Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fell Less Than Forecast
Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fell Less Than Forecast
September 29, 2009, Bloomberg News
Home values in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas declined less than forecast in the year ended in July, a sign the housing slump that led to the worst recession in seven decades is abating.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index fell 13.3 percent in July from a year earlier, the smallest drop in 17 months, the group said today in New York. Adjusted for seasonal variations, the gauge rose 1.2 percent from the prior month, the biggest gain since October 2005.
Have You Seen Your Realtor Standing in the Shadows?
September 28, 2009, Wall Street Journal
(This is the third installment of a series of posts on the shadow market. See Part 1, and Part 2). Last week offered a rude awakening for anyone who assumed the housing bust was over. As existing home sales slumped and home-building stocks sank, Laurie Goodman of Amherst Securities Group came out with a scary pre-Halloween report about the extent of the “shadow” housing inventory — the overhang of likely-to-be-foreclosed homes that have yet to hit the market. Various pundits have estimated the size of this shadow inventory in the millions. Ms. Goodman put a more specific estimate on it: 7 million homes. That’s well above the 5.1 million annual U.S. sales rate for previously occupied homes, as reported for August.
60 Million Mortgages May Have Fatal Flaws
September 29, 2009, RISMedia
The latest chapter in the mortgage meltdown is being written in court, as one by one, judges are putting a halt to foreclosures. The latest was a recent Kansas Supreme Court case. In Landmark National Bank v. Kesler, the court held that a nominee company called MERS had no standing to bring a foreclosure action. Nor was Kansas the first. In August 2008, Federal Judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada ruled MERS had no standing. ”Indeed, the evidence is to the contrary, the Note has been sold, and the named nominee no longer has any interest in the Note.” In September of 2008, a California Judge ruling against MERS concluded: “There is no evidence before the court as to who is the present owner of the Note. The holder of the Note must join in the motion.”
New Laws Tackle Nasty Foreclosures
September 28, 2009, LasVegasNow.com
Assembly bills 140 and 361 free up HOAs and municipalities to increase fines for brown lawn laws and mosquito-gestating pools. AB 361 goes farther by allowing HOAs to go onto property and clean up the exteriors. HOAs would foot the bill first and then place a lien against the owner or bank. Some cities and Clark County already place administrative fines on buildings, but the new legislation increases the fines to up to $1,000 a day. Both bills passed during the 2009 session by wide margins.