April New Home Sales and March Home Prices

From Bloomberg:

S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. Home-Price Index Falls 14.4%

Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in March by the most in at least seven years, pointing to weakness in the housing market that will constrain economic growth.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 14.4 percent from a year earlier, more than forecast and the most since the figures were first published in 2001. The gauge has fallen every month since January 2007.

Prices continue to slide as record foreclosures put more homes on the market and stricter lending standards make it harder to get loans. Falling home values are slowing consumer spending, threatening to halt the six-year expansion.

“Many households are putting their home-buying plans on hold, given the expectations that the house price corrections will persist,” Celia Chen, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “The housing downturn remains in full swing.”

Prices dropped 2.2 percent in March from a month earlier, after a 2.6 percent decline in February, the report showed. The figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes instead of month-to- month variations.

From Bloomberg:

New-Home Sales in the U.S. Rose 3.3% to 526,000 Pace

New-home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly rose in April after readings for the prior month were revised down, signaling a worsening housing slump is still a threat to the economy.

Sales increased 3.3 percent to an annual pace of 526,000 from a 509,000 rate the prior month that was the lowest in 17 years, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. A separate report today showed home prices dropped in the first quarter by the most in at least 20 years.

Concern about declining home values and stricter loan rules are limiting demand and foreclosures are throwing even more properties on the market. Federal Reserve policy makers view the prospect of larger decreases in house prices and the effect that would have on financial institutions as a “key source” of risk to growth.

“There’s certainly more room for declines in home sales,” Adam York, an economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina, said before the report. “People will be reluctant to buy, lenders will be reluctant to lend. We don’t think a leveling out in the housing market is coming anytime soon.”

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221 Responses to April New Home Sales and March Home Prices

  1. grim says:

    We’ve got competition!

    http://www.fhamortgagecenter.com/contest/view.php?id=73

    Hudson County Rules apply, vote early, vote often!

  2. grim says:

    From the NY Times:

    Auto Industry Feels the Pain of Tight Credit

    The auto industry is getting sideswiped by the housing crisis.

    Auto lenders and banks, closing their wallets, have prevented hundreds of thousands of consumers from obtaining the financing for a car. Home equity loans, which had been used in at least one of every nine deals, when lenders were more generous, are no longer a source of easy money for many prospective buyers. And used-car prices have fallen nearly 6 percent as repossessed cars and gas-guzzling trucks and S.U.V.’s flood auction lots.

    Those forces, on top of the softening economy, are putting enormous pressure on the American auto industry as it faces what may be its worst year in more than a decade. About 15 million vehicles are expected to be sold in 2008, down from 16.2 million last year, as sales reach the lowest levels since 1995, according to the marketing firm J. D. Power & Associates.

    The impact on the broader American economy could be profound. Not only is the car a consumer’s biggest purchase after the home, but the auto industry remains one of nation’s most important economic engines. With less money available to bolster the industry’s growth, the businesses that support it are also facing the prospect of a sharp slowdown.

  3. grim says:

    From Bloomberg:

    Libor Cracks Widen as Bankers Struggle With Reforms

    “Even when the market knew UBS was massively exposed and Lloyds wasn’t, that was not reflected in Libor,” said Antony Broadbent, an independent banking consultant and former analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in London.

    Such discrepancies are creating a crisis of confidence in the London interbank offered rate published daily by the London- based BBA and taken from the contributions of UBS, Lloyds TSB and 14 other banks. Rates on corporate bonds, leveraged buyouts loans, derivatives and even U.S. mortgages are pegged to Libor.

    The criticism has prompted the BBA to accelerate a review of the 24-year-old system of setting rates. The findings, due May 30, may determine how fast the banking industry recovers from the credit crisis.

    “You’ve got to fix Libor,” said Tim Bond, head of asset allocation strategy in London at Barclays Capital, a unit of Barclays Plc, one of the banks that provide quotes to the BBA. “You don’t ever want to be in a situation like this again, where people can get away with quoting whatever rate they like. Real people get hurt like this.”

  4. grim says:

    From the WSJ:

    U.S. Home Prices Lure Foreigners
    By ALEKSANDRA TODOROVA
    May 27, 2008; Page D6

    Americans’ love affair with real estate may be cooling, but — thanks to falling home prices and the weak dollar — attention is heating up from another group of suitors: foreign investors.

    Foreign buyers have long looked to certain U.S. markets, such as high-end properties in Manhattan or South Beach Miami, as investment opportunities.

    These days, however, real-estate professionals report increased international interest in a much larger range of properties, from $60,000 single-family homes in South Florida’s inland neighborhoods to $1 million waterfront villas located just miles from the Canadian border in Washington State.

    Almost one in five, or 18%, realtors surveyed by the National Association of Realtors last year said they sold homes to international clients between April 2006 and April 2007. More recent data aren’t yet available, but according to anecdotal evidence, those numbers continue to rise.

  5. grim says:

    From LoHud:

    Condo developments stall in Port Chester

    Crumbling houses still sit in the spaces on North Main Street where a developer once envisioned two dozen condominiums priced for middle-class professionals.

    In late 2006, Nick DiFilippo, a Greenwich, Conn.-based real estate developer, proposed tearing down the dilapidated buildings at 417-425 and replacing them with 1,100 square-foot two-bedroom condos that would cost between $300,000 and $400,000.

    “I pulled the plug because of the housing market,” DiFilippo said. “Just to borrow (money) to do the development is impossible. No one is loaning money.”

    DiFilippo noted that even when developers can obtain a bank loan for a project in the county, they worry about being able to find buyers who can also afford the area’s high real estate taxes.

    While DiFilippo has completely abandoned his project, other planned developments in the village have stagnated.

  6. grim says:

    From the WSJ:

    UBS Warns Of Losses Tied To Real Estate
    By STEVE GOLDSTEIN
    May 27, 2008; Page C7

    UBS AG warned it may have to record losses on non-U.S. real estate as it seeks nearly $16 billion from shareholders to repair a dented balance sheet.

    In a prospectus for a share sale, UBS said economic and market conditions were volatile and challenging into the second quarter.

    The Swiss bank last week said it plans to sell $22 billion of U.S. residential-mortgage-backed securities to BlackRock Inc. for $15 billion, with UBS providing an $11.25 billion loan to the fund manager in the process.

    But as the subprime troubles cool down, others have heated up. UBS’s exposure to auction-rate securities, used mostly in municipal financing, increased to 11 billion Swiss francs ($10.7 billion) from six billion francs during the first quarter.

    UBS said in the prospectus that its unprofitable positions in real-estate markets outside the U.S. “could increase.”

  7. grim says:

    From USA Today:

    Skipped dues crunch home associations

    A modest housing tract, set amid pecan trees here in suburban Phoenix, faces big problems: About 40% of its homeowners aren’t paying their association fees, leaving neighbors with higher assessments and reduced services.
    “We’re looking at a very deep hole,” says Kent Miller, president of the Los Arbolitos Homeowners Association in Avondale. “I don’t know how we’re going to get out of it. We’ve put liens on all the (delinquent) properties, but it doesn’t do any good.”

    It’s a scenario being repeated across the country. Delinquent fees at condo and homeowner associations have become an outgrowth of the mortgage crisis. Housing cooperatives, in a squeeze because of unpaid fees from struggling homeowners, are scraping to pay for landscaping, maintenance, pools, recreation centers and other amenities.

    “It’s happening all over,” says Frank Rathbun, a spokesman for the Virginia-based Community Associations Institute. “It’s a national problem.”

    The institute estimates there are 300,000 homeowner and condominium cooperatives nationwide, representing one in every five Americans. Assessments, which resemble self-imposed community taxes, total about $40 billion a year.

    Though it’s not known just how many delinquencies have hit community associations nationally, the problem has escalated with a surge in foreclosures. The number of homes in the USA facing foreclosure in April jumped 65% over the same month in 2007, RealtyTrac reported this month.

    To cope with unpaid fees, association leaders have tried to become creative. Many are negotiating discounted service contracts, running volunteer cleanups, cutting insurance coverage and attending seminars on how to collect money from members.

  8. sas says:

    “Skipped dues crunch home associations”

    I wonder how many of these are “flipped” condos/townhouses?

    That would be an interesting stat.

  9. sas says:

    When UBS & Citi collapse, I will be seen doing a dance in the street.

    These 2 companies are crooked, their board members are morons, and I don’t feel sorry for them. They deserve everything they get.

    crash and burn… what a sweet sound & a great smell.

    ;)
    SAS
    SAS

  10. grim says:

    From the AP:

    End of US Housing Slump Likely to Be Long, Painful

    Like spring flowers, the “For Sale” signs are sprouting in front yards all over the country. But anxious sellers are facing the most brutal environment in decades, with a slumping economy, falling home prices and rising mortgage foreclosures.

    And even the faint promise of better days ahead might not come true, given all the headwinds the housing industry is facing at the moment.

    “This is going to be another difficult spring,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “I think we are at the beginning of the end of the housing downturn, but it is going to be a long and painful end.”

    The devastation is certainly a far cry from the boom years from 2001 to 2005 when sales of new and existing homes were setting records for five straight years. During that time, home prices were soaring, luring thousands of investors into the market, hoping to buy homes and flip them for quick profit.

    But since 2006, the country has been mired in a housing bust which, in many ways, is the worst since World War II. Construction is expected to drop to the slowest pace since the 1940s and prices are expected to decline by the largest amount since the Great Depression.

  11. sas says:

    “Bank failures to surge in coming years”

    http://tinyurl.com/44n57d

    SAS

  12. sas says:

    Is it me, or is this a doublespeak statement?

    “I think we are at the beginning of the end of the housing downturn, but it is going to be a long and painful end.” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com

    This guy must have went to the same mail to order school as what his name… its start w/ an O.
    ;)

    In any case, housing will get alot worse.
    more resets are on the way
    so called “prime loans” are next…

    better wipe that smile off your face

    SAS

  13. sas says:

    Grim,

    are you familiar with housing & loans during the “redline” days?

    Do you think those days will come back?
    I think they will.

    Its getting interesting.

    SAS

  14. sas says:

    For those not familiar with “Redline”,

    bank would take a Red markers, draw circle/red lines, around different areas on your local maps, and whatever streets/addresses fell in that red circle, they didn’t get any credit/loans. End of story.

    but during the RE boom, the redlines were gone, and anyone (even people without incomes) and everyone got RE loans.
    and now look what you get..

    SAS

  15. grim says:

    From the WSJ:

    Home Sales Rise in Hard-Hit Areas
    Buyers Snatch Up
    Foreclosed Properties
    After Big Price Cuts
    By JAMES R. HAGERTY
    May 27, 2008; Page A3

    Home sales are rising in some U.S. metropolitan areas where lenders have slashed prices on foreclosed properties.

    Generally, home sales remain weak. The National Association of Realtors reported last week that sales of previously occupied homes in April were down about 18% from the already depressed year-earlier level.

    But sales are up sharply in some of the areas hit hardest by foreclosures and falling prices. They include: Las Vegas; Sacramento, Calif.; Fort Myers, Fla.; and inner-city Detroit.

    Though Americans remain wary of further drops in housing prices, the data from these areas show that some buyers are trolling for bargains. Sellers “have moved into the acceptance mode” and are pricing homes more realistically, says Thomas Lawler, a housing economist in Leesburg, Va. “I think it is the first stage of good news for the market.”

    Lenders’ inventory of foreclosed homes has steadily increased in the past couple of years and is believed to total around half a million homes. Many lenders initially were slow to slash prices, partly because they hoped to avoid huge losses. But more lenders have been capitulating as it becomes clear that delays often merely result in lower proceeds and higher costs for taxes, insurance and upkeep.

    That doesn’t mean housing is poised for a quick recovery. In much of the U.S., there is still a huge glut of homes for sale, and foreclosures continue to dump more property on the market. Realtors reported that the number of single-family homes on the market in April was enough to last 10.7 months at the current sales rate, the highest since 1985. During the housing boom of the first half of this decade, the supply typically was four to five months.

  16. kettle1 says:

    SAS

    redlines were also ruled discriminatory by the courts. the banks may redline again, but they will be inc court for it. you probably know better then i, that the intent of many of the lending rules over the 90’s ( if i remember correctly, perhaps it was the 80’s) were to force banks to loan to low income high risk individuals when they normally wouldnt.

  17. kettle1 says:

    is this where it starts???

    Coin investors irked as U.S. curbs sales of ‘silver eagles’

    The government rationed food during World War II and gasoline in the 1970s. Now, it’s imposing quotas on another precious commodity: 2008 dollar coins known as silver eagles.

    The coins, each containing about an ounce of silver, have become so popular among investors seeking alternatives to stocks and real estate that the U.S. Mint can’t make them fast enough. In March, the mint stopped taking orders for the bullion coins. Late last month, it began limiting how many coins its 13 authorized buyers worldwide are allowed to purchase.

    http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-coins0526,0,107845.story

  18. grim says:

    How can we reward savings when such a significant portion of our economy is based on consumer spending? A pro-savings policy would be anti-growth, recessionary perhaps.

    Nothing new here, the Treasury slashed their annual limits prior to the start of the new year.

    Annual Purchase Limit For Savings Bonds Set at $5,000

    The annual limitation on purchases of United States Savings Bonds will be set at $5,000 per Social Security Number, effective January 1, 2008. The limit applies separately to Series EE and Series I savings bonds, and separately to bonds issued in paper or electronic form. Under the new rules, an individual can buy a maximum of $5,000 worth of electronic and paper bonds of each series in a single calendar year, or a total of $20,000, in single ownership form. If paper bonds are issued in co-ownership form, the limit applies to the first-named co-owner. All limits are based on the issue price of the securities.

    The reduction from the $30,000 annual limit in effect for both series since 2003 was made to refocus the savings bond program on its original purpose of making these non-marketable Treasury securities available to individuals with relatively small sums to invest.

  19. grim says:

    From Bloomberg:

    Wall Street Dismissals, Not as Bad as ’01, Signal Worst to Come

    It’s as if the entire workforce at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley vanished in less than a year.

    From Tokyo to London to New York, financial companies announced plans to shed more than 83,000 jobs since last July as revenue and compensation pools evaporated, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg. The dismissals range from 90 jobs, or 0.1 percent of the total, at London-based HBOS Plc to about 9,160 jobs, or 66 percent of the workforce, at New York-based Bear Stearns Cos., which is being acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

    The cuts add up to 3.3 percent of employees at the 28 firms eliminating positions. That’s significantly less than the market slump from 2000 to 2003, when 17 percent of banking and securities jobs in New York were wiped out, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show. Given the record-breaking losses of the past year — banks and brokers have taken $383 billion of writedowns and credit losses — some economic forecasters and industry veterans expect the number of dismissals to increase.

    “My guess is there’s probably more to come,” said Sanford “Sandy” Weill, chairman emeritus of Citigroup Inc., who worked on Wall Street for 53 years, in a May 21 interview. “I think this is tougher” than the last market decline, Weill, 75, said.

  20. grim says:

    From the Boston Globe:

    Mass. housing sales post big drop

    Massachusetts home prices had their biggest monthly drop in two decades in April, the Warren Group reported today.

    The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts was $305,000 last month, down 12 percent from $346,750 in April 2007, said the Warren Group, the Boston-based publisher of real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

    That drop was the steepest decline since the Warren Group began recording prices in 1987, the firm said.

    The number of single-family homes sold in the state during April declined 12 percent to 3,215, from 3,654 a year ago, the Warren Group said.

    The median price of a Massachusetts condominium fell 1.8 percent from $274,950 in April 2007 to $270,000 in April 2008, the Warren Group said.

    On a volume basis, condo sales fell 22.2 percent in April from 2,204 last year to 1,714.

    “In the early 1990s – during the last big housing slump – prices fell in 42 of 48 months,” Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement. “Since March 2006, when prices first started to fall in this current slump, there have been price declines in 20 of the 26 months. But the early ’90s price declines weren’t as dramatic as the drops we’re seeing now. Let’s hope that these lower prices bring buyers back to the market so this slump will have a shorter duration than the 48 months we endured in the 1990s.”

  21. Shore Guy says:

    From last night re. ZILLOW:

    A few days ago, someone asked what people thought of Zillow’s “Zestimates.” Here is my very recent experience.
    A home that we had some cursory interest in at Bradley Beach has a current “Zestimate” of $536,500. The house is currently listed at $439,900. That is one heck of a percentage difference. That “Zest” must involve some 150 proof spirits, or some speed.
    From my discussions with the RE agent, it would not surprise me to see the house go for $350,000. At the current price, the owners are taking a $100,000 haircut.

  22. Frank says:

    Foreclose Tour in LI

    If anyone sees foreclose tour in Hoboken, please let me know.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/24726372

  23. Will V. says:

    ‘Sellers “have moved into the acceptance mode” and are pricing homes more realistically, says Thomas Lawler’

    Not around these parks, people are still stubborn around here.

  24. Bottom seeker says:

    Spent the long weekend at the Sandcastle on Long Beach Island at the Shore. Without question, it is the best B&B we’ve stayed at. The innkeeper is tremendous, and the stay was outstanding. Weather wasn’t awesome Saturday or Monday, but Sunday on the beach was sublime.

    Saw a plot of land for $540,000 on the Bayside – it was maybe 30 yards from the Bay with a clear view. We’re tempted.

  25. Shore Guy says:

    # 5 “DiFilippo said. “…No one is loaning money.”

    Pet peeve moment. What ever happened to the word lend? When one lends one makes a loan. “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend (not loan) me your ears.” To paraphrase Yoda, “there is no loaning.”

  26. John says:

    You know I am begining to miss the credit crisis. This commodity inflation and high oil prices is just so drawn out and boring. The credit crisis was exciting with chances to jump in and get 5% Munis and 9% investment grade bonds.

    Plus why should people price realistic, my friend needs X to move, if she can’t get X she can’t move and she will stay in home. She hopes some idiot will overpay in a long shot and if not she will let listing expire and realtor got stuck with expense of trying to sell. Once death, divorce and dispair make people sell at a realistic price.

  27. 3b says:

    #19 grim:“I think this is tougher” than the last market decline, Weill, 75, said.

    Yeah Sandy? Well pret says it is not, so there.

  28. Sean says:

    Builders are lowering prices from Sunday NY Times, but are expecting a turnaround.

    Quote from Robert Toll.

    “We’ve had five good years, from 1982 to 1987, and then we had three really bad years in ’88, ’89, ’90, followed by five tepid years from ’91 to ’95, followed by 10 great years,” he said. “And we now have had two and a half years of one of the worst markets.”

    “I’ve seen this movie four or five times now, and I assure you this, too, shall pass.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/realestate/commercial/25sqft.html?ref=business

  29. Rich In NNJ says:

    From MarketWatch

    Home prices fall 14.4% in past year, Case-Shiller says

    The decline in U.S. home prices picked up speed in March, with prices down a record 14.4% in the past year for 20 key cities, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s.

  30. Young Buck says:

    From the Bond Buyer:

    http://www.bondbuyer.com/article.html?id=20080523F2N4W0PW

    Vallejo, Calif., Friday filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protections, becoming the largest municipality to seek protection from creditors in more than a decade.

  31. Rich In NNJ says:

    From MarketWatch

    Home prices fell at record pace in first quarter: S&P

    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 14.4 percent from March 2007.

    Economists expected prices for the 20-city index to fall 2.0 percent on month and 14.0 percent from a year earlier, according to a median in a Reuters survey.

    S&P said its composite index of 10 metropolitan areas declined 2.4 percent in March, for a 15.3 percent year-over-year drop.

  32. Rich In NNJ says:

    Oops, post 31 is from Reuters.

  33. Shore Guy says:

    # 12 “I think we are at the beginning of the end of the housing downturn, but it is going to be a long and painful end.” ”

    This reminds me of watching from afar as a couple’s marriage falls apart. For a long time there is a refusal to acknowledge that it is going to end in a divorce and then when that realization finally hits it takes time to work through the process to the “long and painful end.” So, just because everyone and their mother now seems to realize that there is a real problem in the housing markets, there is no reason to believe that things will now turn around quickly.

    The housing industry has lept out of the plane and pulled the ripcord but the chute has not deployed; we know how it will end, but there is a bit of distance to be covered before the bitter end.

  34. Shore Guy says:

    # 16 “the intent of many of the lending rules over the 90’s ( if i remember correctly, perhaps it was the 80’s) were to force banks to loan to low income high risk individuals when they normally wouldnt.”

    And we see how well that worked out.

  35. Shore Guy says:

    # 20 “Let’s hope that these lower prices bring buyers back to the market so this slump will have a shorter duration than the 48 months we endured in the 1990s.”

    Why? If assets are overpriced, the prices should drop. If the underlying basis for an increase in prices does not exist, why should we hope prices increase?

  36. Rich In NNJ says:

    From AP via Yahoo:

    US home prices drop at sharpest rate in 20 years

    A closely watched housing index shows U.S. home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter.

    The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller said Tuesday its U.S. National Home Price index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the lowest since its inception in 1988.

    Its narrower indices also set record declines. The 20-city index tumbled 14.4 percent during the quarter, the lowest since that index was started in 2001. The 10-city index plunged 15.3 percent, a record in its 20-year history.

    “There are very few silver linings that one can see in the data. Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path,” said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P’s index committee.

  37. John says:

    Han-ne, Hachi-gake, Niwari-biki.
    (Half the price, then 20% off, again 20% off.)

  38. Shore Guy says:

    # 37 But how many people would say that 50% off, then another 20% off,and then another 20% off leaves one with just 10% of the original price, instead of 32% of the original?

  39. Rich In NNJ says:

    Calculated Risk has the data in chart form for those who prefer pictures

    S&P Case-Shiller National Index off 6.7% in Q1 (from Q4)

  40. grim says:

    From Bloomberg:

    S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. Home-Price Index Fell 14.4% in March

    Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in March by the most on record, pointing to continued weakness in the housing market that will further drag on the economy.

    The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 14.4 percent from a year earlier, more than forecast and the most since the figures were first published in 2001. The gauge has fallen every month since January 2007.

    Prices continue to slide as record foreclosures put more homes on the market and stricter lending standards make it harder to get loans. Falling home values are slowing consumer spending, threatening to halt the six-year expansion.

    “Many households are putting their home-buying plans on hold, given the expectations that the house price corrections will persist,” Celia Chen, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “The housing downturn remains in full swing.”

    Prices dropped 2.2 percent in March from a month earlier, after a 2.6 percent decline in February, the report showed. The figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes instead of month-to- month variations.

    The index was forecast to drop 14 percent following a 12.7 percent drop in February, according to the median estimate of 9 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Estimates ranged from declines of 12.9 percent to 15.1 percent.

  41. Rich In NNJ says:

    John (37),

    Did you get that from the comments section of the MarketWatch story, “Home prices fall 14.4% in past year, Case-Shiller says”?

  42. Shore Guy says:

    # 40 ““Many households are putting their home-buying plans on hold, given the expectations that the house price corrections will persist,” ”

    All the more reason not to prolong things by trying to prop up prices through legislative action, no?

  43. Fiddy Cents on the Dollar says:

    Re: Redlining

    They are doing it in a much more subtle way these days. There are no red magic markers outling neighborhoods on maps in the lender’s conference rooms.

    The “Declining Markets Zip Code” list is being used to force better Loan To Value ratios. Which is another way of saying….come up with more down payment money. Which has the effect of severely limiting the amount of loans that get funded.

    So put away your grease pencils.

  44. prtraders2000 says:

    Memorial Day Story

    I was at the family GTG this weekend and one my relatives with a young family proclaimed that they were about to put there house on the market right after they are done with their bathroom remodel. Now they bought their place in Elizabeth in 2004 for $360,000. They plan on a FSBO listing at $625,000! They’re hoping to downsize into a place that will be fully paid off with their huge gain so they won’t have to worry about a mortgage payment once their 3rd kid shows up. This is why I stopped looking at FSBOs a long time ago. Dreamers.

  45. Young Buck says:

    $625K in Elizabeth? Good luck. Not even in Elmora Hills will they get that.

  46. Sean says:

    This month Fannie Mae dropped the Zip Code policy based upon pressure from Minority groups and the NAR, they also lowered the downpayments to of 3 percent to 5 percent.

    There will be no redlining this time around, it is going to be a bust for everyone.

    Batten down the hatches…….

  47. Fiddy Cents on the Dollar says:

    Oh my…..3 kids and they’re downsizing?? This could turn out all wrong. I wonder what their breakeven number is, based on the purchase price plus improvements.

  48. prtraders2000 says:

    They’re in the Westminster area. The immediate surroundings are nice. I’d say they put 100K in max as the FIL does most of the work at cut rate labor. Apparently, there is a popular synagogue in walking distance that they believe will add a premium to their place.

  49. John says:

    41, yep but I have heard that before. Japan called lots of bottoms in it’s RE slump but a lot of times you got 50% off and then a pause and then 20% off and then a pause. I think buying on dips has been working for over 25 years and people are used to it. But this time the bottom may drag on kind of like TMA Thornmburg stock. That thing would hit a bottom go sideways a few weeks and hit a new bottom and went sideways a few weeks, it suckered in a lot of people on those false bottoms. RE may do the same thing this time. Bottom line is when REO/Short Sales come up near me I go look, but I can’t even break even on the rental even with a 200K price cut. I have a lot of repairs and insurance headaches with owning a rental property so if the rent can’t even come close to covering mtg and taxes whet is the point might as well by a safe 3.5% muni and sit back and relax.

  50. Frank says:

    Sign of a bottom?

    April new single-family home sales rose 3.3 percent

    http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080527/usa_economy_newhomes.html?.v=1

  51. Fiddy Cents on the Dollar says:

    Fannie may have removed any reference to the “Zip List”, but you can be assured that the big players (Countrywide, et al) are referring to it on a daily basis.

  52. Young Buck says:

    I live 5 minutes up North Ave, in North Elizabeth. Yes, Westminster (near North Ave & towards Hillside)is a nice area with a large Jewish community. Further down Westminster Avenue, however, are huge projects.

    A quick search of their competition on Westminster Ave on the MLS has 1 listing. 607-611 Westminster Ave, 4Br 1.1Ba, DOM: 139, OLP $399,000, LP $379,000

  53. Rich In NNJ says:

    Frank (52),

    Sign of a bottom?

    No.

    “…but they were down 42 percent from a year ago, which was the largest year-over-year drop in nearly 27 years, government data on Tuesday showed.”

  54. make money says:

    #51 John,

    Exactly my point.

    20% DP, Assume 80% occupancy, subrtact all expenses, minimum 4 family but prefer to start with six, 30 yr fixed rate, no section eight, in order to be worth looking at it it must produce a small positive cash flow assuming all of the above.

    There needs to be a positive ROI immediately to compensate for my DP, risk, and time.

    Use this formula and investment properties have been overpriced since 2003.

    That’s why make money is a blog name only for the past three years.

  55. Sean says:

    re:(53) Fiddy –

    Don’t think for one second that the lenders especially the most egregious of them all Countywide is not out there still trying to game the system.

    a 3% downpayment option sounds awfully like NO MONEY DOWN.

  56. grim says:

    From MarketWatch:

    U.S. April new-home sales up 3.3% to 526,000 pace

    U.S. April new-home sales first rise in six months

    U.S. April new-home sales down 42% year-on-year

    U.S. April new-home sales weakest in 26 years yr-on-yr

  57. grim says:

    From MarketWatch:

    U.S. May consumer confidence below 59.5 expected

    U.S. May consumer confidence at 16-year low

  58. Rich In NNJ says:

    From MarketWatch

    U.S. May consumer confidence at 16-year low

    U.S. consumer confidence extended its tumble in May to reach a 16-year-low, the Conference Board reported Tuesday, as inflation expectations reached a record high on rising gas prices. The May consumer confidence index fell to 57.2 from a reading for April that was revised up to 62.8 from a prior estimate of 62.3. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a May reading of 59.5. The percentage of consumers saying jobs are “hard to get” rose to 28.0% from 27.9% in April, while those claiming jobs are “plentiful” fell to 16.3% from 17.1%.

  59. Fiddy Cents on the Dollar says:

    Sean:

    Oh yeah, that extra down payment money sounds like a Cover Your Azz vig.

    And 3% down on a $400K purchase price is $12K. If they can’t come up with 12 large….then maybe they should stick to renting!

  60. Rich In NNJ says:

    From MarketWatch

    U.S. April new-home sales rise for first time in six months

    U.S. home sales rose 3.3% in April, the Commerce Department estimated Tuesday. The rise in new-home sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 526,000 was in line with the expectations of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Economists said the increase was not a signal of a rebound in home sales. New-home sales are down 42.0% compared with a year ago, the biggest drop since September 1981. The months’ supply of homes on the market fell slightly to 10.6 months from 11.1 in March. Median sales prices rose 9.1% to $246,100.

    Emphasis added

  61. Hehehe says:

    Is Lehman Brothers New Red-Headed Stepchild Of Financial Service?

    http://www.minyanville.com/articles/MER-lehman-C-citigroup-bank-merrill/index/a/17304

  62. Rich In NNJ says:

    From MarketWatch (Audio)

    Economist Joel Naroff: Housing Index indicates slump will last “an awful long time”

    Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors and chief economist with Commerce Bank, tells Nancy Lyons that the latest S&P/Case Shiller Index showing a 14 percent yearly drop in home prices is a sign that the housing downturn will run “an awful long time.” He says it’s an extraordinarily large decline – the largest he’s ever seen. He predicts the housing slump will last through this year and maybe through the first half of next year. He says the increase in foreclosures is putting downward pressure on prices. He also says buyers are beginning to believe there’s still a long way to go before the bottom is hit, so they’re holding back on making offers on homes.

  63. Centaur Kid says:

    Grim #18 – Best part about I-Bonds is the fixed component went to 0% in the last adjustment on 5/1/08. (Sarcasm Off) From the Treasury Direct Website

    “I Bond Earnings Rate 4.84%, Fixed Rate 0.00%
    The earnings rate for Series I Savings Bonds is a combination of a fixed rate, which applies for the life of the bond, and the semiannual inflation rate. The 4.84% earnings rate for I bonds bought from May through October 2008 will apply for their first six months after issue. The earnings rate combines a 0.00% fixed rate of return with the 4.84% annualized rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The fixed rate applies for the 30-year life of I bonds purchased during this six-month period. The CPI-U increased from 208.490 to 213.528 from September 2007 through March 2008, a six-month increase of 2.42%.”

  64. John says:

    3% is nothing down. Most banks use realtors to sell home when they take it back and most homeowners use realtors to sell. 3% down barely covers transaction costs on a FSBO and for a realtor sale it is a good loss. Anything under 10% down is really zero down, if you have to sell right away with a realtor. Banks are foolish to give any loan for less than 20% down that they can’t sell immediately to fannie or freddite unless fees and rates are skyhigh. Hence the problem, banks are accused of redlining or targeting minorities if they jack fees or charge high rates and if they don’t provide mortgages to communities with high risk people they are redlining.

    Housing policy is like saying everyone deserves a brand new cadilac and everyone deserves one regardless of if they have the downpayment or could pay the loan back. That sounds crazy but that is how we gave housing loans for the last ten years.

  65. Hobokenite says:

    Anyone know what the original March sales # was? Just curious if they got a 3.3% gain by revising March down by 3.3%.

  66. Rich In NNJ says:

    Okay, I need a computer savy individual to tell me what I need to do in order to vote for this site again.
    I keep getting “You have already voted for this site”.
    I tried deleting temporary internet files, cookies and form data within IE, but that’s no help.

  67. Shore Guy says:

    # 58 “U.S. April new-home sales up 3.3% to 526,000 pace

    U.S. April new-home sales first rise in six months

    Any data on the number/% of these sales are builders slashing prices to clear-out inventory and lessen exposure to further declines?

  68. Shore Guy says:

    # 64 “He also says buyers are beginning to believe there’s still a long way to go before the bottom is hit, so they’re holding back on making offers on homes.”

    We have finally hit the Homer Simpson moment: Doh!

  69. Rich In NNJ says:

    Paramus
    2432322 Sold (Zero down…)
    SLD 800 COTTONWOOD CT $630,000 6/24/2005

    COMPLETELY REMODELED. GENEROUSLY USE OF MARBLE AND GRANITE. BRAND NEW KITCHEN WITH GRANITE COUNTERTOP, STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES AND MARBLE FLOOR. ALL BATHS ARE MARBLE. HUGE NEW DRIVEWAY, NEW ROOF, NEW EXTERIOR
    2618197 Withdrawn
    ACT 800 COTTONWOOD CT $929,000 5/9/2006
    PCH 800 COTTONWOOD CT $879,000 6/6/2006
    W-U 800 COTTONWOOD CT $879,000 10/15/2006
    2643846 Withdrawn (New broker/agent)
    ACT 800 COTTONWOOD CT $780,000 11/12/2006
    PCH 800 COTTONWOOD CT $792,000 1/2/2007
    PCH 800 COTTONWOOD CT $782,000 5/7/2007
    PCH 800 COTTONWOOD CT $769,900 7/30/2007
    W-T 800 COTTONWOOD CT $769,900 9/30/2007
    2739994 Withdrawn (New broker/agent)
    ACT 800 COTTONWOOD CT $729,000 10/1/2007
    ACT* 800 COTTONWOOD CT $729,000 3/12/2008
    U/C 800 COTTONWOOD CT $729,000 3/21/2008
    W-U 800 COTTONWOOD CT $729,000 5/27/2008
    2821360 Active
    ACT 800 COTTONWOOD CT $649,000 5/27/2008

  70. 3b says:

    #62 Rich:Median sales prices rose 9.1% to $246,100.

    And of course the all is well crowd will be focusing on this number.

  71. Frank says:

    #68,
    Re-start your cable modem to change the IP address or use a different firewall.

  72. Salty Steve says:

    can someone post past sales information on
    2476348?

    …thanks in advance.

  73. Rich In NNJ says:

    Haworth
    2531279 Sold
    SLD 206 PARK ST $734,500 6/29/2006

    2725051 Withdrawn
    ACT 206 PARK ST $775,000 6/19/2007
    W-T 206 PARK ST $775,000 7/9/2007
    2805758 Sold
    ACT 206 PARK ST $599,000 2/11/2008
    PCH 206 PARK ST $579,000 3/4/2008
    ACT* 206 PARK ST $579,000 4/16/2008
    U/C 206 PARK ST $579,000 4/25/2008
    SLD 206 PARK ST $525,000 5/23/2008

  74. njpatient says:

    12 sas

    “Is it me, or is this a doublespeak statement?

    “I think we are at the beginning of the end of the housing downturn, but it is going to be a long and painful end.” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com”

    That’s the best example of doublespeak I’ve seen in awhile, SAS. Lordy!! The end of the housing downturn is going to be long and painful? Maybe if the downturn never ends it’ll be less painful? If the end of a downturn is the so long and painful that nobody notices it, is it really the end?

  75. Hobokenite says:

    To answer my own question, shamelessly stolen from CR:

    “Now look at this year’s figures. Last month’s press release showed actual sales in March of 51K. This month’s press release shows actual sales in April of 47K. In percentage terms, that is almost exactly the same as last year’s March to April decline from 108K to 100K. If last year’s factors had been used, this would have translated to a decline month-over-month in seasonally adjusted sales of about (2.6)%. However, actual March sales were revised downward this month to 49K, and as noted, the seasonal adjustment factors were also changed, leading to the supposed 3.3% increase.”

  76. John says:

    I was a little busy this weekend, are we still in recession? The memorial day party I was invited to, still had the hired help serving the drinks and the german ragtops and top of the line SUVs lined up the driveway.

    The only sign of recession I saw was at BJs they are checking membership cards on the way in and your cart vs. your receipt on the way out as their has been a big increase in shoplifting.

  77. jlx says:

    #71 think it’s not selling because it’s next to a huge cemetery?

  78. John says:

    Re 76 – He is talking about Capitulation. We are getting near Capitulation time. Home sellers are like fresh meat in prision. You go as long as possible without getting screwed but eventually your going to get it.

    First you get the Liar;s Loan and then you get the Liar’s Bone!!! As soon as the Liar’s bend over for their boning the sooner we will find a bottom. Or in this case the Liar’s bottom.

  79. njpatient says:

    25
    you are referring to the verbing of nouns. My favorite is the LIRR announcement that “only the first five cars will platform at St. James” (or wherever it is).
    I imagine grade school kids in Europe conjugating the verb “to platform”.

  80. njpatient says:

    “Let’s hope that these lower prices bring buyers back to the market so this slump will have a shorter duration than the 48 months we endured in the 1990s.”

    Let’s not and say we did.

  81. Rich In NNJ says:

    jlx (79),

    Compared to homes on Livingston Ct (which are all occupied) it is not near the cemetary. There is a very large stand of trees and brush (about 250′) that block the view of the cemetary as well.

    It’s the market, not the headstones.

  82. njpatient says:

    probably posted already, but:
    “According to its report, one investment bank had a contract with New Century, a leading issuer of subprime debt, that it would reject no more than 2.5 percent of its loans. Of course, such a contract would be an invitation to submit bad loans.”
    http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/beat_the_press_archive?month=05&year=2008&base_name=npr_nails_perps_in_subprime_cr#106697
    (dean baker)

  83. NJLifer says:

    Is there a further breakdown by metro area for the 14.4% decline? Where would a 14.4% decline leave northern NJ prices…at 2006 prices?

  84. Shore Guy says:

    Here is a REAL housing crisis, from a BBC e-mail alert, wheras our “crisis” is nothing more than the free market flushing out bad practices:

    Aftershocks hit an area of China devastated by this month’s earthquake, causing more than 420,000 houses to collapse, state-run agency says.

    For more details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news

  85. 3b says:

    #75 rich: A 200k+ loss, OUCH, and in Haworth no less.

  86. John says:

    A cemetary in the backyard is very useful if you want to wait out a down market.

  87. njpatient says:

    42 hehehehe

    Thanks for the link.
    “The opening of ANWR is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light crude oil prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 for the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 for the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 for the high oil resource case, relative to the reference case.”

  88. Shore Guy says:

    # 88 They should at least be quiet neighbors.

  89. thatBIGwindow says:

    Cemetary means quiet neighbors and no future construction. Some might view cemetaries as undesirable as one young mother said “it would frighten her children”

    so in addition to shielding her kids from the poor, they will also be shielded from the deseased.

  90. John says:

    China is having a huge crisis right now and the US is barely thinking about it. But if you go back to 9/11, our war, our trade imbalance, how they artifically manipulated their currency values, our complaints about human rights etc., China has never really cared about any of our problems. I think given England was their for us I would care more about their problems. Ok I know it is wrong, but I don’t see this as a Katrina or 9/11 even though tons of people died in China.

  91. John says:

    Plus you can make bongs out of their skulls.

  92. x-underwriter says:

    New York area only went down 7.4%

    http://www2.standardandpoors.com/spf/pdf/index/CSHomePrice_Release_052703.pdf

    Atlanta -6.5 percent
    Boston -5.9 percent
    Charlotte 0.8 percent
    Chicago -10.0 percent
    Cleveland -9.5 percent
    Dallas -3.3 percent
    Denver -5.0 percent
    Detroit -17.9 percent
    Las Vegas -25.9 percent
    Los Angeles -21.7 percent
    Miami -24.6 percent
    Minneapolis -14.1 percent
    New York -7.4 percent
    Phoenix -23.0 percent
    Portland -4.0 percent
    San Diego -20.5 percent
    San Francisco -20.2 percent
    Seattle -4.4 percent
    Tampa -19.6 percent
    Washington -14.7 percent

  93. Shore Guy says:

    This morning, my middle-school-aged daughter was reading the newspaper and came across an article in which a “distressed” homeowner was bemoaning the fact that her interest rate jumped from something like 5% to 12% and her payment also jumped considerably. My daughter tossed the parer down and in that tone of voice that only middle-school-students can do so well said:

    “Oh, yea! Right! Like the bank forced her to borrow the money. Give me a break. Hellooooo? Didn’t you read what you were signing?”

  94. Shore Guy says:

    # 93 Pumpkins and squash are more environmentally friendly.

  95. SS says:

    I was beaching it out on the east end of LI this weekend and noticed a boat load of For Sale signs along Dune Road (as well as Westhampton and Remsenburg). I’ve never seen it this bad before. My sister has been trying to sell her house in Remsenburg for over a year now. Usually houses in this town sell very quickly.

  96. Nom Deplume says:

    [96] Shore,

    sounds like you are bringing her up right!

  97. Shore Guy says:

    I am looking for a suggestion for a location for a beach house that meets the following criteria:

    1) Overlooks the ocean
    2) Sandy Beach
    3) House sits at an elevation of 20 feet above mean high tide level (or even higher)
    4) Reasonable access to grocery stores and other amenities (without requiring a four-wheel-drive vecicle)
    5) A well-developed dune structure or bluff preferred
    6) Traditional beach home ambiance (not high rise condos, cookie-cutter townhouses, or McMansions).

    We have been looking at various places from Miami north but are not finding what we want. We thought we had in the Outer Banks, but the errosion issue there is unsettling (beach losses of between 2 and 15 feet per year). If anyone has ideas about towns that might meet our requirements, we would appreciate your recomendation(s).

  98. Shore Guy says:

    # 98 She is a very caring and empathetic person, but she GETS it.

  99. njpatient says:

    “Aftershocks hit an area of China devastated by this month’s earthquake, causing more than 420,000 houses to collapse”

    time to invest in Chinese home-builders?

  100. Shore Guy says:

    Related to folks who lost homes during WWII:

    http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9426

    Every American knows that Dec. 7, 1941 — the date that Japanese planes attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor — is “a date which will live in infamy.” But few Americans remember a second infamous anniversary that is just around the corner: May 30.

    [snip]

  101. pretorius says:

    Shore guy,

    http://tinyurl.com/3wg23x

    Probably matches your criteria. 3 hour drive from North Jersey without traffic.

  102. Shore Guy says:

    # 101 It does raise the question of whether building material supply will be affected. Perhaps the downturn in our housing boom will leave some slack in the system, so that any uptick in Chinese demand will not cause shortages.

  103. njpatient says:

    Tax law email chain just devolved into a discussion (among NYers) of how awful it would be to have to live in New Jersey, and that being made to live in NJ should constitute constructive termination.

    What’s old is new.

  104. Shore Guy says:

    # 103 We had not even considered RI, for no particular reason other than it just did not come to mind. Mrs. Shore has a friend with a home down there, old, old money, that came with a trust fund for its maint. and upkeep. It must be nice to have childless wealthy uncles.

    The street you suggested looks nice, ableit close to the water treatment plant. I need to check the topo maps to check the elevation of the RI shore communities.

    As far as location goes, anyplace along the eastern seaboard works for us as we have the ability to telecommute much of the time. The key thing is being able to wake up and stroll the beach at 6 a.m. and then to be able to do it again in the evening. Sitting on the porch at night listening to the surf is another big thing with us. Of course, not being washed away in a garden-variery Nor’Easter is a big plus too.

  105. Jamey says:

    99:

    Block Island. Ferry in a second (beater) vehicle for the season, and the rest is easy. Domino’s delivers from Pt. Judith — by plane. Biggest social ill (according to the locals): Moped-ers.

    Another possibility: York Beach, ME, near t he south border. An added plus to these communities: Understatement is never out of style. One room or one-hundred, it’s a “cottage.” You can be there, ready to tuck into a lobster roll in under six hours (from Exit 82 on GSP).

  106. Shore Guy says:

    Variety, even

  107. chicagofinance says:

    pretorius Says:
    May 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
    Shore guy,
    Probably matches your criteria. 3 hour drive from North Jersey without traffic.

    pret: no…NE Thruway is a disaster…I’d rather drive on the LIE, at least it is straight…

  108. Shore Guy says:

    The train can be an alternative to the LIE, too. We are concerned about the NY State debt and the state’s propensity to tax. As much as we like many of the LI beach communities, I don’t think we will pick up anything out there.

  109. Rich In NNJ says:

    From MarketWatch

    Justice Dept., realtors to settle antitrust case: report

    The Justice Department and the National Association of Realtors are likely to settle an antitrust lawsuit over the posting of online real estate listings, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday on its Web site, citing lawyers close to the case. The suit against the realtor association charged that its bylaws undercut Internet-based realtors when association members withheld online listings. The Justice Department plans a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

  110. grim says:

    From the WSJ:

    Justice Department and Realtors
    Are Likely to Settle Antitrust Suit
    By JAMES R. HAGERTY
    May 27, 2008 1:14 p.m.

    The Justice Department appears close to settling a major antitrust lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors over the use of online real estate listings, lawyers close to the case said.

    The suit, filed in a Chicago federal court in 2005, targeted the trade group’s bylaws, which let members withhold online listings from other brokers in a local market. The government charged that the rules illegally could restrict discounting and disadvantage a new breed of Internet-based competitors.

    Last week, lawyers for the Justice Department and the Realtors told U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly that they were in serious negotiations on a possible settlement that would avert a trial scheduled to start July 7.

    The department plans a press conference at 2 p.m. Tuesday with a deputy assistant attorney general, Deborah Garza. A spokeswoman for the government said she could neither confirm nor deny the subject of the announcement. An official with the Realtors association also declined to comment.

  111. Rich In NNJ says:

    From MarketWatch

    Yellen: Fed lending to investment banks to end at some point
    Yellen says oil, food price hikes are driven by fundamentals
    Yellen sees minimal risk from Fed holding mortgages

    From Bloomberg

    Fed’s Yellen Says Rates Appropriate to Spur Growth

    Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen said the central bank’s interest-rate stance is “appropriate” for reviving economic growth in 2008.

    Rate cuts and more than $100 billion in federal tax rebates “should be sufficient to promote a gradual step up to moderate economic growth later this year,” Yellen said today in a speech to a conference in San Francisco.

    Yellen’s remarks, similar to those she made on May 13, support the view the Fed will pause after reducing the main interest rate seven times since September, including a cut last month by a quarter-point to 2 percent. Policy makers are trying to reverse a contraction in credit and revive economic growth.

    Reduced bank lending, falling housing values and rising commodity prices are impeding U.S. consumer spending, she said in a speech at the Northern California Regional Financial Planning Conference. That has “combined to weigh heavily on demand.”


    The Fed can’t be “complacent about inflation,” Yellen said. Recent measures of price expectations “highlight the risk that our attempts to deal with problems in the real economy could lead to higher inflation expectations and an erosion of our credibility,” she said.


    “I am encouraged by what I see in the economy and financial markets,” Yellen said in response to a question after the speech. The interest-rate reductions and other efforts by the Fed have reduced the chances that curtailed bank lending will trigger a downward spiral in consumer spending, asset values and economic growth.

    Central bank actions have “really minimized the odds of that type of dark scenario,” she said.

    Yellen acknowledged the Fed has assumed more risk by accepting mortgage bonds as collateral for loans.

    “There are risks in doing this,” she said. Still, “the exposure to credit risk is quite minimal.”

  112. Rich In NNJ says:

    From MarketWatch

    Yellen sees less risk of darkest scenario for U.S. economy

    It appears the U.S. economy has stepped back from the abyss, according to San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen on Tuesday. For months, Fed officials have fretted, mostly behind closed-doors, that the economy might fall into a vicious downward spiral, where falling asset prices forced banks to cut back lending with led to lower growth which led to falling asset prices and the repeat of the circle. Fed officials called this an “adverse feedback loop.” In a breakfast speech on the economic outlook, Yellen said that the recent improvements in financial markets have lowered the odds of this loop. “[I] am encouraged by what I’ve seen, both from the economy and financial markets, to believe we’re really minimized the odds of that dark scenario,” Yellen said.

    Whew!

  113. Pat says:

    Whew is right, Rich. Thank heavens.

    I just spent the last twenty minutes eating my peas and looking at one bedroom shacks on Point Judith. Ahhh…childhood trips to one bedroom cottages without toilets and really rocky beaches.

    Guess it’s O.K. to go back and look at oceanfront on LBI.

    Thanks, Janet.

  114. Shore Guy says:

    John,

    I get an error opening that URL.

    Also, Westerly RI seems to have some nice beachfront properties. This one reminds me of East Avenue in Bay Head:

    http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?cmid=1079099%2c1016461%2c1016483&ml=3&bd=4&bth=3&typ=1&ofbm=1100&sid=dced4675fd394582b6c383d566b08809&pg=4&lid=1079652685&lsn=34&srcnt=415#Detail

  115. Rich In NNJ says:

    But… but…

    From Bloomberg

    HSBC’s U.S. Mortgage Business May Incur More Losses

    HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank by market value, may post more losses at its home-loan business in the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Michael Geoghegan told shareholders in Hong Kong today.

    “I believe we have further losses to make,” Geoghegan said. “We are not convinced yet the worst is over.”


    HSBC, which became one of the largest U.S. lenders to subprime borrowers with the acquisition of Household International Inc. in 2003, has posted $19.5 billion in writedowns and losses since the beginning of last year. UBS AG, the European bank hit hardest by the U.S. subprime contagion said last week, it may face more losses from mortgage securities.


    London-based HSBC has closed 400 branches in the U.S., narrowing its network to 1,000, said Geoghegan. The bank cut 2,000 jobs in the first quarter as earnings declined in the U.S.

    Geoghegan said he was concerned the U.S. economy may slip into a recession and said higher interest rates may offset inflationary pressure.

  116. Nom Deplume says:

    [120] shore,

    and you have the benefit of being near Newport, so ‘Patient can visit for the Newport Jazz Festival.

    Make sure there is enough room for lil patients.

  117. skep-tic says:

    Shore Guy,

    Westerly is a great choice. Great beaches and relatively sleepy town compared to places like Newport, MV, etc.

    If you’re willing to drive another hr, Little Compton, RI and Westport, MA are also worth checking out. These towns aren’t big tourist draws but are great examples of New England beach towns.

  118. BklynHawk says:

    Ok, Midwest kid throwing my $.02 in here on waterfront property/towns. Pentwater, MI on Lake Michigan. I used to go to here in the summers. Neat little downtown. Very similar to Maine/NE village. Lot more bang for your buck.

    http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?ctid=25666&mnp=24&mxp=33&bd=5&bth=4&typ=1&sid=e06405f82996405d9f3c61cbb6e7938e&pg=2&lid=1091214259&lsn=20&srcnt=21#Detail

    JM

  119. BklynHawk says:

    Pentwater Chamber of Commerce site

    http://www.pentwater.org/

  120. Rich In NNJ says:

    From Bloomberg

    Case Says More Foreclosure Auctions May Hasten Housing Comeback

    Karl Case, co-founder of a home-price index that bears his name, said more auctions of foreclosed properties are helping remove inventory from the housing market and may lead to a faster recovery.

    “I think we’re going to see some signs of life in the next few months,” Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio. “The market is beginning to clear somewhat. There is some good news in this.”


    Case said the quickening pace of home-price declines reflected mounting auction sales along with traditional transactions. “Banks don’t wait around,” he said. “They put it on the market and get rid of it. That means prices adjust more rapidly.”


    U.S. foreclosure filings climbed 65 percent and bank seizures more than doubled in April from a year earlier as rates on adjustable mortgages increased and vacated homes added to a glut of unsold properties, RealtyTrac Inc. said May 14.

    Inventories in April totaled 4.55 million homes for resale, the second-highest level on record, with the month’s supply amounting to 11.2 months, the highest ever, the National Association of Realtors said last week. Sales were down 18 percent from a year earlier and 33 percent lower than their record pace in September 2005.

    Case said housing starts, which fell to a 954,000 annual pace in March, might also be signaling a turnaround in the market. He said starts “go below a million every single time, and then they come back.”

  121. skep-tic says:

    another couple of suggestions further north: Rye, NH and Old Orchard Beach, ME (this one reminds me of NJ beaches a lot)

  122. Shore Guy says:

    We loke sleepy and charming, especially with a nice village. In South Florida, I like the beachfront at Delray Beach, as opposed to Lauderdale, Boca, etc.

    As far as location goes, the ideal location is south, so as to extend the season and to allow snowbirding as we get older but I will look at these other places as well

  123. Hehehe says:

    Make sure you have room for your beer pong table

  124. skep-tic says:

    I would actually pay money to watch a retiree beer pong tourney

  125. reinvestor101 says:

    A perfect example of excessive gleefulness at the misfortune of others. A perfect example of an unpatriotic wish for our major companies to go under. I don’t understand how someone who has benefited so much from this country can sit up here and be so full of mirth at the prospect of financial disaster.

    Let’s see you go the Iran and do the same thing and see how long you last.

    sas Says:
    May 27th, 2008 at 5:55 am
    When UBS & Citi collapse, I will be seen doing a dance in the street.

    These 2 companies are crooked, their board members are morons, and I don’t feel sorry for them. They deserve everything they get.

    crash and burn… what a sweet sound & a great smell.

    ;)
    SAS
    SAS

  126. Hehehe says:

    Hey,

    It’s da shore, it’s all beer pong all da time

  127. Shore Guy says:

    # 125 It looks lovely but I don’t see us going out that direction. If gas or airlines get out of hand, at least north and south, one can always take the train and keep a car in a garage close to the station to get back and forth from the house. Train service to the midwest is always a step from the chopping block.

    On a nother note, what is a good place to eat in the land of the Chicken Hawk? I may need to be in Lawrence in a few days.

  128. Shore Guy says:

    # 131 Re, the poorly run ones should go under, in order to make the economy stronger.

  129. 3b says:

    #126 rich: We could be at the bottom as far as inventory, but as far as prices, there is much more room to go.

  130. njpatient says:

    122 Nom

    heh!

    Speaking of that OT topic, have any of you guys ever been to the Crawfish Festival at the Sussex Fairgrounds?

    http://www.crawfishfest.com/

    It’s next weekend.

  131. ithink-ithink says:

    This article is such a crock of whiny b.s. & chock full of quotes to ring someone’s neck screaming that one has nothing to do with the other or something along the lines of where is creditconstitution:

    ““No one asked them for their credit score when we asked them to fight for us.” “
    – Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, a Washington-based advocacy group started in 2002 by Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans.

    Source:
    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=awj2TMDLnwsU&refer=exclusive

  132. BklynHawk says:

    #133 Shore Guy-
    Keep in mind I was a poor student when I was living there so I was more interested in inexpensive drinking and cheap food (Raman!)

    But, I did go here and I think they’re still very good. Excellent beer selection. Then, you can just wander on Massachusetts street.

    The Free State Brewing co.
    http://www.freestatebrewing.com/index.html

    You also should take a walk on campus and stop by Allen Fieldhouse.

    JM

  133. njpatient says:

    131 reinvestor101

  134. Shore Guy says:

    Allen Fieldhouse is an interesting building. I was in if a couple of times, including for a track meet. The football stadium was old as dirt, but the field was good.

    I will be sure to check out Mass st.

  135. njpatient says:

    131 reinvestor101
    “Let’s see you go the Iran and do the same thing and see how long you last. ”

    I hope that you are aware that SAS has actually spent time in exotic locales with a gun in his hand, fighting for the rights of patriotic capitalist Americans to go about their business (you know, the sorts of people who, unlike you, aren’t pinko commies with your hands out trying to get the rest of the taxpaying community to bail you out of the whatever situation your latest round of economic stupidity or all-out gambling has landed you in).

  136. Shore Guy says:

    So, our economy is driven by consumer spending. And, energy costs are sucking $ out of family budgets. And, consumer confidence has dropped to an 18-year low. What does Wall Street do? It goes up 76 points.

  137. Shore Guy says:

    Well, on that note. It is time to go fire someone. Have a happy day everyone.

  138. John says:

    Orchard Beach in the Bronx is a lovely place for a vacation home, 15 minutes to NYC plus if anyone trespesses on your house you are allowed to pop a cap in their ass.

  139. Joeycasz says:

    Thanks to everyone (especially Rhymingrealtor) that ansered me in the weekend discustion regarding that Springfield house.

  140. mark says:

    the ceo from hudson city is on bloom saying
    business is booming, and apps are up.,

    we are listening to the wrong people.

    so,,, take that

  141. Rich In NNJ says:

    River Edge
    New Home
    SLD 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $369,900 4/9/2001

    SLD 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $480,000 11/10/2003

    SLD 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $585,000 8/17/2006

    Bank Owned
    2804806 Withdrawn
    ACT 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $575,000 2/4/2008
    W-T 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $575,000 2/7/2008
    2812200 Expired
    ACT 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $499,900 3/27/2008 EXP 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $499,900 5/8/2008
    2821368 Under Contract
    ACT 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $499,900 5/27/2008
    ACT* 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $499,900 5/27/2008
    U/C 290 KINDERKAMACK RD $499,900 5/27/2008

    Who thinks the closing price will be below 2003 sales price? I mean, besides me.

  142. njpatient says:

    142
    “And, energy costs are sucking $ out of family budgets.”

    and by “budgets” you mean the family HELOC.

  143. John says:

    Registrant:
    michael stoler

    25 sutton place south
    new york, New York 10022
    United States

    Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
    Domain Name: NYREALESTATEREPORT.COM

    Wonder who this guy is?

  144. Frank says:

    Building New York is a lively conversation hosted by Michael Stoler, Senior Principal, Apollo Real Estate Advisors, L.P. and contributing editor to The New York Sun. The show is New York’s only television broadcast featuring local and national leaders responsible for real estate activities in the Metropolitan region. The program debuted on television and CUNY TV, owned and operated by the City University of New York in March 2006. The program provides insight to the latest news, developments and economic trends. The guests share their thoughts and personal experience on important real estate issues in the largest real estate community in the world.

    The half hour tax show airs six times a month in New York City on CUNY TV, Channel 75 and three times a week in East Hampton, Island, airing Monday at 6 AM, Tuesday at 9:30 AM and Friday at 5:30.

    Each new broadcast airs on the last Monday of the month airing at 10 AM, 4 PM and 10 PM, then the following Thursday at 11:30 PM, Saturday at 5 PM and Sunday at 8:30 AM.

    The show also aires the following Thursday at 6:00 AM, one week later on Saturday at 8:30AM with a final broadcast on Wednesday of that week at noon.

  145. njpatient says:

    nice weather we’re having

  146. 3b says:

    #147 rich

    Yes I believe it will sell below 03 price, well below. I believe it is bank owned, but could be wrong.

  147. Frank says:

    Did anyone open their unheated pool yet?

  148. JBJB says:

    “So, our economy is driven by consumer spending. And, energy costs are sucking $ out of family budgets. And, consumer confidence has dropped to an 18-year low. What does Wall Street do? It goes up 76 points.”

    Well, equity prices are driven by expectations of future corporate earnings viv a vis other comparable invenstment vehicles. Not all corporations are consumer driven. And consumer confidence indicies are as useless as any other poll used for predicting fickle human behavior. So it’s not really that suprising.

  149. make money says:

    Well, equity prices are driven by expectations of future corporate earnings viv a vis other comparable invenstment vehicles. Not all corporations are consumer driven. And consumer confidence indicies are as useless as any other poll used for predicting fickle human behavior. So it’s not really that suprising.

    None can really figure out why the market is up in any partucular day.

    But I can tell you that that your future earnings on anyone that sells to the American consumer will get revised downward again and again.

    And that my fried is bad news for the DOW.

  150. Rich In NNJ says:

    3B (153),

    Yes, it is bank owned.

  151. Hehehe says:

    A good one:

    Meet Tracy Warren. NPR says she’s not surprised by the mortgage meltdown because she was supposed to be in charge of preventing it. Tracy worked for a quality control contractor that reviewed subprime loans for investment banks before they were sold on Wall Street, and her company’s biggest client was none other than Bear Stearns. Tracy says she found plenty of loans to reject. The trouble is, according to Tracy, after she rejected them… her bosses unrejected them.

    http://consumerist.com/tag/corruption/?i=5011146&t=is-this-woman-the-smoking-gun-of-the-mortgage-meltdown

  152. 3b says:

    #157 Rich: Thanks.

  153. Shore Guy says:

    # 158 Who was the woman at Enron who was able to point the fingers and bring down the house of cards?

  154. 3b says:

    #157 Rich: Anything else go UC in River Edge lately? I try to follow, but do not know if they go UC, or just expire.

    Ones that I thought had gone UC, many times end up coming back on market.

  155. make money says:

    Peter Schiff’s weekly newsletter,

    It’s Not an Oil Crisis, It’s a Dollar Crisis.

    It is unfortunate that the Supreme Court, in its ruling this week that U.S. currency is unfair to the blind, did not make the next logical step and declare it unfair to everyone who buys gasoline.

    In their search for explanations as to why oil has surged past $130 per barrel, Washington, Wall Street, and the financial media are as clueless as cavemen after a freak summer snow storm. Despite the head scratching, the blame game is nevertheless in full force. Speculators and big oil companies are being trotted out as scapegoats, and increased margin requirements and taxes on windfall profits and futures trading have been mentioned as appropriate sanctions. In fact, this week the House of Representatives overwhelming approved a bill to sue OPEC for violating U.S. anti trust laws. It should be clear that all of this is pure farce, and that no one understands what is actually happening.

    The reality is that after years of reckless consumption and dollar debasement, Americans are now being priced out of markets over which they formerly held unchallenged title. As more affluent foreigners consume more of the resources and products they previously supplied to us, Americans are being forced to cut back. The rising dollar-based price of gasoline is simply an illustration of this global trend.

    Poorly concealed behind contrived government statistics, the signs of America’s falling standard of living are everywhere; all one has to do is look. We are unloading SUVs for less desirable compacts, and are paying more to fly on crowded planes (where we pay to check luggage and dine only on what we bring onboard). We drink our lattes at McDonalds or not at all, and we increasingly forego dining out, trips to the mall, and vacations, just so we can scrape together enough to fill our gas tanks and kitchen pantries, pay taxes and insurance, or make credit card, mortgage or car payments.

    The collective belt tightening is simply the down payment on the Government’s massive bailout of Wall Street investment banks and mortgage lenders. As the Fed creates money to buy bad mortgages and other shaky securities held by banks and brokerage firms, the value of the savings and wages of everyone on Main Street will continue to fall. As a result, the costs of products previously taken for granted have begun to bite.

    The various housing bills and stimulus packages now passing through Congress will add significantly to the staggering final price tag. In the end, the “free lunch” currently being dished out by Washington will be the most expensive meal ever served. The cost will be borne by ordinary Americans citizens every time they open their wallets. Four dollar gasoline is just the beginning.

    For all the talk of increased global demand, few seem to understand from where it actually comes. The surge in global demand is both a function of the increased purchasing power of foreign currencies and the fact that foreigners are choosing to spend more of their incomes themselves. In other words Greenspan’s famous “global savings glut” is turning into a global consumption binge, with Americans unable to crash the party. This trend will only get worse as the dollar-denominated price of just about everything that is either imported, or capable of being exported, goes through the roof.

    We can look for scapegoats all we want but the simply fact is Americans are going to have to get used to a much lower standard of living. Those who have been putting all the food on our tables are finally pulling up chairs themselves.

  156. JBJB says:

    Make Money

    Depends on which American consumer. Anyway, put your money where your mouth is. If you can so prognosticate the future of the Dow, you wont need to worry about how much houses cost…

  157. NJLifer says:

    Realtors to Give Web Brokers Access to Home Listings

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/24842750

    The National Association of Realtors will open its vast listing of homes for sale to cheaper, Internet-based brokers in an agreement to settle a federal lawsuit, the government said.

    The change could save those who buy or sell a home thousands of dollars since commissions could drop as much as 1 percent of the selling price, said Deborah Garza, the deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust, in a telephone briefing with reporters.

    The settlement will lead to “more choice, better service and lower commission rates,” Garza added.

    Essentially the deal requires the 800 multiple listings services associated with the National Association of Realtors for various local markets to give access to Internet-based competitors, the government said.

    The real estate group did not acknowledge wrongdoing in the settlement, which it described as a “win” for both consumers and agents.

    “We think it’s great,” said Lucien Salvant, a spokesman for the National Association of Realtors. “There was no evidence ever brought by the Department of Justice that there was a problem.” The government sued the real estate group in 2005, accusing it of adopting policies that allowed member brokers to withhold their home listings from online competitors.

    The lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial in federal court in Chicago in July.

    The settlement also requires the group to offer training on complying with antitrust law.

    The National Association of Realtors has more than 1.2 million residential real estate members throughout the United States.

    In almost every area of the country, brokers have organized multiple listings services to share information about homes for sale.

  158. Shore Guy says:

    # 163 Grim,

    Is an internet based Grim Realty (or Grim Reality Realty) something we will see soon?

  159. sas says:

    ok, fair enough. where to begin:

    “A perfect example of excessive gleefulness at the misfortune of others”

    -yes, I am gleeful because I know this company has screwed many people & countries in more than a million ways. We can have a blog on just that alone. I do know an ex-board member (actually 2 of them), and the stoires they tell me.. yikes. if you like, I can bore the rest of the blog with them.

    “A perfect example of an unpatriotic wish for our major companies to go under”

    -Citi is by no means patriotic. ok, they have shop in the states, and do employee Americans, many more foreign shareholders. But you know how many MORE Americans they have put out of work? wars they have financed? Dirty deeds with World Bank & IMF? Sadly, I was apart of one these blackmail deed dealings. Few sleepless nights, so I gave my paycheck to UNICEF.

    -reminds me of when I am the protest rallies, & tell the hippies thinking this is trendy protesting the war (and I am anti-war btw), if you are really against the war, pull out your wallet and take a good look at your CC cards, (i,e. Citi) these people help make it possible. Get out of debt and stay out, and don’t feed the beast… starve it.
    THe trendy hippies give me the blankest stare and at the end of the day, they go back to using the CC cards.

    “I don’t understand how someone who has benefited so much from this country can sit up here and be so full of mirth at the prospect of financial disaster”

    Sometime we gotta feel a little pain, when we are healing.

    “Let’s see you go the Iran and do the same thing and see how long you last”

    -I have and your right..you can’t. The opportunities are few and far between. Last thing those people need is a diplomatic door shut in their face because of a few loud mouth hardliners.

    Free,Fair, and ethical markets and banking can go along way and be very productive, which Citi and UBS are not.

    :)
    SAS

  160. Nom Deplume says:

    shore,

    If you go to Little Compton, check out Sakonnet Vineyards. Love their stuff for easy summer drinking, very inexpensive, and thier Eye of the Storm is the only pink wine I ever liked. The owner is pretty funny as well.

  161. sas says:

    “hope that you are aware that SAS has actually spent time in exotic locales with a gun in his hand, fighting for the rights of patriotic capitalist Americans”

    I used 8 of my 9 lives in July of 66.

    What really burns, is to find out that some of these so called “patriotic capitalist Americans” were actually financing both sides of the war. Which many Wall St. banks did and still do. i.e Citi.

    SAS

  162. sas says:

    so, I guess I am a little bias afterall..

    yee
    :)
    SAS

  163. John says:

    Price: $585,000

    MLS #2815711
    503 Hollywood Avenue
    Ho Ho Kus, NJ 07423

    Is this a lot for this house?

  164. Shore Guy says:

    # 167 SAS,

    July 1966, was that Con Thien perchance?

  165. Rich In NNJ says:

    3B (161),

    I’ll take a look tonight an post what I find.

  166. sas says:

    July 1966
    Hastings.

    SAS

  167. mcmansionornot says:

    What do you guys think of the toll brothers developments in sparta/wantage?

    They are building 30-40 houses, in the 600-800k range.

    Do you think these are future wastelands, where demand is being destroyed by high energy costs and rationalization of credit – or is there sustainable demand based on “country life style”?

  168. Sean says:

    Just voted for you again Grim.

    Right now you are only ahead three votes.

    http://www.fhamortgagecenter.com/contest/view.php?id=73

  169. 3b says:

    #171 Thanks Rich

  170. Theo says:

    John #169

    That’s a 2 br house, gotta take at least 150-200K off, even in Ho-Ho

  171. Rich In NNJ says:

    John (169),

    History
    SLD 503 HOLLYWOOD AVE $375,000 2/22/2002

    ACT 503 HOLLYWOOD AVE $485,900 2/7/2005
    ACT* 503 HOLLYWOOD AVE $485,900 2/15/2005
    U/C 503 HOLLYWOOD AVE $485,900 2/22/2005
    SLD 503 HOLLYWOOD AVE $525,500 4/22/2005

    ACT 503 HOLLYWOOD AVE $585,000 4/17/2008

  172. njpatient says:

    172 SAS

    “July 1966
    Hastings.”

    I thought that was October 1066…

  173. njrebear says:

    We were thinking about setting up an independent 529 account for our kids. The idea is to contribute up to half their tuition fees. Worst case scenario, only 1 of the 2 will attend a member college.

    What do you guys think?

  174. Shore Guy says:

    Down by 3 votes now. I have’nt been able to vote in days. It says I have already voted.

  175. jafo says:

    Someone posted a link to a free gov site for searching deeds/titles in NJ. You were able to search by name, and filter by town/county. Does anyone have this link (google and live search both just returned a bunch of paid sites)?

  176. Rich In NNJ says:

    Deeds are filed by county.
    Have you searched by county for this information?

    Go to the home page of this site and look under Tools on the right hand side of the page.

    But first click on my name above and VOTE FOR THIS SITE!!!!

  177. lisoosh says:

    Add me to the people who hasn’t been allowed to vote more than once ever. Sorry Grim, I tried.

  178. Shore Guy says:

    As I understand it, the 529s only save on the state (or is it federal) portion of taxes (and not the other) and the investment vehicles are not necessarily all that great. We opted to just stash cash, but I hear some folks like the plans.

  179. Shore Guy says:

    I was able to vote at different locations with different devices but never more than once for any one location/device.

  180. Stu says:

    If Willie puts in Heilman and he blows it tonight, so help me, I will not watch another Met game until he is fired.

  181. njrebear says:

    I voted 10-15 times today. Try anonymous web access.

  182. sas says:

    “I thought that was October 1066”

    hugh? I ain’t that old ;)

    Operation Hastings out on the Cam Lo of Quang Tri.

    SAS

  183. sas says:

    I can only vote once for the NJREreport once.

    SAS

  184. lostinny says:

    149 Patient
    I had no idea about it. But I don’t think I’ll make it.

  185. njrebear says:

    shore,
    We were thinking about all cash but the fed policy towards dollar/inflation scares us.

    voted 2 more times.

  186. jafo says:

    On cash holdings, I struggled with same issues. However, I think without wage inflation or growth that the long term trend is deflation. All printing money is doing is driving up commodities at this point, wages are thus non-essential prices are sticky upwards. I think even commodities are reaching the end of their inelasticity, especially given the amount of waste.

    If wages were to be kick started, interest rates would probably follow.

    If you were the fed, you probably want to create deflationary environment – while printing money, for net neutral effect. This way, you can pay off your debts, without having inflation proportionally increase your deficits.

  187. sas says:

    OT:
    my favorite radio station is 99.5 WBAI.org
    check it out & consider a donation.

    thx

    SAS

  188. bruiser says:

    Who was the woman at Enron who was able to point the fingers and bring down the house of cards?

    Sherron Watkins

  189. reinvestor101 says:

    165-sas
    -Citi is by no means patriotic. ok, they have shop in the states, and do employee Americans, many more foreign shareholders. But you know how many MORE Americans they have put out of work? wars they have financed? Dirty deeds with World Bank & IMF? Sadly, I was apart of one these blackmail deed dealings. Few sleepless nights, so I gave my paycheck to UNICEF

    Unicef??? Do you realize that you just threw your money into an unaccountable black hole?

    Let me guess, you’re a Obama supporter. An offer of a flag pin to you with probably be met with a stern rebuke.

    America is a force for good in the world. If Citibank financed something like a war between Iran and Iraq, I have absolutely no problem. If Citibank and UBS worked with other organizations to track down and frustrate terrorists, I have no problem. You see, I don’t have a problem with America being on top.

    I really don’t know what could have gotten to you to turn you against your own country. It sounds like you were a real patriot at one point, but somehow you’ve let the dark side of liberal thought capture you. I implore you to re-examine this and return to being a patriot for this great nation. You must realize that you’re not going to be made privy to every strategy that you might have been asked to support nor are you supposed to be questioning everything. For many of us, our job is to simply do what we’re asked to do. Turn away from the dark side and find you way back home.

  190. reinvestor101 says:

    sas Says:
    May 27th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
    OT:
    my favorite radio station is 99.5 WBAI.org
    check it out & consider a donation.

    thx

    SAS

    What?? You’re more far gone than I thought. That damn radio station needs to be taken off the air. They’re down there with scum that runs Air America. These people are on the front lines of the hate America first crowd.

  191. Frank says:

    I can’t wait till all the 6%’ers and other mortgage industry parasites get back to their previously scheduled careers in the restaurant/service industries.

  192. kettle1 says:

    unless oil really does go back to 80 it looks like the airlines are going to fall fast

    Fuel suppliers demand airlines pay cash in advance
    Carl Mortished and Amanda Andrews

    Airlines are being forced to pay cash in advance for jet fuel as the major oil companies tighten the screws on an industry that is being crushed by an extraordinary surge in the price of crude oil.

    Sources within the airline industry indicate that credit is being denied to most of the leading American carriers and the practice is moving to Europe and Asia. So uncertain is the cash solvency of the industry that jet fuel suppliers insist on prepayments into special bank accounts.

    http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article4004371.ece

  193. sas says:

    “Unicef??? Do you realize that you just threw your money into an unaccountable black hole?”

    -I think your right. But, at the time, I thought it was the right thing to do….like my third wife; )

    “Let me guess, you’re a Obama supporter. An offer of a flag pin to you with probably be met with a stern rebuke”

    -you must not have seen some of my past posts. I don’t support Obama because I don’t support Zbigniew Brzezinski.

    I support Ron Paul..donated $2k to the blimp.

    “If Citibank and UBS worked with other organizations to track down and frustrate terrorists”

    -I agree, but if countries really want to stop terrorism, stop engaging in it.
    all are guilty.

    “An offer of a flag pin to you with probably be met with a stern rebuke”

    -If it says Made in China on it, yes I do.

    SAS

  194. Essex says:

    ouch….3 wives….that’s gotta hurt.

  195. Essex says:

    Don’t pretend to understand anything of any significance. Other than the fact that there are always more complex issues than the ones reported on.

  196. reinvestor101 says:

    sas,

    You think you’re slick, don’t you? Guess what? I’m not about to let you get away with this sleight of hand business.

    A Ron Paul supporter is worst than an Obama supporter. My only consolation here is the Paul can’t win.

    Paul is a dangerous radical masquerading as a republican. He’s little more than an anarchist. He hates government and wants everything so damn decentralized as to damn near not even have a government. He hates things like the federal reserve system. He rails against fed and other institutions, but hasn’t proposed squat to replace them. He’s a dirtbag and I don’t like him. He’s also unamerican.

    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Please back up your statement that flag pins are made in China. Please back up your claim that America supports terrorism If you can’t back them up, I demand that you post retractions.

  197. Poser says:

    #195 and SAS,
    Don’t confuse Citibank and UBS with America. They are not one and the same.
    Some in the banking system are vipers that are doing more harm than good to our country.

  198. oil addict says:

    From the NY Times:

    Economic Scene
    Time to Buy? The Conversion of a Renter

    By DAVID LEONHARDT
    Published: May 28, 2008

    For the last few years, I have been an evangelist for renting……

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/business/28leonhardt.html?ref=business

  199. reinvestor101 says:

    Poser Says:
    May 27th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
    #195 and SAS,
    Don’t confuse Citibank and UBS with America. They are not one and the same.
    Some in the banking system are vipers that are doing more harm than good to our country.

    Our enemies are seeing our American corporations as being distinct from America. Why should we?

  200. Wag says:

    sas (193) ‘Off The Hook’ on WBAI is one of the better radio shows on air today. I miss Grandpa Al Lewis’ show. One of the greats.
    On another note, I think you have re-blabla-101 pegged.

  201. reinvestor101 says:

    I said:

    “Our enemies are seeing our American corporations as being distinct from America. Why should we?”

    I meant to say:

    Our enemies AREN’T seeing our American corporations as being distinct from America. Why should we?

  202. oil addict says:

    RE101 said

    “You must realize that you’re not going to be made privy to every strategy that you might have been asked to support nor are you supposed to be questioning everything. For many of us, our job is to simply do what we’re asked to do.”

    Sheep go baahhhhhh to the slaughterhouse…

  203. Poser says:

    Do our enemies see the American corporations as separate from America?

  204. Poser says:

    I view America as separate from corporations.
    Aren’t Citi and UBS global even though they are traded on nyse?

  205. njpatient says:

    195 repossessed101

    “You must realize that you’re not going to be made privy to every strategy that you might have been asked to support nor are you supposed to be questioning everything. For many of us, our job is to simply do what we’re asked to do.”

    You’ve said a lot of un-American things, but this is the most profoundly un-American thing you’ve said yet. The Founding Fathers would have had you hanged because you are a Benedict Arnold.

  206. Diane says:

    Shore Guy-

    Check out the north beach area of New Smyrna Beach and (on the other side of the inlet)Ponce Inlet, Florida. I grew up in that area and visit often; still have family there. Both have a mix of newer and older homes right on the beach. NSB is less commercial; PI is closer to Daytona Beach. If you liked Delray, then I think you’d like these.

    Diane

  207. Commanderbobnj says:

    Grim: I believe that my post is being held in “moderation” oe something ?

    BOB

  208. reinvestor101 says:

    njpatient Says:
    May 27th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
    195 repossessed101

    You’ve said a lot of un-American things, but this is the most profoundly un-American thing you’ve said yet. The Founding Fathers would have had you hanged because you are a Benedict Arnold.

    Now just wait a damn minute. I’ve never ever said anything except that I love this country. You, on the other hand, represent the vile and liberal element that’s allowed to run amok in this country. On top of that, you’re a damn lawyer.

  209. kettle1 says:

    Re101,

    do you work for a GOVERNMENT AGENCY?

    various government agencies have been known to influence or sidetrack various inter groups, message boards, and blogs…. apparently the PPT, and DHS already monitor this blog, so what department are you with???

  210. kettle1 says:

    re101

    the fact that most people on this board have not called for you to be banned or silenced in some manner is substantial proof of their “patriotism” in one of, if not the core principle of the country. regardless of how distatseful some may find some of our comments or how strongly they disagree, you are still accepted as a contributor to the board

  211. Ben says:

    Ron Paul doesn’t want to end government. He wants to eliminate the areas of government that do us more harm than good.

    “He hates things like the federal reserve system. He rails against fed and other institutions, but hasn’t proposed squat to replace them.”

    Now that’s a flat out lie. Paul believes that we should rely on private banks rather than a central bank. Fact: The federal reserve has complete control over our money supply and we, the people, have no say in how they manage it.

  212. Curmudgeon says:

    Can’t we suspend our principles just this once and ban re101? He is profoundly mentally deficient and it’s not really fair to ruin what is usually an intelligent discourse with the angry ramblings of some Limbaugh dittohead.

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