housing crisis

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Huge Homeowner Aid Bill Nears Approval

Bipartisan support for action, despite veto threat

(Newser) - With 8,000 foreclosures daily and looming elections, Congress is close to approving the most sweeping changes to mortgage financing since the New Deal, reports the New York Times. The pricey aid bill aimed at helping hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure has bipartisan support, despite the threat of...

TV Home Shows Boom During Bust

'People loved comedies during the Depression, too,' producer says

(Newser) - Home shows are becoming the heavyweights of reality television, even as the housing market continues to plummet, the New York Times reports. HGTV and TLC have million-plus nightly audiences as shows that provide step-by-step guidance to potential homesellers and buyers appeal to viewers weary of past hits that traded on...

Oil Plunges; Stocks Gain
 Oil Plunges; Stocks Gain 
MARKETS
May 27, 2008 3:31 PM CDT

Oil Plunges; Stocks Gain

Markets shake off steep decline in housing prices

(Newser) - The markets pulled out modest gains today on plunging oil prices, despite housing price indices that showed the biggest drop in 20 years, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow ended up 68.72 at 12,548.35, the Nasdaq up 36.57 at 2,481.24, and the S&...

Squatters, Scammers Move In on Foreclosed Homes

Increasingly, abandoned homes are being used for nefarious activity

(Newser) - Add a new twist to the housing crisis: Squatters are increasingly using homes that have been abandoned for months, and con artists are scamming banks in “cash for keys” deals or luring people into “leasing” homes that actually are foreclosures sitting empty, Reuters reports. Authorities can have a...

Bush Will Veto Dems' Housing Bill
Bush Will
Veto Dems' Housing Bill
May 7, 2008 2:27 PM CDT

Bush Will Veto Dems' Housing Bill

$15B measure would 'reward speculators and lenders': President

(Newser) - President Bush said today that he would veto the Democratic housing bill being worked on in the House of Representatives. Bush claims the bill would unfairly bail out "speculators and lenders," the Washington Post reports. "I will veto the bill that's moving through the House today if...

Down in Polls, Brown Admits 'Mistakes'

Ahead of UK local voting, PM confesses tax missteps

(Newser) - With polls predicting big losses for his Labour party in tomorrow’s local elections, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted he’d made mistakes in the past six months, Reuters reports. Chiefly, Brown acknowledged increasing the tax burden on the lowest-paid workers and those aged 60-64, but said both problems...

Federal Mortgage Plan Not Helping the Neediest: Critics

Only 2K in danger of foreclosure have been able to take advantage, stats show

(Newser) - A plan to federally subsidize the refinancing of troubled mortgages has in fact helped relatively few of the most at-risk borrowers, the New York Times reports. Though Bush administration officials said FHA Secure has benefited 150,000, federal statistics show that only 1,729 of those mortgages were delinquent. “...

First Tax Rebates Go Out Monday

Paulson happy to be ahead of schedule

(Newser) - Treasury is putting its rebate money where its mouth is—ahead of schedule, Reuters reports, with the first wave of checks going out Monday. “We're a little bit ahead of schedule, so we will start right on Monday with direct deposits," Henry Paulson tells Reuters. The Treasury secretary...

New-Home Sales Hit Lowest Level Since '91
 New-Home Sales Hit
 Lowest Level Since '91 
Economy
Apr 24, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

New-Home Sales Hit Lowest Level Since '91

8.5% drop much worse than expected; supply hits 27-year high

(Newser) - New-home sales fell yet again in March, the Wall Street Journal reports, with single-family sales off 8.5% to an annual rate of 526,000, the lowest level since 1991. Analysts had expected a drop of only 1.9%. The median price, meanwhile, plummeted 13.3%, to $227,600. With...

March Home Sales, Prices Fall
 March Home Sales, Prices Fall 
Economy
Apr 22, 2008 10:02 AM CDT

March Home Sales, Prices Fall

Buyers can't get loans, or are awaiting bigger price drops

(Newser) - Prices on existing homes fell in March, but buyers stayed away, either unable to get loans, or betting on yet bigger drops, Bloomberg reports. Sales dropped 2%, to an annual rate of 4.93 million, as the median price fell to $200,700 from $217,400 last year. The number...

Bush Tabs 'Problem Solver' to Head HUD

New secretary must face the housing market's troubles

(Newser) - With the housing market in turmoil, President Bush is turning to an investment banker-turned-bureaucrat to head HUD, the Washington Post reports. Steven Preston, 47, has run the Small Business Administration since 2006 after a stint at Lehman Brothers; he succeeds Alphonso Jackson, who announced his resignation 2 weeks ago amid...

March Foreclosures Up 57% Over Last Year; Worst Coming

February gains evaporate

(Newser) - Bank repossessions skyrocketed 129% over the 12-month period ending in March, and foreclosure filings rose 57% over the previous year, RealtyTrac announced today. March foreclosure notices rose 5%, after a 4% decline in February. All this “is ongoing fallout from people overextending themselves and using highly toxic loan products,...

Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill
 Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill 
Apr 10, 2008 3:02 PM CDT

Senate Passes Housing Aid Bill

Wins approval by wide margin, but House, Bush opposition leave fate uncertain

(Newser) - The Senate approved a $15 billion measure to address the housing slump today, including $6 billion in total tax breaks to homebuilding firms and a $7,000 tax credit for buyers of foreclosed homes. Though it passed by an 84-12 margin, opposition from President Bush and the House could yet...

Frank is Dems' Unlikely Lead Economy Dog
Frank is Dems' Unlikely Lead Economy Dog
Profile
Apr 10, 2008 11:37 AM CDT

Frank is Dems' Unlikely Lead Economy Dog

Mass. rep huddles with Paulson, Bernanke on housing measure

(Newser) - Democratic Rep. Barney Frank has become an unlikely power player in Washington’s “new economic trio” with Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson, writes David Rogers in Politico. His pet plan—a “humongous housing deal” to steady an ailing market—might be a tough sell to the White House,...

Mortgage Crisis Spreads Across the Atlantic

UK housing prices plunge; chancellor acts to shore up market

(Newser) - UK home prices tumbled 2.5% in February—the largest fall since the 1990s—as the International Monetary Fund warned that Britain could face a housing crisis similar to the US. British PM Gordon Brown insisted yesterday the decline was containable, but the Bank of England is now under serious...

Slump Stings Vegas McMansion Owners

Curious aspect of swelling home inventories: unsold palaces

(Newser) - The housing crisis has caused the number of homes for sale across the country to grow, but in Las Vegas, brokers are dealing with an unusual aspect of swelling inventory—an excess of $1 million-plus listings. Although they're luxury properties with pools and excesses of polished marble, those constructed more...

House Could Be Dead Giveaway
 House Could Be Dead Giveaway 
Apr 6, 2008 11:20 AM CDT

House Could Be Dead Giveaway

69-year-old seller will make home's buyer beneficiary of $500K insurance policy

(Newser) - If Bob Fanning dies in the next decade, the buyer of his Wisconsin home—listed at $498,900—will get a half-million dollar payday. That’s because the 69-year-old plans to make the new owner the beneficiary of a 10-year life-insurance policy, a carrot he hopes will sweeten the deal...

Lenders Turning Blind Eye to Overdue Payments

Overwhelmed banks taking much longer to foreclose on homes

(Newser) - With foreclosures skyrocketing, overwhelmed mortgage lenders are turning a blind eye to homeowners who haven’t paid up, letting them live in their houses despite delinquency, Bloomberg reports. The 3.6% of borrowers at least 90 days behind is almost twice the percentage foreclosed upon. Lenders’ delays are skewing foreclosure...

Hillary's 3am Ads Ring Again; McCain Answers

Now pre-dawn spots raise alarm over the economy

(Newser) - The very-late-night caller is back and this time he's raising concerns about the economy. Hillary Clinton has recycled her now-famous TV ad featuring a phone ringing at 3am to hit John McCain—and McCain was quick to strike back with one of his own, USA Today reports. The ads question...

Unsold Homes Handcuffing Job-Seekers

Housing crisis crimps mobility, prevents workers from moving

(Newser) - The housing crisis that’s kept many from selling their homes has, in turn, warped the job market, the New York Times reports. Those who can’t sell their houses can’t relocate to seek work. Usually, more than 5 million workers move per year. But now, tens of thousands...

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