Continue Reading July 22nd, 2009
Yuliya Demyanyk, a senior research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, has just written an article called “Ten myths about subprime mortgages.” I don’t buy everything she says. For one thing, I think the piece leaves the impression that subprime mortgages weren’t a big problem. Clearly they were. Still, the piece makes for interesting reading. Here’s a synopsis of her “myths”:
Myth 1: Subprime mortgages went only
to borrowers with impaired credit
Myth 2: Subprime mortgages promoted homeownership
Myth 3: Declines in home values caused
the subprime crisis in the United States
Myth 4: Declines in mortgage underwriting standards
triggered the subprime crisis
Myth 5: Subprime mortgages failed
because people used homes as ATMs
Myth 6: Subprime mortgages failed
because of mortgage rate resets
Myth 7: Subprime borrowers with hybrid mortgages
were offered (low) “teaser rates”
Myth 8: The subprime mortgage crisis in the United States
was totally unexpected
Myth 9: The subprime mortgage crisis in the United States
is unique in its origins
Myth 10: The subprime mortgage market was
too small to cause big problems
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Continue Reading July 22nd, 2009
The online real estate agency ZipRealty.com has just come out with its list of the hottest and coldest real estate markets, based on whether homes are selling for above or below the asking prices.
For the most part the “hottest” markets aren’t the posh zip codes of Beverly Hills or Greenwich. Most are markets where banks are dumping foreclosed homes and bidding wars have sprouted up.
Topping the list of hottest markets is the Phoenix suburb Youngtown, where homes sold at an average of 111% of list price in the second quarter. The picture is of a four bedroom, 2,200 square foot bank-owned McMansion in Youngtown. It’s got a formal living and dining room, a powder room, a large master bed and bath downstairs, a “desired location close to schools, local freeways and professional football stadium.” It’s listed for $107,000. You can get everything a young family needs in Youngtown, except trees apparently.
Following it on the list of hottest markets: San Pedro, Calif (sale price as a percentage of asking price: 109%), New Haven, Conn. (107%), Oakland (105%) and Encanto, Calif. (103%), a San Diego suburb. Not the fanciest post marks.
And where are home sales coldest according to Zip? Again, not where you would expect. Atlanta (sales are at 81% of list price), Naples (81%), St. Petersburg (81%), Weston, Fla. (80%) and Eloy, Az. (80%). Number six on the cold list is a fairly posh place, Boca Raton (80%).
“As housing inventory shrinks dramatically across many California markets, we’re actually seeing bidding wars again in some places,” said Leslie Tyler, vice president and chief home hunter for ZipRealty. “In markets like Southern Florida that still show relatively high inventory levels, banks and sellers are accepting offers well below asking price to move homes off their books.”
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