Archive for January 16th, 2009
Continue Reading January 16th, 2009
I just wrote a story with fellow Hot Property blogger, Chris Palmeri, about the flood of mortgage refinancing applications loan officers are fielding as interest rates hit record lows.
The Washington Post today has an interesting story that says that only about half of refinance applications are getting approved and that borrowers are increasing their odds by going to multiple lenders.
This graph from Freddie Mac gives you a sense of how fast interest rates fell after the Federal Reserve and Treasury announced Nov. 25 that it plans to buy up to $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities.
(It’s a bit hard to read but the graph shows the ups and downs from Jan. 3, 2008 to Jan. 15,2009. Rates start plummeting after 11/20/08.)
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Continue Reading January 16th, 2009
The Senate voted 52-42 yesterday to allow the Treasury Department to get the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program going.
President-elect Obama has said he’ll use $50 billion to $100 billion of the remaining $350 billion to help prevent home foreclosures. He’s also said he’ll put tougher conditions on the companies receiving the funds.
Among the restrictions still being debated is limits on executive pay and other corporate perks. Rep. Barney Frank has proposed eliminating bonuses for the top 25 execs and banning corporate jets at companies that receive bailout funds.
Of course companies can easily find ways around such restrictions. They can hike base salaries, for one. A new report by the Institute for Policy Studies suggests capping total executive compensation at 25 times that of the lowest-paid employee. That is coincidentally exactly how future President Obama’s $400,000 salary compares with the lowest-paid federal worker.
The report notes that crafty companies are already getting around the proposed corporate jet ownership restrictions by chartering private aircraft.
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Continue Reading January 16th, 2009
In the midst of a national economy rife with cutbacks and layoffs, research and development concern Battelle is making plans to increase the size of its digs at three locations in the Columbus, Ohio, area.
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Continue Reading January 16th, 2009
I’m a realtor in Boulder, and a couple of years ago I had a buyer in from out of town. We did the usual thing - drove around, looked at 10 or 12 homes - and made plans to see more the following day. Well, he called the next morning and told me that he had borrowed a cruiser bike from his hotel, ridden through a nearby neighborhood and met a guy who was interested in selling his house.
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