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Dollar woes poised to carry over into next year Greenback is down about 50% vs. euro in past five years; down 6% vs. yen By Wanfeng Zhou, MarketWatch Nov 28, 2006 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- After a precipitous slide in the last week that caught many traders off guard, the dollar is vulnerable to further losses and may continue to weaken against major rivals heading into 2007, analysts said Tuesday. "Sentiment for the dollar has been deteriorating steadily over recent weeks," said Mitul Kotecha, head of global foreign-exchange strategy at French investment bank Calyon. The decline was not prompted by...

AP Home Sales Plummet in 38 States in 3Q Monday November 20 By Lauren Villagran, AP Business Writer Third-Quarter Home Sales Plummet in 38 States During the Summer; Home Prices Also Tumble NEW YORK (AP) -- The feeble U.S. housing market showed more frailty when third-quarter home sales plummeted in 38 states, hitting Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California particularly hard, government data showed on Monday. The once-booming real estate market's persistent weakness over the past year has reined in expectations for economic growth but hasn't been severe enough to offset a rising stock market, lower gas prices and improved consumer...

The real estate market continues to go bust as I had predicted in my first major article on the subject in December of 2005. As it continues to rapidly barrel south, don’t tell the Bush Administration, the Federal Reserve, International Bankers, Mortgage Bankers, Mortgage Brokers, Realtors, home builders or even home sellers. Let’s keep it our little secret. Still, none of them want to hear anything about it. They are, the majority of them, extremely myopic to the truth and material facts of what is really going on in the American economy. SEC regulators should take note if they are...

The price of existing homes last month fell 2.2 percent, the largest monthly decline in the almost four decades the number has been tracked, according to an industry report released yesterday. Nationwide, the number of existing single-family homes sold fell 14.2 percent in September compared with September 2005, according to the report from the National Association of Realtors. The number of sales has fallen each month since March. Prices fell everywhere in the country, with the Northeast and West most affected. Declines were more moderate in the South, which includes the Washington area....

'The US housing bubble will disappear' By Laurie Osborne, Editor Published 11th Sep 2006 That the US housing bubble will disappear someday is a certainty. That it will blow up catastrophically is a fair bet, warns The Daily Reckoning's Bill Bonner. Observing recent statistics, Bonner calls the evidence "formidable". The total value of residential property in developed countries rose by more than $30 trillion, to $70 trillion, over the past five years – eclipsing the combined GDPs of those nations. Consumer spending and residential construction have accounted for 90 percent of the total growth in the American GDP over the...

Report Predicts Price Declines In 100 U.S. Cities Over Next Few Years . . . Home buyers have another reason to sit on their hands. In the latest news from the slumping U.S. housing market, a report released this week says that median house prices are likely to decline more than 10% over the next few years in 20 metro areas, including Las Vegas, Tucson, Ariz., and Washington, D.C. The report, by Moody's Economy.com Inc., a research firm in West Chester, Pa., also says that the slump won't end quickly. Indeed, according to the report, prices may keep falling until...

The Sentinel is reporting that in Massachusetts, “State Targeting Abusive Lenders”: “The state Division of Banks is cracking down this month on what it sees as abusive business practices by mortgage lenders and brokers. “The agency issued a series of new emergency regulations earlier this month, requiring better documentation from lenders and prohibiting them from pressuring consumers into taking out mortgages they can't afford or working without their own independent lawyers. “It also forced four companies -- two of them located in Worcester -- to close immediately and place all pending mortgages with another, more established lender. “Commissioner of Banks...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Mortgage rates have been trending down, but that won't do much to benefit those who signed up for low-teaser-rate adjustable-rate mortgages in the past few years. An ARM charges an initial discounted rate for a period of time, after which it adjusts to market levels. When some types of ARMs with teaser rates of 2 percent or less reset, the rates are likely to jump to more than 6 percent - and even as high as 9 percent. Home for sale profiles Help! Young and Ballanco The Orlando-based couple thought they were in a bubble. Are...

US: Another Post-Bubble Shakeout Stephen Roach (New York) Five and a half years ago the equity bubble popped. Within six months, the US economy went into mild recession, and the global economy was quick to follow. Today, America’s housing bubble is finally bursting. Is the die cast for another bubble-induced downturn in the US and global economy? All asset bubbles are alike. Sure, there are obvious differences between equities -- a financial asset -- and homes -- a tangible asset. But to me, the Shiller definition says it all: A bubble is an outgrowth of powerful amplification mechanisms -- both...

On the decline Moody's Economy.com looks at the 100 largest markets and predicts their tops, their bottoms - and total price drops. October 6 2006: 11:42 AM EDT NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The housing market will get worse before it gets better - that's the finding of an analysis by Moody's Economy.com. In the survey of 379 metro areas, the study's authors project that nearly 20 areas eventually could experience a "crash," or a decline of more than 10 percent from peak to trough. The most hard-hit areas will be in California, the Southwest coast of Florida, and in Arizona...

Just how weak is the Boston real estate market? We got an idea yesterday. And if you’re looking to sell your home in the near future, the news isn’t good. Brand-new luxury condos downtown saw hundreds of thousands of dollars wiped off their value in the Hub’s first public real estate auction in a decade. The 31 condos up for sale in the Folio building on Broad Street sold on average for 30 percent below their asking prices. Some barely fetched their minimums. Even the building’s marketing boss couldn’t hide what happened. “I think the buyers got a better value...

The rate of decline in the US housing market is continuing to surprise the pundits. The number of housing starts - that is, new home construction - fell 6% in August, down almost 20% on last year, the worst annual decline in four years, and a much worse fall than expected. That came hot on the heels of news from the National Association of Home Builders that house builders’ confidence is at its lowest since 1991. “This implies an increasingly negative outlook for the consumer sector given the importance of equity withdrawal and the positive wealth effects housing has provided...

Lenders must consider borrowers' ability to pay the full cost of the loan WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Cracking down on exotic mortgages that have exploded in popularity in recent years, U.S. regulators told banks Friday that they've got to make sure that borrowers can actually pay back the full amount of the mortgage. Exotic products, such as interest-only or payment option adjustable rate mortgages, allow borrowers to trade lower initial payments for higher payments later. But such products have raised red flags at the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators as more institutions offer them and they become available to a...

It seems like every month, I'm running into people passing out a slick new business card that announces them as a real estate agent or mortgage broker. Who wouldn't want to get a piece of the action? On certain Portland streets, housing prices are doubling in a matter of months. And when there's this kind of temptation to make quick money, greed can't be far behind.Insiders call it land flipping. Silent second. Straw buyers. Foreclosure fraud. Equity skimming. Air loans. If there's a thought to do it, there's a scheme attached to it."It's the fastest-growing white collar crime in the...

One of the many benefits of the now-cooling housing boom — both to consumers and the U.S. economy — was the huge pile of cash extracted in the form of home equity loans and “cash-out” mortgage refinancings. But with home prices flattening, and that multibillion-dollar piggy bank drying up, can consumers continue the shopping spree that accounts for more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy? There was fresh evidence of the housing slump this week, as separate government reports showed prices of both new and existing homes fell year-over year in August. For existing homes, it was the first year-over-year...

Gerard Herard was able to finally purchase a home in 2003 through a $225,070 mortgage from Security Atlantic Mortgage. His payments on the quaint Totowa Avenue house in Paterson were a reasonable $1,300 a month. But Herard's payments have since increased to $2,200 a month and the mortgage has grown, not shrunk, to roughly $300,000. Herard is not entirely sure why his situation changed so dramatically and is struggling to deal with the increase. "I'm trying to climb a steep ladder," said Herard, 53. In recent years, lenders have lured scores of homeowners to untraditional mortgages with changing terms. Many...

No Shortage of Bubbles and Troubles By Jim Jubak MSN Money Markets Editor 9/27/2006 The stock and bond markets rallied after the Federal Reserve held short-term interest rates steady at its Sept. 20 meeting. Investors believe that the Fed has successfully steered the economy between too hot and too cold, and that we're headed for a just-right soft landing with inflation under control and the economy growing at a solid pace. The so-called "Goldilocks economy" will push both stock and bond prices higher. But I think it's premature to slap the Fed on the back and say "mission accomplished." The...

Sep 20, 2006 4 Major California Home Markets See Drop In Prices (AP) LOS ANGELES A real estate research firm says the median price of a California home increased last month at the slowest annual rate in nine years. Four counties actually saw price declines. Among the largest real estate markets, according to DataQuick Information Systems, the steepest drop was 6.7 percent in San Mateo County. Other decreases were seen in Marin County (2.3 percent), San Diego County (2.2 percent) and Alameda County (1.5 percent). Appreciation in Sonoma, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Contra Costa counties was essentially flat. The...

As rates creep up, borrowers with interest-only loans face sharply higher mortgage payments: Tina Gren Clarence saves $600 a month with an interest-only loan she took out about a year ago for a Petaluma home, yet already is considering heading off the financial hit when her monthly payments could jump. And Peter Shidler, whose low-payment-option loan could turn from a sweet deal into a potentially bitter one, is refinancing and still will pay $500 more monthly on his Santa Rosa home. Gren Clarence and Shidler, like two out of three Sonoma County home buyers and owners, joined the fast-growing club...

Reality setting in on real estate September 2006 American’s castles (homes) are middle class walls of separation from poverty and want. As goes the house goes the family’s ability to fend off tough times and leverage past wealth for opportunity. Borrowing to bridge low income periods, college costs, medical expenses, bail, renovations, retirement and unemployment are all common. This is the proper frame of discussion for the impending debt/depreciation storming of the castle. A few basic facts are worth repeating. $1.06 Trillion in residential mortgages were written in 2005. Nearly 70% of Americans own their residences. The home is by...