housing crisis

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Depression-Era FHA Tries to Save Mortgages

Long-sidelined agency now a central player in the credit crisis

(Newser) - It’s been a while since the Federal Housing Administration was relevant. But now policymakers are counting on the Depression-era agency, which mostly insures mortgages, to once again solve a housing crisis. FHA-insured loans are swiftly becoming substantially cheaper than their Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac backed counterparts. “The...

Homeownership Is No Cure-All
Homeownership Is No Cure-All
OPINION
Mar 3, 2008 1:00 PM CST

Homeownership Is No Cure-All

Time to think about the costs, not just the perks, of owning a home

(Newser) - One casualty of the housing bust may be the American belief that homeownership is the universal key to a strong economy and healthy society, writes James Surowiecki in the New Yorker. The idea that homeownership leads to greater investment in the community may be true, but owning a home in...

Sinking Home Values Lead to 'Walkaways'

Owners grappling with negative equity can afford to pay but choose not to

(Newser) - Freefalling home values may be creating yet another crisis in the mortgage industry. The new phenomenon: homeowners capable of paying their mortgages who walk away, unwilling to pour money into a property that’s worth less than they originally paid. "It may not be a big thing yet, and...

Senate GOP Stymies Dem Housing Relief

Republicans say plan to aid homeowners would inflame crisis, hurt lenders

(Newser) - Capping a week of gridlock, GOP senators yesterday blocked consideration of a Democratic-backed housing-relief bill. The mortgage industry had fought hard against the proposal, which would allow judges to slash interest rates for low-income homeowners facing bankruptcy, the Washington Post reports. The bill also included billions of dollars for local...

Paulson Raps Mortgage Rescue Plans
Paulson Raps Mortgage Rescue Plans
Feb 28, 2008 7:06 AM CST

Paulson Raps Mortgage Rescue Plans

Says taxpayers shouldn't finance 'bailouts' for reckless lenders and borrowers

(Newser) - Homeowners burned by the subprime mortgage meltdown shouldn't be looking to the federal government for help, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told the Wall Street Journal yesterday. Facing down mounting congressional pressure for stronger measures to stem an epidemic of foreclosures, Paulson dismissed proposals on the table as "bailouts" for...

Despite Fed, Silicon Valley Bullish on Economy

Many tech workers not seeing US slump

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke’s report to Congress on monetary policy offered a grim outlook on the economy, but ABC News sees some signs that good news may be around the corner: workers in Silicon Valley, a national economic bellwether, feel good about their prospects. Rising exports, the recently-passed stimulus package and...

Home Seizures by Banks Jump 90% in Year

Lenders reclaim 45K properties as mortgage payments rise

(Newser) - Banks seized more than 45,000 homes in January, nearly double the number from a year ago and up 8% from December, Bloomberg reports. Rising adjustable-rate mortgage payments were the culprit. Total foreclosure filings, which include default and auction notices in addition to seizures, increased 57% to 233,001, the...

Mortgage Crisis: Judges to the Rescue?

Democrats back plan to let jurists change loan terms

(Newser) - Over the loud objections of lenders, Senate Democrats are lining up behind a plan to give bankruptcy judges the power to alter mortgages, the LA Times reports. The proposals could go to the floor as early as today. “This bill will have more impact… than any other option currently...

Dour Housing Market Slams Home Depot Q4 Results

Profits drop 27%, and the company says 2008 isn't looking very bright

(Newser) - Continuing US housing market woes, showing no signs of letting up, helped drag Home Depot’s fourth quarter profits down 27% over the same quarter last year, to $671 million from $925 million. The world’s largest home-improvement retailer also predicted fiscal-year earnings will drop 19% to 24%, more than...

Feds Brace for a Wave of Bank Failures

FDIC hires extra staff to help with boost in 'problem' banks

(Newser) - Federal regulators are gearing up for as many as 100 bank failures in the next year—the most since the savings and loan crisis that saw more than 1,000 S&Ls go belly up in the ’80s and ’90s—as the subprime contagion continues to decimate the...

Feds Ponder Rescue Plans as Housing Slump Worsens

More than 10% of homeowners are 'upside down' on mortgages

(Newser) - With one in 10 US homeowners owing more on their homes than they’re worth, the highest proportion of negative-equity loans since the Depression, the government is weighing plans that would apply the brakes to the rapidly accelerating housing market collapse, the New York Times reports. Possibilities include federal loan...

During Bust, Green Groups Make Land Grab

Conservationists snatch idle land from developers' hands

(Newser) - As the subprime debacle rips through real estate, leveling home values and clogging the market with unsold property, an unlikely group of vultures is descending, reports Newsweek. Conservation groups and local governments alike, which sat on the bench during the last boom, are snapping up land from would-be developers to...

Dems Tread Similar Paths on Economy
Dems Tread Similar Paths
on Economy
Feb 15, 2008 9:57 AM CST

Dems Tread Similar Paths on Economy

Neither Clinton nor Obama venturing far into populist Edwards territory

(Newser) - With the Ohio and Pennsylvania primaries on the horizon, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are fine-tuning economic visions that have more similarities than differences, reports the Washington Post. Both candidates promise to ease the middle class tax burden while putting pressure on corporations that send jobs overseas, and to protect...

Lenders Throw Lifeline to Struggling Borrowers

A new plan pauses foreclosure actions while new repayment plans are worked out

(Newser) - Six top US mortgage lenders will launch a program today aimed at helping at-risk borrowers avoid foreclosure. Aimed at  homeowners more than 90 days delinquent on loans, Project Lifeline will forestall foreclosure actions for 30 days while lenders try to work out new payment options, reports the Wall Street Journal....

State Lenders Choke Bush's Fight Against Foreclosures

Housing agencies won't risk lending to debtors

(Newser) - President Bush’s goal of helping subprime borrowers by offering tax-exempt bonds is meeting resistance from state lenders, Bloomberg reports. Risk-averse state housing agencies are already turning down over half the applicants to their own programs intended to help those affected by the crisis, due mainly to applicants’ existing financial...

Negative Equity Adds Another Crippling Factor

Forbes examines pitfalls of having a loan worth more than home

(Newser) - Foreclosure is scary enough, especially at its current pace—79% more US homes foreclosed in 2007 than the year before. But, Forbes writes, the housing crisis is dumping an even scarier problem on mortgage holders around the country: negative equity, in which a mortgage is worth more than the house...

Economic Growth Slowed to a Crawl in Q4

Economy in far worse shape than analysts predicted

(Newser) - Economic growth braked so violently in the fourth quarter of 2007 that it wiped out a stellar third quarter, dragging annual growth to a 5-year low. Last quarter’s 0.6% GDP growth—after 4.9% pace in Q3—was just half what analysts expected, as the housing component plummeted...

US Recession May Imperil Global Tourism

UN body predicts slower international travel growth in 2008

(Newser) - The number of international tourists could decrease this year if the US falls into a deep recession, but the UN is "cautiously optimistic" that 2008 will be the fifth straight year of growth, Reuters reports. After 2007's record 898 million tourist trips, a 6.2% jump over 2006, the...

Consumer, Housing Numbers Slump
Consumer, Housing Numbers Slump
Jan 29, 2008 11:14 AM CST

Consumer, Housing Numbers Slump

News isn't all gloomy: Demand for durable goods surges

(Newser) - Consumer confidence fell a bit less than expected but still approached a 2-year nadir in January, reinforcing fears that Americans will put the brakes on personal spending. In other economic reports out today, the S&P/Case-Shiller housing-price index report showed a 7.7% year-over-year drop for November, Bloomberg reports, and...

Rosy Realtor Ads Omit Pesky Housing Crash

NAR campaign claims slumping market is a can't-lose investment

(Newser) - Apparently, real estate is a can’t-fail investment right now. Or at least, that’s the questionable gospel the National Association of Realtors is preaching, in a blitz of new commercials claiming that home values, on average, double every 10 years, and that a home is “the key to...

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