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Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tampa socked by huge home price decline
Tampa Bay area home prices fell 19.6 percent from March 2007 to March 2008, bringing our home values back in line with what they were in February 2005, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday.Tampa's home price decline was 7th worst among 20 cities listed on the index. Nineteen of 20 cities reported price declines. Charlotte, N.C., was the only exception. The average price decline was 14.4 percent.
Once again, Tampa-St. Petersburg came off better than Miami and a slew of cities out West. Las Vegas suffered the worst price decline at 25.9 percent. Here's a list of the worst hit areas:
1. Las Vegas: -25.9 percent
2. Miami: -24.6 percent
3. Phoenix: -23 percent
4. Los Angeles: -21.7 percent
5. San Diego: -20.5 percent
6. San Francisco: -20.2 percent
7. Tampa: -19.6 percent
1. Las Vegas: -25.9 percent
2. Miami: -24.6 percent
3. Phoenix: -23 percent
4. Los Angeles: -21.7 percent
5. San Diego: -20.5 percent
6. San Francisco: -20.2 percent
7. Tampa: -19.6 percent
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
US home prices fall at record pace
New York, May 27 Prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged a record 14.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, marking a pace five times faster than the last housing recession, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller national home price index reported on Tuesday.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.2 percent in March from February and plummeted a record 14.4 percent from March 2007.
A separate index released last week by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight showed a much smaller 1.7% decline in prices in the first quarter. In the OFHEO index, prices fell 0.4% during March.
Some economists welcome the drop in prices, saying that the sooner the price declines play out, the quicker that the bottom of the housing market will be reached.
But there's also concern that prices might overshoot on the downside, hurting banks and financial-services firm and hamstringing the economy.
Economists at Lehman Brothers expect national Case Shiller prices to fall an additional 14% to 20%, translating into what would be a peak-to-trough drop of about 25%.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.2 percent in March from February and plummeted a record 14.4 percent from March 2007.
A separate index released last week by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight showed a much smaller 1.7% decline in prices in the first quarter. In the OFHEO index, prices fell 0.4% during March.
Some economists welcome the drop in prices, saying that the sooner the price declines play out, the quicker that the bottom of the housing market will be reached.
But there's also concern that prices might overshoot on the downside, hurting banks and financial-services firm and hamstringing the economy.
Economists at Lehman Brothers expect national Case Shiller prices to fall an additional 14% to 20%, translating into what would be a peak-to-trough drop of about 25%.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Neighborhoods Decimated by Foreclosures in Cleveland
Vandalized homes are just one aspect of the fallout from the national subprime mortgage meltdown that has hit the Ohio city particularly hard. Above, messages on a boarded-up building try to warn away intruders.In Cleveland's Slavic Village, a neighborhood on the southeast side of the city, "termites" have decimated a house once occupied by a couple.
The intruders haven't chewed through the wood or even destroyed the carpets. These termites, as Cleveland City Councilman Tony Brancatelli calls them, are vandals who've stripped the recently foreclosed house of its fixtures, plumbing pipes, windows and wiring.
"It's a very lucrative business. These aren't just necessarily somebody trying to get a fix or a crack head. These are professionals who come in to strip these houses," Brancatelli says. "We saw people in vans with high-powered equipment."
Vandalized homes are just one aspect of the fallout from the national subprime mortgage meltdown that has hit the Ohio city particularly hard. Since 2000, Cuyahoga County, which encompasses Cleveland, has recorded 80,000 foreclosures — the most per capita in the country. Nearly 19 percent of those foreclosures occurred last year, according to city statistics.
'A Wondrous Operation'
The roots of Cleveland's ballooning foreclosure crisis took hold in the 1990s, according to county Treasurer Jim Rokakis. He says he began noticing an alarming increase in the number of home loans that had no visible means of support. Many borrowers were speculators who took advantage of offers touting no money down and cash back at closing.
Often, a single speculator would buy up multiple homes, hoping to cash in at the close, Rokakis says. He cites one speculator who bought up at least five homes in Cleveland.
She "probably received cash back on each of those properties at the close, the mortgage broker was probably a friend of hers, the appraiser was probably working in concert with them," Rokakis says. "The mortgage banker … really didn't care because he knew or she knew that she was going to take these mortgages and sell them to Wall Street.
"And until the bubble burst in sometime around October of 2006, it was a wondrous operation," he says.
Preying on a Sour Economy
Cleveland's wilting economy also has contributed to its suffering city blocks. A quarter of all U.S. manufacturing jobs lost in the past 10 years have been in Ohio, says Ivy Zelman, founder of the equity research firm Zelman and Associates. Many people borrowed against their homes for cash, lost their jobs and could no longer pay their mortgages.
Many others such as senior citizens and minorities were rejected by banks for loans, says Zack Reed, councilman of Cleveland's Third Ward. He says they were easy targets for predatory lenders that offered initial no-interest loans, counting on the fact that their borrowers wouldn't read the fine print about ballooning interest rates down the road.
"Because they were on fixed income, they may have missed a payment or two. Well, they didn't read the bottom line that said [rates] went from 0 percent for missing the payment to 10 percent. They missed another payment. Now it went from 10 percent to 20 percent. Now it's well out of their control," Reed says.
Neighborhoods in Crisis
On one street in Reed's ward, 25 homes stand abandoned. Many have been taken over by drug dealers and prostitutes. In Brancatelli's 12th Ward, 200 homes were demolished last year.
Brancatelli says about 1,000 should come down, which would cost the city around $5 million — money that would not be spent on roads, schools or police protection.
"It's a crime because when you look at this house, it was occupied not too long ago when it was an affordable roof over somebody's head. Now we have to push it into the ground," Brancatelli says of the home stripped by vandals.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Homes sales dip; prices fall sharply
Realtors' group says sales by homeowners declined by 1%, while inventory jumped 10% and home prices tumbled another 8%.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of existing homes slowed in April, while inventory soared according to the latest reading of the sagging housing market by an industry trade group released Friday.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales by homeowners dipped in April to an annual pace of 4.89 million, down 1% from the revised March reading of 4.94 million.
The existing home sales rate - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops - is 17.5% below the 5.93 million units sold in April 2007.
The 4.89 million sales figure came in slightly ahead of the 4.85 million annual pace of home sales that was expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The median price of a home sold during the month fell 8% from a year ago to $202,300, down from $219,900. Prices are being pushed down by the growing number of existing homes on the market.
Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 10.5% to 4.55 million homes available for sale, which represents an 11.2-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 10.0-month supply in March.
Before the start of the current housing slump, it had been 11 years since prices had fallen compared to a year earlier.
"Some markets like San Diego, Calif., and Fort Myers, Fla., are experiencing rising sales after sudden double-digit drops in local home prices, so lower prices and low interest rates are starting to generate results," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist in a report.
Single-family home sales slipped 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.34 million in April from 4.36 million in March, which is 16.1% below the 5.17 million-unit level from one year ago.
The median existing single-family home price was $200,700 in April, down 8.5% from April 2007.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the West actually rose 6.4% in April from March to a level of 1 million, propping up the national average. However, even though sales in the West were up, they are still 15.3% below a year ago. The median price in the West was $285,700, which is 16.7% lower than April 2007.
Sales in the Northeast fell 4.4% to an annual pace of 870,000 in April, 14.7% below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $262,000, which is 7.7% below April 2007.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales were at an annual rate of 1.1 million in April, which is 6.0% below March and 19.7% lower than April 2007. The median price in the Midwest was $159,100, down 2.9% from April 2007.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of existing homes slowed in April, while inventory soared according to the latest reading of the sagging housing market by an industry trade group released Friday.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales by homeowners dipped in April to an annual pace of 4.89 million, down 1% from the revised March reading of 4.94 million.
The existing home sales rate - including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops - is 17.5% below the 5.93 million units sold in April 2007.
The 4.89 million sales figure came in slightly ahead of the 4.85 million annual pace of home sales that was expected by economists surveyed by Briefing.com.
The median price of a home sold during the month fell 8% from a year ago to $202,300, down from $219,900. Prices are being pushed down by the growing number of existing homes on the market.
Total housing inventory at the end of April rose 10.5% to 4.55 million homes available for sale, which represents an 11.2-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 10.0-month supply in March.
Before the start of the current housing slump, it had been 11 years since prices had fallen compared to a year earlier.
"Some markets like San Diego, Calif., and Fort Myers, Fla., are experiencing rising sales after sudden double-digit drops in local home prices, so lower prices and low interest rates are starting to generate results," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist in a report.
Single-family home sales slipped 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.34 million in April from 4.36 million in March, which is 16.1% below the 5.17 million-unit level from one year ago.
The median existing single-family home price was $200,700 in April, down 8.5% from April 2007.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the West actually rose 6.4% in April from March to a level of 1 million, propping up the national average. However, even though sales in the West were up, they are still 15.3% below a year ago. The median price in the West was $285,700, which is 16.7% lower than April 2007.
Sales in the Northeast fell 4.4% to an annual pace of 870,000 in April, 14.7% below a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $262,000, which is 7.7% below April 2007.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales were at an annual rate of 1.1 million in April, which is 6.0% below March and 19.7% lower than April 2007. The median price in the Midwest was $159,100, down 2.9% from April 2007.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Foreclosure Activity Increases 5% from the Previous Month
Foreclosure filings - default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions - were reported on 234,685 properties nationwide in March, a 5 percent increase from the previous month and a 57 percent increase from March 2007, according to RealtyTrac® March 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market ReportTM. The report also shows one in every 538 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing during the month.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Chicago - Downtown dead zone
Downtown condominium developers suffered their worst first quarter in at least a decade, selling just 201 units — an unwelcome trend as unsold condos start piling up.
The total represents an 83% drop from first-quarter 2007, when downtown developers sold 1,207 units, according to a report by Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago consultancy. The only quarter with lower sales in the past 10 years was the last three months of 2001, after the Sept. 11 attacks, when developers sold 92 units.
The speculators who drove the condo boom a few years ago have all but disappeared, and tighter lending standards have made it harder to finance a purchase. The weak economy also is taking a toll, says Appraisal Research Vice-president Gail Lissner.
"Buyers are concerned about whether the market has hit the bottom," she says. Many are asking, "if they buy today, are they going to look foolish 30 days from now?"
More developers are willing to negotiate on price but "in general, developers are not slashing prices," Ms. Lissner says.
The report may understate first-quarter volume because it does not include sales from the Chicago Spire, the Santiago Calatrava-designed 150-story tower at Lake Shore Drive and the Chicago River. Shelbourne Development Group Inc. in Chicago, which is building the 1,194-unit skyscraper, is on a global roadshow to market the condos and says it won't release sales figures until summer.
Still, the sales slide shows few signs of slowing down. Developers sold 3,724 units last year, a 54% decline from the record 8,162 sold in 2005, according to Appraisal Research. At the current rate, they'll be lucky to match even the 3,258 units sold in 1998, the weakest year in the past decade.
With sales stalled, the supply of unsold condos keeps growing. Developers have yet to sell 5,561 units that have been completed or are under construction, up 79% from 3,114 units available at the same time last year, Appraisal Research says. The good news is that the slow sales and tough lending climate are causing more developers to scrap new projects. Downtown developers put seven projects, accounting for 832 units, on hold in the first quarter.
West Loop developer David Wallach is considering apartments instead of condos for a building planned at 111 N. Sangamon St. With none of its 64 units under contract, the project is "in a holding pattern," he says. "There is a record number of unsold units in the marketplace. To add to it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense."
Read more at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?article_id=29800
The total represents an 83% drop from first-quarter 2007, when downtown developers sold 1,207 units, according to a report by Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago consultancy. The only quarter with lower sales in the past 10 years was the last three months of 2001, after the Sept. 11 attacks, when developers sold 92 units.
The speculators who drove the condo boom a few years ago have all but disappeared, and tighter lending standards have made it harder to finance a purchase. The weak economy also is taking a toll, says Appraisal Research Vice-president Gail Lissner.
"Buyers are concerned about whether the market has hit the bottom," she says. Many are asking, "if they buy today, are they going to look foolish 30 days from now?"
More developers are willing to negotiate on price but "in general, developers are not slashing prices," Ms. Lissner says.
The report may understate first-quarter volume because it does not include sales from the Chicago Spire, the Santiago Calatrava-designed 150-story tower at Lake Shore Drive and the Chicago River. Shelbourne Development Group Inc. in Chicago, which is building the 1,194-unit skyscraper, is on a global roadshow to market the condos and says it won't release sales figures until summer.
Still, the sales slide shows few signs of slowing down. Developers sold 3,724 units last year, a 54% decline from the record 8,162 sold in 2005, according to Appraisal Research. At the current rate, they'll be lucky to match even the 3,258 units sold in 1998, the weakest year in the past decade.
With sales stalled, the supply of unsold condos keeps growing. Developers have yet to sell 5,561 units that have been completed or are under construction, up 79% from 3,114 units available at the same time last year, Appraisal Research says. The good news is that the slow sales and tough lending climate are causing more developers to scrap new projects. Downtown developers put seven projects, accounting for 832 units, on hold in the first quarter.
West Loop developer David Wallach is considering apartments instead of condos for a building planned at 111 N. Sangamon St. With none of its 64 units under contract, the project is "in a holding pattern," he says. "There is a record number of unsold units in the marketplace. To add to it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense."
Read more at http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?article_id=29800
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Cities sue banks and lenders to recover costs
Homeowners aren't the only ones claiming they were victimized by the subprime foreclosure debacle sweeping the nation.
Cities now dealing with scores of abandoned, foreclosed homes have started suing banks and mortgage companies to recoup their costs, while other cities are hauling lenders before code enforcement boards and county courts to force them to maintain abandoned properties.
The innovative legal tactics are designed to recoup the city's lost property taxes as well as the cost of fire departments, police, code enforcement or even demolition -- any city services needed to clean up or deal with the foreclosed properties.
Cleveland; Baltimore; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Minneapolis, Minn., have all filed lawsuits against lenders or developers based on the devastating effects foreclosures have wreaked on their communities. The lawsuits were filed in recent months under different theories, in state and federal court.
Cleveland and Buffalo filed suits under public nuisance laws. Minneapolis' suit was brought on consumer fraud grounds, while Baltimore took the unusual approach of filing suit in federal court under alleged Fair Housing Act violations.
In addition to filing a lawsuit in February, Buffalo city prosecutors routinely haul banking officials before the local housing court to force them to fix up foreclosed and abandoned properties.
Read more at http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202421240174
Cities now dealing with scores of abandoned, foreclosed homes have started suing banks and mortgage companies to recoup their costs, while other cities are hauling lenders before code enforcement boards and county courts to force them to maintain abandoned properties.
The innovative legal tactics are designed to recoup the city's lost property taxes as well as the cost of fire departments, police, code enforcement or even demolition -- any city services needed to clean up or deal with the foreclosed properties.
Cleveland; Baltimore; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Minneapolis, Minn., have all filed lawsuits against lenders or developers based on the devastating effects foreclosures have wreaked on their communities. The lawsuits were filed in recent months under different theories, in state and federal court.
Cleveland and Buffalo filed suits under public nuisance laws. Minneapolis' suit was brought on consumer fraud grounds, while Baltimore took the unusual approach of filing suit in federal court under alleged Fair Housing Act violations.
In addition to filing a lawsuit in February, Buffalo city prosecutors routinely haul banking officials before the local housing court to force them to fix up foreclosed and abandoned properties.
Read more at http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202421240174
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