Housing News

“I hope they are right, but my guess is they might be overstating it a little bit”

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News stevebrown@dallasnews.com Potential Dallas-Fort Worth homebuyers who are nervous about whether it's a good time to purchase a house might find some comfort in a new ... via Denton Record-Chronicle

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The median price of a condominium on Maui rose last month, while the median single-family home price fell, with lower sales in both categories. via Residential Real Estate

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“The American people know we are going through a tough time and it is not acceptable to them. ... We will get some help from the stimulus. Later this year, I expect growth will pick up.”

Quotes from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's interview Wednesday with The Associated Press:

STIMULUS REBATES: 'I think they're coming at a good time.'

'Some families will use them to help fill up their gas tank, for a family vacation, or to help (buy) back-to-school clothes and a lot of other things that people are going to like to get done.'

HOUSING CRISIS: 'Even the optimists believe that you're going to continue to see in the next several months ... housing prices decline, that foreclosures increase. That's what happens during a correction.' Read more

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“But I think we're far away from that.”

By Lori Montgomery Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, May 9, 2008; Page A01 The House yesterday approved an ambitious plan to rescue hundreds of thousands of homeowners at risk of foreclosure by helping them ... via The Washington Post

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Analysis and Discussion with Paul Bishop of National Association of Realtors via ClipSyndicate

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“The local (real estate) slowdown is more moderate than other areas”

Fewer people bought houses in York County, and they paid less for them in the first quarter of 2008. via InYork

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“I believe the combination of falling home prices, rising food and energy prices and higher unemployment will result in a pull back on the part of the U.S. consumer, which will continue to exert a drag on the economy over the next 6-12 months”

MUMBAIThe U.S. credit crisis is easing and the risk in its housing market is dramatically lower now, but economic growth will remain under pressure over the next year, the chief executive of Merrill Lynch & Co ... via The Toronto Star

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“It's going to take a long time for volumes to come back”

With a nationwide housing crisis far from over, the risk of future mortgage losses is rapidly shifting from the private sector toward government - and potentially US taxpayers.

This is occurring partly by choice, as policymakers try to stop a wave of foreclosures.

It is also happening by circumstance, as the crisis has left government-linked entities as the lenders of last resort in a troubled marketplace.

One symbol of rising risks came on Tuesday, as mortgage giant Fannie Mae announced a $2.2 billion loss for the year's first quarter. The Federal National Mortgage Association, the official name that has been shortened to Fannie Mae for convenience, is not officially part of the government. Read more

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“Again, I think we're on the right path”

The worst of the nation's credit crisis may have passed, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday, though he acknowledged rising gas prices will blunt the effect of 130 million economic stimulus checks.

He ruled out a second stimulus package for now.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Paulson said the turmoil that has gripped Wall Street and that took a turn for the worse again in March has eased somewhat. "There's progress," he said. "I think we're closer to the end of this" than to the beginning. Read more

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The House of Representatives is due on Wednesday to begin debating a housing rescue package that could see the government buy up $15 billion of abandoned homes and help an estimated half million homeowners ... via WTKS-AM Savannah

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