REOs Dominate Many Markets

REOs Dominate Many Markets
Inman News

The foreclosure market “is the housing market” in 2009, analysts at Deutsche Bank say in a new report that's skeptical about the effectiveness of the recently passed $787 billion stimulus bill to revive housing markets. The report warns of the lurking “shadow inventory” of real-estate owned (also known as bank-owned or REO) properties and homes slated for auction that haven't showed up in multiple listing service (MLS) data.

U.S. Eyes Large Stake in Citi
Wall Street Journal

Citigroup Inc. is in talks with federal officials that could result in the U.S. government substantially expanding its ownership of the struggling bank, according to people familiar with the situation. While the discussions could fall apart, the government could wind up holding as much as 40% of Citigroups common stock. Bank executives hope the stake will be closer to 25%, these people said.

Dealers, Dreamers See Gold in California Housing Bust
Reuters

California’s tortured real estate market has brought heartbreak and ruin, but some investors, speculators and first-time home buyers are also dreaming big and finding opportunities — a silver lining in the Golden State's epic housing crash. “This is the buying opportunity of our lifetime,” said Bruce Norris, who heads an investment group that expects to purchase some 100 homes this year in Southern California’s Inland Empire region.

'Nationalize' the Banks
Wall Street Journal

Nouriel Roubini is always dressed in black-and-white.  Mr. Roubini — a month short of 50 — is in huge media demand, the nearest thing to a rock-star among the economists who hold our fate in their hands these days. The peculiar thing, of course, is that he's in demand because he specializes in predictions of gloom. (He has earned himself the sobriquet of “Doctor Doom.”)  In person, though, he's anything but a downer.

Greenspan Backs Bank Nationalization
Financial Times

The US government may have to nationalize some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman, has told the Financial Times. In an interview, Mr. Greenspan, who for decades was regarded as the high priest of laisser-faire capitalism, said nationalization could be the least bad option left for policymakers.