From Bloomberg:
Homeowners With Negative Equity Fall Below 20% of U.S. Borrowers
The share of U.S. borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth fell to less than 20 percent in the first quarter as prices surged in hard-hit markets, according to CoreLogic Inc.
About 850,000 residential properties gained positive equity during the quarter, leaving the number of underwater homes at 9.7 million, or 19.8 percent of all U.S. homes with mortgages. That’s down from 21.7 percent at the end of last year, the Irvine, California-based real estate data provider said today in a report.
…
“The negative-equity burden continues to recede across the country thanks largely to rising home prices,” Anand Nallathambi, president and chief executive officer of CoreLogic, said in a statement today. “We are still far below peak home-price levels, but tight supplies in many areas coupled with continued demand for single-family homes should help us close the gap.”The aggregate value of negative equity in the U.S. fell to $580 billion in the first quarter from $631 billion at the end of last year.
The majority of home equity is concentrated at the high end of the market, according to CoreLogic. For mortgaged homes valued at more than $200,000, 88 percent are above water, compared with 73 percent for properties worth less than that, the firm said.
Interesting report from HUD:
Spotlight on the Housing Market in the New York-Newark- Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA
More inventory? From USA Today:
More Americans say time is right to sell homes
More Americans say now is a good time to sell a home than at any time in the past three years, a rise in confidence that could lead to more sellers and, eventually, smaller home price gains.
In May, 40% of Americans said it was a good time to sell a home, up from 30% in April and 16% a year before, according to a survey from mortgage giant Fannie Mae.
The big jump from March was the largest in the survey’s three-year history and was likely inspired by strong home price gains.
The jump may also foreshadow a lessening of the inventory crunch of homes for sale that’s fueled rapid home price gains in many markets.
“Sentiment toward selling a home appears to be catching up with the strengthening housing market,” says Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae.
From HSH:
Immigration reform could really help housing
U.S. immigration reform could provide a big boost for the nation’s housing sector, according to a new analysis from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) in San Diego, Calif.
NAHREP estimates that the path to legalization, proposed by the Obama Administration, could result in $500 billion in real estate sales, more than 3 million new homeowners, $28 billion in real estate commissions, $25 billion in mortgage origination fees and $180 billion in consumer spending associated with homeownership over five years. Those projections are based on an assumption that as many as 6 million undocumented immigrants would pursue legalization and possibly citizenship, NAHREP said in a statement.
…
“They’ve been here for years, working and participating in our economy. Legitimizing them through immigration reforms would finally give them the access and confidence to buy homes,” Martinez said. “If we can get past the anti-immigrant sentiment that has so strongly colored the national conversation around immigration reform, we will see how much our U.S. economy has to gain by legitimizing these people.”
Many undocumented foreign-born people have age and income characteristics similar to other potential homeowners, and with household incomes of about $40,000, many of them could afford a home worth $173,600, the national median sales price, NAHREP said.
I had wondered when we would see this . . .
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/12/tech/new-jersey-cell-phone-traffic-stop/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
When one set of assumptions don’t give you the results you want, change the assumptions. . . .
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100806733
My mom was hit head on by a kid in an SUV who crossed over the double yellow while texting. Combined speed was likely to be well over 55 mph based on the damage to the vehicles. My mom tried to stop/avoid but could not swerve due to vehicles in the right lane. She still goes to physical therapy 4 or 5 years later.
I wouldn’t mind seeing distracted driving or using a cell while driving treated more like a DUI.
I firmly believe that if she wasn’t driving a car with the highest rated ranking in offset front-end collision (Acura TL) she’d probably have gotten killed. We made her get an Acura RL after that, just based on how well the TL did in the collision. The SUV (I think it was an explorer, but maybe a blazer or something) fared horribly in the crash. Most of the engine and front axle was torn free and separated from the frame.
sorry to hear that….
Stop being correct or else I will develop a mad internet crush on you……I still want the little jerkweed off’ed with a bullet in the temple though……
joyce says:
June 11, 2013 at 3:35 pm
No, sorry but I dismissed most of the rest of it due to (borrowing your line from #104) “it does a good job of creating an emotional response, but it does nothing to provide a solution.”
chicagofinance says:
June 11, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Is that your casual rationalization to dismiss the rest of it?
joyce says:
June 11, 2013 at 3:11 pm
Very disappointing that this was the first thing that came to your mind.
chicagofinance says:
June 11, 2013 at 2:20 pm
I have nothing to hide, so I don’t really care honestly.
chicagofinance says:
June 12, 2013 at 8:13 am
BTW here is the latest song…video is a chopped up version so it doesn’t do justice….you get some titty in the shadows though, so all is good…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt-28iNQnwY
Juice Box says:
June 11, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Chi I read they are coming around Aug/Sept are you still shopping for new Doc Martens?
[6] grim,
It should be treated thus.
I’m going to chalk this one up to noise/volatility , from MarketWatch:
U.S. mortgage applications rise 16%
The total number of mortgage applications filed in the U.S. last week jumped 16% from the prior week despite an increase in interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.
The market composite index was up 5% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended June 7 from the previous week, according to the weekly survey covering more than three-quarters of all U.S. residential-mortgage applications. Last week’s results included an adjustment for the Memorial Day Holiday.
The refinance index increased 5% from the prior week. The seasonally adjusted purchasing index also advanced 5% from a week earlier.
Interest rates have risen in recent weeks amid stronger economic data, though these still-low rates have attracted new buyers and persuaded many homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
[6] grim,
Unfortunately, there are a host of legal issues with a bill like that. And I have an advantage in that I can tell a cop that my phone contains privileged communications, nd if he searches it, he could jeopardize prosecutions. Won’t really do anything except piss off a cop though.
Here’s a patent idea – If anyone patents it and strikes it rich, just remember to give me a cut.
Use the embedded GPS in a smartphone to know that the phone is traveling on a road, a very easy thing to do. Disable phone, sms, and web use while “traveling”. Easy to differentiate between rail and road, so the phone functions would still function while on a train.
Problem solved, now all we need to deal with are the millions of bitching teenagers.
RE: cell phone;
What are they going to get from the phone itself that they can’t get from a subpoena of the driver’s phone records?
14 – Immediacy of information? Is this any different than requiring a breathalyzer?
I believe the NJ drivers license application process includes a consent to a breathalyzer test, why couldn’t they just include the cell phone provision as a requirement of licensure? Driving is not a right.
15
Grim,
What benefit is it getting the information slightly earlier than they lawfully could using Moose’s/similar suggestion?
[15] grim,
You don’t have a spoliation issue here that justifies superseding elemental search and seizure law. Moose is right, the records can be subpoenaed, just as they are (routinely) done now. Or a request can be made in the field and if a driver refuses, go get a warrant to seize the phone. Judges are on call 24/7 for this purpose.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/government-surveillance-lawsuits_n_3426850.html
SAN FRANCISCO — Before there was Edward Snowden and the leak of explosive documents showing widespread government surveillance, there was Mark Klein – a telecommunications technician who alleged that AT&T was allowing U.S. spies to siphon vast amounts of customer data without warrants.
Klein’s allegations and the news reports about them launched dozens of consumer lawsuits in early 2006 against the government and telecommunications companies. The lawsuits alleged invasion of privacy and targeted the very same provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that are at the center of the latest public outcry.
That was seven years ago, and the warrantless collection continues, perhaps on an even greater scale, underscoring just how difficult the recently outraged will have in pursuing any new lawsuits, like the one the American Civil Liberties Union filed against the government on Tuesday in New York federal court
Chi – Black Sabbath will be at the PNC in August. That will be my concert for the summer, their new Album 13 does not even have a trace of the pop music, they have been reborn. Might as well go see them one more time before they check out.
“The End Of The Beginning” – Live in New Zealand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7wkNL9oR_8
The cops can seize my phone but I will never give them the code to unlock it. Three strikes and you are out smoky, it will brick itself.
[18] Brian,
Where’s Lyle when you need him?
http://swampland.time.com/2013/06/07/former-nsa-chief-was-worried-about-enemy-of-the-state-reputation/
[20] juice
Good luck with that.
We should just go full on Dash Cam for everyone, it should be a embedded feature in every auto.
Russia is way ahead they have lots and lots of dash cams.
http://autos.aol.com/article/woman-fakes-car-hit-russians-dash-cams/
[13] grim,
The tech exists. Issue is whether to require providers to implement it on all devices.
http://mashable.com/2012/12/08/apps-texting-while-driving/#gallery/5-apps-to-prevent-texting-while-driving/50c35a10b589e41a4f050b0f
[23] juice,
It’s coming. That will be the next gen of snapshot. I predict cams will be offered as a manufacturer option within 7 years, earlier for commercial vehicles.
Nom – sure I could spend a few nights in jail to make a point but it is possible to be ahead of smoky since he usually isn’t so smart. I could give him three wrong passwords and let him do the bricking for me. Heck I could make it one attempt and it will brick itself, go get a warrant smoky.
Speaking of big brother auto tech.
Just like the EDR “black box” installed in every new car since 2007, the Feds have been dreaming up other ways to make autos safer, specifically pushing for tech to lock you out of the ignition if you are drunk or high.
TruTouch Technologies has a non invasive alcohol scan.
“TruTouch Technologies is commercializing a novel, optical based, non-invasive sensor that quickly and accurately measures alcohol intoxication while simultaneously verifying user identity using light through the skin. The sensor is fast (less than 20 seconds), easy to use, self administered, and cost-effective.”
Scan you for drugs and alcohol with no need to blow into a tube or take a blood sample. We may see this tech everywhere one day.
The FEDs even have a nifty acronym for their big brother alcohol detection auto tech.
“DADSS”
Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety
http://interlockfacts.com/downloads/DADSS_NHTSA_InAllCars_1-31-11_HL.pdf
Guy on CNBC just made a connection between housing and lumber prices…1 year out, current fall in lumber prices will telegraph a drop in housing in 2014…..unless he is wrong….
Footage of Libtard’s Beer League…..
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/echl-justin-pender-attacks-player-ball-hockey-game-160922029.html
[28] juice,
Just remember not to put the window down too much. That flashlight that the cop is waving around inside your car while he is talking to you is actually a breathalyzer device.
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9906/16/driving.while.illuminated.tt/
[26] juice,
” I could give him three wrong passwords and let him do the bricking for me”
N.J.S.A. 2C:29-3a(7) and N.J.S.A. 2C:29-3b.(4)
19 – Juice, get tickets to the festival show Alice In Chains is headlining in august, and we can ponder effective concealed alcohol consumption practices in the lot. btw, their new album is great, if any of u out there used to like them.
chi, looks like your in the minority on that one:
http://rare.us/story/poll-what-should-happen-to-nsa-leaker-edward-snowden/
Grim [13];
How would the app know if you’re the driver or a passenger?
My WP (7.5) doesn’t have Siri, but it does read incoming text messages aloud and a passable job of accepting simple voice commends in response (“Call Home”, basic dictation for txt reply).
It’s all overdone. It’s the texting that is causing the issue. Has anyone here ever attempted to text and drive. I occasionally respond with an ‘OK’, and even that is incredibly difficult. Why not just call the person? That’s what I usually do when I’m driving. And I have bluetooth.
OT Alert: The Jersey jokes just keep writing themselves . . .
http://todaynewsgazette.com/snooki-rutgers-speech-32000-2/
[36] libtard,
It is impossible. I’ve tried it and its scary. Even checking is dangerous. And its not the easiest thing to do to say, just put it down. It’s addictive and therein lies the danger.
I’m seriously thinking of putting it in the glovebox when I drive so I can’t get to it but the phone will still work through bluetooth.
Responses should be segregated by geography…..who lives, works, or frequently visits NYC, and everyone else……
BearsFan says:
June 12, 2013 at 11:33 am
chi, looks like your in the minority on that one:
http://rare.us/story/poll-what-should-happen-to-nsa-leaker-edward-snowden/
I understand where your coming from, but your hinting at some things there that scare me a bit if u follow the trail, lol.
“Responses should be segregated by geography…..who lives, works, or frequently visits NYC, and everyone else……”
The End Is Nigh (JJ Medical Malpractice Edition):
WILMINGTON, Del. — A truck driver who says a pen!le implant gave him an erection that lasted eight months described in court Tuesday how the procedure caused him to withdraw from much of life, wearing long, baggy sweat pants and a long shirt to hide his condition.
Daniel Metzgar, 44, of Newark, testified in New Castle County Superior Court in Wilmington in his medical malpractice lawsuit against Wilmington urologist Dr. Thomas Desperito. He told jurors the inflatable prosthesis made him feel like less of a man.
Colleen D. Shields, Desperito’s lawyer, said in her opening statement that sometimes bad medical results occur through the fault of no one. She also said that the urologist told Metzgar the prosthesis had to be removed four months after the surgery when Metzgar complained of an infection and that the erection wasn’t going down.
Shields said Metzgar didn’t do anything for months after that visit, the News Journal of Wilmington reports.
Metzgar had the procedure in December 2009. He said he lost his insurance afterward and didn’t have $10,000 he said Desperito wanted before he would do the surgery.
The prosthesis was removed in August 2010 after tubing from the device punctured Metzgar’s scrotum. He now has a replacement prosthesis from another doctor.
But Metzgar says scar tissue from the first surgery left him about 50 percent smaller and he does not get the same level of sensation.
Metzgar and his wife, Donna, are seeking unspecified damages from Desperito and his medical group.
I don’t even touch or look at the cell phone while driving, instead relying upon a very high tech iButler system: its iVoicemail app plays a greeting to each caller and records any voicemail they may leave. Its iText app cleverly routes any new text messages to a location called “Inbox.” Both iVoice and iText messages are easily read upon arrival.
From the horse’s mouth dept.:
I have a contact at BLS with whom I routinely joust with over the unemployment numbers. I look to him for granularity when it comes to interpreting what we see/hear in the media. In response to an article about a Fed paper suggesting that lower growth/loss numbers move the needle (due to lower participation), he had this to say:
“Nobody has changed the “rules” aside from changing an obsolete rule of thumb. Besides, the unemployment rate is not what really matters. The employment to working age population ratio is what really matters.”
Another friend who is at Amex, weighed in with “Our eco team tracks [BLS contact name] 2nd point as a key health metric, globally as well. Europeans are particularly observant of this number.”
Finally, my BLS contact said this of the Fed’s paper: “This does not affect official reporting. It reflects the increasing irrelevance of the unemployment rate.”
41. Where’s JJ anyway? working??
Probably out mowing lawns.
Sabbath without Bill Ward is not Sabbath. They could have brought a second drummer to help him if he was physically limited. Don’t leave him at home. Alice in Chains without Layne…just not possible.
The level of tech illiteracy among the rank and file is amazing. The Chinese can turn on your cell phone and turn it into a listening device whenever they want. If you think our gov’t is any less capable…BTW, our laws are far stricter (regardless whether we follow them) than any other nation. If you have travelled anywhere in Europe, Asia, Russia etc., you have been tapped. Every key stroke, every cell call, every VOIP, every snail mail letter sent. The gov’t did not invoke 1984, we invited the gov’t into our living rooms. You think a car with GPS is immune?
I saw a TV show with Phil Anselmo fronting AIC for some tracks….it came off well….
re # 43 – Nom – I will project JJ here. Sure there are 100 million working age adults not in the workforce. Put the women back in the kitchen and you suddenly have no unemployment. In 1964 there were less than 20 million women in the workforce, today it is 70 million and projected to grow.
And if serving JJ counts as a job, there would be close to 1 million more women in the current workforce.
midwest. flight oversold, hotel’s solid booked, car rental w/o cars, very busy they said. weekday and bars overflowing. met clients, they complain how bad the economy is. they are hiring like crazy, profits up, lots of dough sitting on the balance sheet. expansion projects in full swing. economy is bad, they repeat.
A Derecho headed our way? Is it time to invest in roll down Hurricane shutters? The one that hit Atlantic City last year but missed up north really made a mess.
anon,
They are packed because businesses and business travellers are doing fine. Average consumer..nope. Those companies are probably paying less than 5 years ago because they can..probably have more skill requirements tabot
Anon [51];
flight oversold, hotel’s solid booked, car rental w/o cars,
Just because businesses are at capacity, it doesn’t mean that “Happy Days Are Here Again!” If an airline cut flights by 50%, and is now oversold, does that tell you that the economy is booming? It tells me that things are pushing 50% lower than boom times.
It may suggest an opportunity; but one would be wise to consider that the airline and car rental companies are seeing this increased demand for themselves, and presumably are in a relatively low-cost position to capture that demand (v. a new entrant) by bringing more capacity on-line. Yet they have not committed the resources to do so. Do you presume they are that inept at their trade?
Someone put it best..recruiters in the financial sector are only looking for those individuals with 7 -10 years experience with Dodd Frank implementations. Job Market is hot,hot,hot for this skill set.
Bystander [56];
Someone put it best..recruiters in the financial sector are only looking for those individuals with 7 -10 years experience with Dodd Frank implementations. Job Market is hot,hot,hot for this skill set.
Dodd-Frank was passed in 2010. Just proves what I always knew – HR people are HR people because they suck at math. The recruiters, on the other hand, will give them exactly what they are asking for.
ByStander – I’m gonna comment assuming you haven’t checked any of their new stuff…..u should listen to Duvall first. He’s not Lane, but he’s damn good, and it’s them. In 3 seconds you know it’s them.
Their last album before this one was stellar as well, and I’ve seen them live twice the last 3 years and both times were memorable. I know where your coming from, they’ve been my one of my fav bands for 20 years. give em a listen.
Bears agree Duvall is good. Black gives way to blue has some really great tracks. Take her out, title track, your decision being my faves. Doesn’t matter just glad they are still making great music again. Would be better if Layne was still here but he isn’t. Does not mean I’m going to ignore listening to good music.
Don’t get me started on that abortion that ac/dc with Brian Johnson is though.
Painhrtz – yeah, Last of My Kind was my fav on BGWTB. new album, im really diggin Phantom Limb.
grim,
I think you were the one bemoaning the death of non power assisted steering. Here is a review that goes to the other end.
http://drive.jalopnik.com/this-is-what-its-like-to-drive-the-new-porsche-911-gt3-512926880
For those that want the best cheapest RWD Hoon mobile. Order the BMW 320 with the manual trans and the sport pack. You get a detuned version of the 328 that you can chip right back up.
NSA not a topic I really want to get into but there are a few things out there that need to be addressed.
The first is what they have done is actually legal. I posted back in 2008 the consequences of the vote on FISA as the 4th amendment went under the bus. Unfortunately I think most of my posts from that era were deleted due to an issue with the person I was arguing with.
Part of the problem has always been that wiretap law and interstate commence law has never caught up to the real world, its still caught in the 30’s. If they never tapped a copper line, I think the NSA are good. Its like those music artists fighting for royalties from downloads. Your contract never kept up with technology.
Add in the amendments to FISA under GWB (yes him) and this action is untouchable.
Most of PRISM is in the Public Domain. Here is the funny thing, most of the technology behind this system was put in the public domain by the NSA. There is nothing new here. As JJ pointed out, he can request access to the same files on a background search. With that he can build the same level system to interrogate the data. There is a lot of good work came out if this. For those of a CompSci bent, this is great reading. http://www.pdl.cmu.edu/SDI/2013/slides/big_graph_nsa_rd_2013_56002v1.pdf
Finally, overall I don’t have a problem with this. This action will catch bad guys. Now some in here will freak over that, but I do recall a discussion in here a load of years back were the consensus was that the best form of government was “Benevolent Dictator”.
Your dictator says this is good.