djc
01-30-2008, 12:44 AM
Home prices continue to fall as defaults, foreclosures are still rising
As the White House and Congress work to head off a recession, fresh data out Tuesday points to further trouble ahead for the main cause of the downturn — a housing market that shows no signs of hitting bottom.
Home prices plunged by a record 8.4 percent in November, according to a composite index based on 10 U.S. cities tracked by Standard & Poor's. It was the eleventh straight monthly decline for the so-called Case-Shiller index.
"Nothing in these numbers suggest a bottoming out. The numbers universally are disappointing," said David Blitzer, S&P's managing director and chairman of the index committee. "Maybe when we get into the spring/summer home-buying season and with lower interest rates, maybe it will all come together."
A separate report showed that mortgage foreclosures surged in 2007 as many homeowners found themselves unable to keep up with sharp increases in mortgage payments and unable to refinance because their homes had lost too much value. Some 1.3 million homes were the subject of a foreclosure filing, up about 80 percent from 2006, according to RealtyTrac, a Web site that tracks foreclosures nationwide. More than 1 percent of all U.S. households were in some phase of the foreclosure process last year, up from about half a percent in 2006.
Lenders are also feeling the pain. On Tuesday, Countrywide Financial, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, posted a larger-than-expected loss (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22894170/) of $422 million for the latest quarter, as more homeowners fell behind on payments. Adding its name to a long list of mortgage lenders that have gone out of business or been sold, Countrywide agreed this month to be acquired by Bank of America for roughly $4.3 billion.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ArtAndPhoto-Fronts/BUSINESS/Nov/071128/ARM_Rates_Chart3.gif
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22897832/
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2008 will continue to be owned by ARM resets. 2009 may be stable, but shakey, however 2010 will blow any progress 2009 makes.
As the White House and Congress work to head off a recession, fresh data out Tuesday points to further trouble ahead for the main cause of the downturn — a housing market that shows no signs of hitting bottom.
Home prices plunged by a record 8.4 percent in November, according to a composite index based on 10 U.S. cities tracked by Standard & Poor's. It was the eleventh straight monthly decline for the so-called Case-Shiller index.
"Nothing in these numbers suggest a bottoming out. The numbers universally are disappointing," said David Blitzer, S&P's managing director and chairman of the index committee. "Maybe when we get into the spring/summer home-buying season and with lower interest rates, maybe it will all come together."
A separate report showed that mortgage foreclosures surged in 2007 as many homeowners found themselves unable to keep up with sharp increases in mortgage payments and unable to refinance because their homes had lost too much value. Some 1.3 million homes were the subject of a foreclosure filing, up about 80 percent from 2006, according to RealtyTrac, a Web site that tracks foreclosures nationwide. More than 1 percent of all U.S. households were in some phase of the foreclosure process last year, up from about half a percent in 2006.
Lenders are also feeling the pain. On Tuesday, Countrywide Financial, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, posted a larger-than-expected loss (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22894170/) of $422 million for the latest quarter, as more homeowners fell behind on payments. Adding its name to a long list of mortgage lenders that have gone out of business or been sold, Countrywide agreed this month to be acquired by Bank of America for roughly $4.3 billion.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ArtAndPhoto-Fronts/BUSINESS/Nov/071128/ARM_Rates_Chart3.gif
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22897832/
---
2008 will continue to be owned by ARM resets. 2009 may be stable, but shakey, however 2010 will blow any progress 2009 makes.