Current Housing Indicators |
| CURRENT | PREVIOUS | ||
| Existing Home Sales | 4.49m | ▼ | 4.74m |
| New Home Sales | 309,000 | ▼ | 344,000 |
| Housing Starts | 583,000 | ▲ | 477,000 |
| Building Permits | 547,000 | ▲ | 531,000 |
| HMI | 9 | UNCH | 9 |
| Existing Home Prices | $170,300 | ▼ (annually) | $199,800 |
| New Home Prices | $201,100 | ▼ (annually) | $232,400 |
More Videos
- Treasury On Mortgage Modifications
- Citi Mortgage Reveals What Treasury Won't
- Investors May Skew Housing Reality
- 100% Mortgage Financing From USDA
- Despite Government Aid, Foreclosure Crisis is Not Improving
- Housing Data Delivers Mixed Messages
- Appraisals Now Center Stage in Housing Recovery
- Underwater Mortgages Could Sink Even Deeper
- First Time Buyers Rescue Housing: Realtors
- Housing Recovery 'Still In Uncharted Territory': HUD Secretary
MOST SHARED
- Kuoni CEO Sees Recovery in Travel Sector
- Dubai Struggles to Ease Debt Fears; Investors Rattled
- Gold Retreats from Record High as Dollar Rebounds
- China Unveils Carbon Target Ahead of Copenhagen
- Euro Shares Record Biggest Drop in 7 Months
- No Thanksgiving Rest for Retailers in Sales Race
- Hyundai-Kia Targets Rapid China Growth in 2010
- Great Britain, No Longer That Great: Investor
- Fannie Mae to Tighten Lending Standards: Report
- US Markets Bracing for Selloff On Worries About Dubai's Debt
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- US Markets Bracing for Selloff on Dubai Debt Worries
- Dubai Struggles to Ease Debt Fears; Investors Rattled
- US Dollar Falls to 14-Year Low Against the Yen
- UK's Darling to Downgrade 2009 Growth Forecast
- US Companies Already Moving on Curbing Emissions
- Fannie Mae to Tighten Lending Standards: Report
- Investing in Good Karma – and Making a Profit
- Retailers Should Believe in Christmas Miracles
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
RSS FEED
Realty Check
Text Size 
 |
AP |
I mean they have to be, right? We’ve got all these government and private sector programs in place now to help people modify, refi, and stave off foreclosure in some way.
I posed the question to all the experts I spoke with, and I didn’t get the answers I expected. Doug Duncan of the MBA said rising energy prices and a weakening economy could add to rising delinquencies and foreclosures. But what about a drop in delinquencies due to all these programs??
“We’ve been looking for indicators of that,” said Duncan. “The two critical issues--one is will house prices stop declining? If house prices stop declining and flatten out--which we don’t expect in the first half of 2008--then the numbers would tale off, so I guess what I’m saying is we expect some more increases.”
Another analyst I spoke with said that with credit squeezing up tighter than ever now, people have fewer options to refi. Also, more and more people, and not just those “speculators” are walking away from homes because they don’t see any point in making payments on a loan for a home that’s worth less than the mortgage. And we’ve yet to see the bulk of the subprime ARM’s reset. So there’s that.
One particle of good news is that the increase in the increases seems to be slowing, that is, the rate of delinquencies rose faster in the third quarter than in the fourth, even though both went up. I know--I’m really stretching here.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes