 customers out of 291,000 had power restored. The generators went off line after the quake because of the way the system is set up, according to HECO spokesman Jose Dizon... Read Full Story
Fully half of all existing homes sold in the Bay Area in December were foreclosures unloaded by banks at fire-sale prices. Those sales sent median prices tumbling to new lows and attracted droves of buyers, according to a real estate report released Wednesday.
“If you are OK with a little bit of work or a Class-B neighborhood rather than Class-A, you can get a smoking deal,” said Stephen Bloom, a Realtor with Lawton Associates in Berkeley. “The banks understand if they want to move these... Read Full Story
(headline shamelessly stolen from a clever and delightfully smartass poster on the pressdemocrat comments website) "Cut-rate foreclosed homes being unloaded by banks wreaked havoc on the Bay Area's median price in July, sending it down nearly 30 percent to a level not seen in more than four years." A third of all existing homes sold in the nine-county region in July were foreclosed properties. ~ DataQuick '"There is deep discounting in inland markets that have been slammed by foreclosures... Read Full Story
By Guest Author and Good Friend Scott J. Wilson
Sunday March 22, 2009, Dateline NBC aired a piece called “Inside the Financial Fiasco,” in which Chris Hanson finally takes a break from exposing sexual predators to take a closer look at the current housing mess.
NBC attempts to assign blame for the mortgage meltdown, and also tries to make it seem like they have finally identified the handful people who were the “only ones who knew” what lay in store for the economy when Wall Street... Read Full Story
News buzzing around the county. " One in three homes sold in the Bay Area in July was in foreclosure at some point in the past year, said John Walsh, DataQuick's president." '"Who knows how many more involved a desperate seller and a lender who accepted a short sale," Walsh said in a statement." "The surge of foreclosure and distressed sales pushed Bay Area home prices to a 53-month low." "Buyers in coastal areas such as Sonoma County are largely waiting for the market to hit bottom, Walsh... Read Full Story
Foreclosures dip in Sonoma County - but is it temporary? Santa Rosa Press Democrat, CA By MICHAEL COIT Foreclosures dipped again in Sonoma County during the first quarter but analysts warned the decline may be temporary, the result of a new state law that slowed the process. Banks took back 421 homes from Sonoma County borrowers during … Foreclosures keep falling, but default notices climb Sacramento Bee California Foreclosures Are Back With A Vengeance CNBC Home defaults hit record high... Read Full Story
"A stumbling housing market and soaring energy costs dented consumer confidence in 2007, sending sales of big-ticket items tumbling." "Nearly every car dealership saw sales sink, particularly those selling trucks and SUVs that have fallen out of favor with consumers as gas prices soared past $4 a gallon." "Home builders, many of whom expected 2007 would be a rebound year, endured another wrenching stretch of stagnant sales and delayed projects." "The combination of stagnant wages and rising... Read Full Story
Historical fact: Californian home prices fell for roughly six years running from 1990 through 1996. C.A.R. sales report that showed the YOY Californian median used home sales price down by 36 percent Year over Year June Sonoma County Median Price June 2008: $401,500 June 2007: $600,000 Year end Median Home Price trends 1998: $218,950 1999: $244,000 2000: $305,000 2001: $348,000 2002: $375,000 2003: $420,000 2004: $499,000 2005: $591,000 2006: $580,000 2007: $550,000 Freddie Mac on Wednesday... Read Full Story
