Continue Reading Add comment November 11th, 2008 06:52pm John
The Bush administration on Tuesday unveiled a new program to modify mortgages and stabilize the battered real estate market, but the plan stops short of providing direct government financial help to at-risk homeowners.
Continue Reading Add comment November 11th, 2008 05:53pm John
The flurry of announcements by the government and major banks that they are engaging in a massive campaign to modify mortgages that are in or are hurtling toward default and foreclosure will certainly give rise to predictions that the housing market has been stabilized and disaster averted. If only it were so.
Make no mistake, policymakers and banking executives had to launch this concerted campaign to try to stop the wave after wave of foreclosures that seems to feed on itself. As lenders foreclose on one delinquent borrower, and then sell the home at what is invariably a steep discount, that just pushes a number of nearby homeowners so far underwater that they just move out and mail their keys in, which just sets the cycle in motion again.
But anyone hoping that this synchronized effort to modify millions mortgages that are in trouble is likely to be disappointed. Because behind the splashy headlines, there are limits to what the government and banks can hope to achieve. And trying to slow the free-fall in housing markets is akin to the government trying to put its finger in the dike.
The fact is that despite the double-digit declines in housing values in most cities, housing remains significantly overvalued in many markets by all of the traditional benchmarks: One key ratio – the median cost of a new home vs. median income – suggests that home prices nationwide still need to drop another 15% to 20% on average, as you can see in this chart compiled by money manager Barry Ritholtz. And the equilibrium price is far more than that in bubble markets like southern California and Florida. According to this “fair value” calculator, one suburban neighborhood outside Washington, D.C. that I checked (Alexandria, Va., where I lived in the mid-1990s) is now 47% overvalued. Ditto for a few communities in Los Angeles that I surveyed.
Continue Reading Add comment November 11th, 2008 07:41am John
ING Clarion Partners L.L.C., the North American investment management division of ING Real Estate, has leased 62,000 square feet at Metropolitan Center to travel retailer Hudson Group.
Continue Reading Add comment November 11th, 2008 07:10am John
Environmental remediation has been completed on the 132-acre Riverbend District, formerly known as Harrison MetroCentre, in Harrison, N.J., which will allow owner-developer Advance Realty Group to move forward with construction of infrastructure such as roads and utilities.
Continue Reading Add comment November 11th, 2008 03:30am John
Viacom has decided to keep its global headquarters at 1515 Broadway in Times Square, renewing and extending its lease for 1.3 million square feet of space at the 54-story Midtown Manhattan skyscraper that is home to MTV studios and the Nokia Theater.
Continue Reading Add comment November 10th, 2008 04:43pm John
For years, bad loans and their aftershocks have been sending homeowners into foreclosure. Now its lost jobs that are putting troubled borrowers over the edge.
Continue Reading Add comment November 10th, 2008 04:23pm John
There was a great story in the Los Angeles Times yesterday about the reporter’s struggles to buy a home in foreclosure. I was particularly fascinated by what appears to be some creepy dealings by the listing agent on one of the properties who never even showed the reporter’s offer to the bank.
I’ve been poking around on my own, looking to buy bank-owned property in a Los Angeles neighborhood called Canoga Park. It’s a frustrating experience no doubt. I had a close encounter with a wild dog sleeping underneath one house I visited. Fortunately he didn’t bite. I’ve seen homes where flippers left unfinished bathrooms. I saw several houses with paint splashes on the walls, put there by owners who never even had a chance to finish painting.
Another home had perhaps fifty business cards from various real estate agents, scattered across the kitchen counter like coins in a wishing well. One Realtor told me he doesn’t even bother going to visit houses anymore. “There are 6,000 houses for sale in the San Fernando Valley,” he said. “I’d never have time to see them all.”
The last house I went to look at was listed as bank-owned in the Multiple Listing Service and had pictures attached of a nice, empty home. When I got there the home was occupied and the hastily scribbled sign outside said “for sale by owner.” A half-hour drive for nothing.
Add comment November 10th, 2008 12:46pm admin
Ohhhh Canada
With the Canadian Union election behind us, a brooding USA General election (which will set up everyone), plus a Vancouver Mayoral race in which the winner will preside over the 2010 Olympics and assay to gruntle the controversies around the development, democracy in action is watching the attention of everyone - or should be anyway.
I’ve in person got wind that policy is decided by those who "render up" and allow their opinions be heard - not by switching rocks but kinda by civilised discourse and personal expression to the policy makers.
Here are a few tools, events and ideas I’ve come up acress to facilitate constructively participate in the political process, while not sinking to the mud-catapulting which befalls when the issues cut to the core of who we are as a community.
Media Democracy Day- Address up!
This Saturday at SFU’s downtown campus come up "Speak for Ourselves" and learn about the decisive issues seting up the media - both in terms of content and delivery - at Media Democracy Day Vancouver 2008.
With mainstream piles up amalgamating local media into a generic mish-mash more centered on trading ad space than circulating decisive information, and Telcos (with the encouragement of the Union government) reducing their grip on the gates of what’s "satisfactory" there is enough to develop yourself some.
Observed speakers will partake their opinions - including happyfrog columnist and co-founder of Greenpeace Rex Wyeler and Tyee’s main David Beers - and relevant panels will stage unlike perspectives on this active landscape from subject access to citizen journalism to copyright/incorrect.
Continue Reading Add comment November 10th, 2008 07:45am John
New York City’s commercial real estate market isn’t immune to the fallout caused by the economic downturn. Transactions have plummeted 61 percent from the beginning of the year through October, according to data from Real Capital Analytics Inc. In the longer term, however, the outlook for the market remains strong.
Continue Reading Add comment November 7th, 2008 08:49pm John
I’m not normally one to toot my own horn, but in this case…toot, toot, toot.
My colleages and I were named the world’s most powerful property people by Global edge, an online strategy consulting firm based in the U.K.
Global edge says its ranking methodology involved tallying the Google searches for terms such as “real estate blog.” Darn, if we didn’t beat out Yahoo, MSN, and CNN’s real estate sites.
Thanks Global edge. Thanks Hot Property readers! We think you are the truly powerfull people.