How a $35 Dollar Mistake Could Help Fight Foreclosure

November Home Sales and Prices in Deep Plunge

According to cnnmoney.com, the number of home starts in November dropped 8.6% even when home prices are dropping at a record rate.

“Lawrence Yun, the Realtors’ chief economist said that price drop was the largest the Realtors had ever recorded and probably the worst decline since the Great Depression.”

Other points of interest:
- There are 4.2 million unsold homes on the market. That represents a 11 month supply.
- Existing home sales are at 1997 levels
- In Nov. the median existing home sold for $181,300 or down 13.2% from a year ago.

Read the full article here.

Coldwell Banker is Having a 10% off Sale

Not really, but it’s a great marketing ploy. They have me writing about at 8 pm on a Friday night! Coldwell Banker is asking sellers to cut 10% of their listing prices to spur home sales. This may actually help to sell some homes on the tipping point, but I don’t see how this will work for most would be sellers. Most sellers still believe the bubble prices are real, and refuse to give into the declining housing market.

Many homeowners are at break even or under water on their homes. So, a 10% reduction in price emotionally won’t /can’t happen, just yet… Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index, shows homes have dropped 20% in the last 2 years. Prices will continue drop and drop drastically but it will take another 6 months and the massive recession we are facing to force the true market price of real estate. The

Eighth Straight Month of Decline

Is Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors serious? Read this quote.

Yun said he believed the drop in sales, which left activity in October 20.7 percent below the level of a year ago, was nearing its end. He said a greater willingness of lenders to start offering jumbo loans again and the use of Federal Housing Administration-insured loans in place of subprime mortgages will help generate a rebound. Read the full story here.
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Mortgage Melt Down Video

PBS has a very well done video piece on the Mortgage Crisis. You can check out the video here.

The Synopsis:
This week, NOW travels to North Minneapolis to investigate the mortgage meltdown that has left the city scarred with boarded-up and abandoned houses. What’s happened in communities like this one has investors everywhere shaken. Wall Street firms are stumbling and markets around the globe are nervous. Economists worry the mortgage bust may lead to a recession.

NOW connects the dots to see the extent to which recklessness, corruption and greed created this subprime mess that now threatens to undermine our entire economy. David Brancaccio talks to Rep. Keith Ellison, who grew up in North Minneapolis and who has pushed legislation to address the crisis. He also talks to Ameriquest whistleblower Mark Bomchill, who explains the competitive “boiler room” culture that encouraged brokers to aggressively push mortgage products they knew clients would be unable to repay.