A report on Home Prices expected out Tuesday, December 30, 2008, is likely to prompt the push for additional relief for the housing sector.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices is expected to reflect the continuing toll exacted by the deflating housing bubble. Along these lines, here is a rather remarkable list of factors — all errupting within the last […]

There is a proposal on the table that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify loans. You read it right ….
This proposal was actually taken out of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) passed in the summer 2008, BUT this particular provision was a deal-breaker for President Bush.
Take note, though, with the election results of November 4th, our focus […]

So what are buyers to do? Today is yet another day, another piece of evidence that waiting for mortgage rates to fall is a flawed financial strategy, as suggested in a piece from the Mortgage Reporter. Perhaps this review will help stimulate more mortgage activity.
Here is what is truly going on. Let us take […]

The House of Representatives on Monday, September 29, 2008 @ 2pm est., defeated a $700 billion emergency rescue package. As a result, stocks plummeted on Wall Street even before the 228-205 vote to reject the bill was announced on the House floor.
————————————————–
Leaders in the U.S. Congress have agreed, as of Sunday September 28, 2008 —  to the details […]

Read Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s statement, unedited …addressing the root cause of the credit crisis.

September 19, 2008: 10:24 AM EDT
WASHINGTON — Statement by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson.
Last night, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, SEC Chairman Chris Cox and I had a lengthy and productive working session with Congressional leaders. We began a substantive discussion on […]

The recent government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has dominated the news recently.
Everyone has their opinions as to how the real estate and mortgage industries will be affected. Phoenix area real estate broker/blogger posted an excellent compendium of links to the opinions about the Fannie/Freddie situation across the blogosphere.
There is certainly […]

Here is a great piece, from the Christian Science Monitor and staff writer Mark Trumbull, which puts the take over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into perspective.

As Secretary of Treasury Paulson correctly concludes, the housing correction poses the biggest risk to our economy. Clearly the government has had enough and opted to take […]

SeekingAlpha just posted a very intriguing opinion piece by John Preston entitled, The Reality of Real Estate and the Economy.

Is this the problem? the solution?

According to many, the thesis (and problem) is simple: Housing health and the economy are linked arm-in-arm.  

Preston traces  this theory back to Robert Shiller, of Case-Shiller Home Price Index fame, who reflects back on a 2004 […]

So is this a trend? As reported in Commercial Property News (CPN) by Scott Baltic, although not necessarily a trend just yet, it is likely more than coincidence that the Kolter Group of West Palm Beach, Fla., is the second largely commercial real estate company in the past couple of weeks to announce a big […]

Are things getting better? The news certainly is not good, but the question is whether there is lemonade amongst the lemons …
 U.S. foreclosure activity in July 2008 increased 8 percent from the previous month and 55 percent from a year earlier, July 2007, according to the RealtyTrac Foreclosure Market Report released today.

Bank Repossessions (REOs) […]