Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category

Yesterday, I wrote about the help that Harford County would be offering to residents of that county who find themselves facing a possible foreclosure. Now, apparently, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is getting in on the act as well. From a recent Baltimore Sun Article:
The Internal Revenue Service said yesterday that it will try to [...]

The National Association of Home Builders, previously in lockstep with allies in the mortgage and consumer credit lending industries, has broken ranks and is now pushing hard for so-called mortgage “cram downs,” a controversial measure that would allow bankruptcy judges to force lenders to modify loan terms to head off would-be foreclosures.
Said the NAHB’s CEO [...]

The Federal Funds Futures (FF) market indicates expectations of a fairly steep decline in the Federal Funds Rates before or at the December 16, 2008 (today) meeting of the Federal Open Market Comittee (FOMC). The expectation is for at least a 0.5% drop in the rate, which already sits at 1%, though some research indicates [...]

After expectations of dismal home sales numbers for October, the National Association of Realtors released numbers last week indicating that sales declined just 0.7%, well below the 3% decline predicted by the Wall Street Journal.
Sales of foreclosure properties are being attributed as the reason for the better-than-expected numbers. From a Wall Street Journal post:
Credit Suisse [...]

I’ve spoken of the massive potential upside to the lower mortgage rates that are being heavily lobbied for by the National Association of Realtors, the National Home Builders Association and by countless other groups. If those and other groups have their way, we’ll be looking at 4.5% 30-Year mortgage rates (or lower) in the near [...]

I’ve been screaming this at a brick wall of late, it seems. Fear is one hell of a motivator or, in this case, a “de-motivator.” And, even though the brick wall hasn’t yet responded to me, let me say it again - if you’re in the right financial situation, now is a GREAT time to [...]

Mortgage rates dropped again last week, with the 30-Year fixed mortgage rate falling to 5.53% as of last Friday. Call it “good news week” here at the Blevins Wist Maryland real estate blog. Perhaps I just can’t help myself after choosing (or being forced) to write about just about nothing but the bad news that [...]

There has been quite a bit of reporting lately about the housing downturn - so much, in fact, that referring to it as “quite a bit” is a major understatement. Despite the stories of massive losses in homeowner equity, however, a recent report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency indicates positive net home values over [...]

Plans abound to “save” the U.S. housing market, from those put forth by the National Assocation of Home Builders that call for drastic mortgage rate buydowns and tax credits to the “Four Point Plan” of the National Assocation of Realtors. But rumors and aggressive lobbying seem to be turning into a plan with some legs [...]

Maryland saw a 16% drop in foreclosures during the third quarter - as compared to the second quarter - according to a recent Baltimore Sun article. Unfortunately, it seems likely that the drop will be a temporary respite as a series of events are lining up to knock the rosy numbers back into oblivion.
Foreclosure numbers [...]