Putting an End to No Notice Evictions

May 25, 2009 · Posted in General Economics · Comment

This report shows some disturbing videos about no notice evictions, evictions that take place with as little as 25 minutes notice. The crime here is that often the units are rented out to paying tenants who know nothing about the foreclosure or the upcoming eviction:

I disagree with the term “pro growth policies”. I would rather say that policies of credit expansion are anti-growth. Regarding no notice evictions: Such a practice is theft . tenants are being deprived of housing which they paid for responsibly and are contractually entitled to. And what an incredibly stupid practice from banks’ perspective to vacate occupied units in this market!

Recently President Obama put an end to such theft by signing a Federal law protecting renters after foreclosure:

A new law passed by Congress and signed yesterday by President Obama provides protections for tenants whose landlords fall into foreclosure. Under the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, tenants have the right to stay in their homes after foreclosure for 90 days or through the term of their lease. The bill also provides similar protections to housing voucher holders. The protections go into effect immediately and expire at the end of 2012.

… a decent move among a lot of insanity.

Tags: evictions, housing market, las vegas, no notice evictions

New Housing Starts & Permits Test Record Lows

May 20, 2009 · Posted in General Economics · Comment

2-4 Unit Housing Starts (60 yr and 5 yr chart respectively):

New Privately Owned Housing Units (60 yr and 5 yr chart respectively)

Housing Permits for Private Housing Units (60 yr and 5 yr chart respectively):

Tags: housing market, housing permits, housing units started

Ron Paul in 2003 – “The Damage Will Be Catastrophic”

May 16, 2009 · Posted in Politics · Comment

Ron Paul in 2003 to the banking committee:

The special privileges granted to Fannie and Freddie have distorted the housing market by allowing them to attract capital that they could not attract under pure market conditions. Like all artificially created bubbles, the boom in housing prices cannot last forever. When housing prices fall, homeowners will experience difficulty as their equity is wiped out. Furthermore, the holders of the mortgage debt will also have a loss. These losses will be greater than they would have otherwise been had government policy not actively encouraged over-investment in housing, the damage will be catastrophic.

Tags: fannie mae, freddie mac, housing market, ron paul

Freddie asks Treasury for $30.8 bln after big loss

March 12, 2009 · Posted in Business · Comment

MarketWatch writes Freddie asks Treasury for $30.8 bln after big loss:

(…)
Treasury had already injected almost $15 billion into Freddie last year, in return for senior preferred stock in the mortgage giant. After the latest investment, the government’s preferred equity stake will be $45.6 billion, the company said.

Despite huge losses, the government is still pumping billions of dollars into Fannie and Freddie, because they’re crucial to the housing market. Most mortgages are either purchased or guaranteed by these companies and the Treasury and Federal Reserve have promised continued support to try to keep money flowing and halt the real estate slump.

The Federal Government holds the taxpayer accountable for a total preferred equity stake of $45.6 billion while the company’s common equity is worth $270 million. All this money is going down a huge money hole. ” Treasury and Federal Reserve have promised continued support to try to keep money flowing and halt the real estate slump” – To hell with their endless assurances and promises. None of their policies will end the real estate slump. It is here and now and won’t go away for a long long time, thanks to precisely these interventions.

Tags: freddie mac, home prices, housing market

Major Collapse in High End Properties Underway

March 12, 2009 · Posted in General Economics · Comment

Bloomberg writes Greenwich Home Sales Fell Most on Record Last Month:

Greenwich, Connecticut, home sales dropped 77 percent in February, the most on record, as Wall Street firms cut jobs and buyers retreated from multimillion- dollar purchases, Prudential Connecticut Realty said.

Seventeen homes sold last month, down from 75 a year earlier, the biggest annual decline for any month since 1976, when broker John Cooke of Prudential Connecticut began collecting the data. Sales of houses priced $2 million to $3 million fell 80 percent, with two properties selling last month, the broker said. The median sales price declined 2 percent to $1.76 million.

“Greenwich, despite its imputed affluence, is still a part of the world, and like every place else, it suffers from buyers and sellers not agreeing on the value of illiquid assets — one of those being real estate,” said Roger Pearson, a Greenwich real estate lawyer and former mayor of the town.

Banks, insurance companies and securities firms have cut more than 180,000 jobs in the Americas in the past year in the recession, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Greenwich, a town of about 61,000 about an hour’s drive northeast of Manhattan, is a bedroom community for Wall Street and known as the U.S. hedge fund capital since more than 100 such companies are based there.

In Greenwich, there’s a long-held conviction that prices never fall.

People who still think that there will be some high-end properties in some areas that won’t be affected from the housing crash should erase that thought from their minds quickly. In fact, it is rather likely that high end properties will see a slump that is much more severe than that of less expenisve ones.

Tags: home prices, housing market

Glenn Beck Spot on on Housing and the Economy

March 1, 2009 · Posted in General Economics · Comment

Housing prices & chart:

On borrowing, spending & the necessity of deflation:

Tags: glenn beck, housing market

Rents Begin to Fall

January 22, 2009 · Posted in General Economics · 2 Comments

It took a while but finally the collapse in housing, coupled with an overall contraction, is beginning to affect rents.

In recent months, headlines have been popping up noting that rents – finally – are beginning to follow home prices into the abyss.

Since the housing market began to crumble, would-be homeowners were forced to become renters, keeping demand for rental units relatively strong even as home prices fell. Now, however, as landlords convert condos into rentals, supply is beginning to move in tenants’ favor.

Commercial real estate has been feeling this pain for a while already. Now there is enormous downward pressure on residential rents also. More and more landlords will begin to proactively lock in long term leases at lower rents. Tenants have a lot of leverage. Looking for new places to rent will be a good way to exercise that leverage.

Tags: housing market, rents

Listen to Peter Schiff

November 30, 2008 · Posted in General Economics · Comment

Below please find some clips that show why one should listen to Austrian economists such as Peter Schiff, and why one should turn off the TV when he sees any of the mainstream pundits talk:

August 2006:

December 2006:

2006-2007 Compilation

Now watch Peter on a recent clip from September 2008. The guy who is trying to debate him utterly resembles the boneheads from the two clips above, doesn’t he?

Tags: consumer debt, housing market, peter schiff, savings

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