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House Prices Are Still 10% Too High, Says Barry Ritholtz

Well, while Barry may be overly optimistic with a forecast of current prices being only 10 percent overpriced, I do think he is dead-on right about something very big that is profoundly affecting the stalemate in the current real estate marketplace: Homes Are Being Priced Too High By Sellers With Unreasonable “Bubble-Era” Expectations.

From Yahoo Finance:

“Widespread Fear Freezes Housing Market,” and New York Times Asks “You Have To Wonder Sometimes What They’re Smoking Over There At The National Association of Realtors”

Rarely do you see a mainstream “establishment” media source speak so frankly, but the New York Times did just that yesterday with an excellent article worth reading.  Well written, and most importantly, very honest reporting about the reality of where we are:

“You have to wonder sometimes what they’re smoking over there at the [...]

Procrastination on Foreclosures, Now ‘Blatant,’ May Backfire

American Banker.com posed the question today that many observers have been asking for awhile now: where the heck are all of the foreclosures?

“Ever since the housing collapse began, market seers have warned of a coming wave of foreclosures that would make the already heightened activity look like a trickle.

The [...]

Ron Paul Says “Let the Housing Market Normalize!”

Ron Paul had an interesting editorial today which makes sense and rings true:

“The combined policies of loose credit and government backing increased the demand for housing and drove prices sky high. When the housing market heated up to the breaking point everything came crashing down. Those suddenly [...]

Federal Reserve Adopts Rules Meant to Protect Home Buyers By Banning “Yield Spread Premiums”

So long “Yield Spread Premiums” as a device to pad the bottom line of mortgage brokers and banks:

“The Federal Reserve on Monday moved to end a controversial lending practice that had helped propel the housing boom to unsustainable heights and then accelerated its collapse.

The Fed announced that it was [...]

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner Announces “Welcome to the Recovery”

I post this excerpt and link only because of it’s monumental and historic cluelessness.  Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner wrote a New York Times piece several weeks ago entitled, incredibly, “Welcome to the Recovery,” in which he says, among other things:

“The devastation wrought by the great recession is still all too real [...]

Maryland’s New Foreclosure Law Allows Mediation For Maryland Homeowners Facing Foreclosure

The Daily Times had an article today highlighting some of the features of Maryland’s new foreclosure law revision:

“Several amendments to Maryland’s foreclosure law became effective July 1. Among many changes, a homeowner can now request mediation.

A mediation is basically a meeting to discuss and explore options. A foreclosure mediation [...]

FHA Rolls Out Principal Reducing Refis for Underwater Borrowers

There has been a lot of buzz as of late about a new refinancing initiative that promises to “reduce principal.”  While there are many conditions on eligibility, and while as proposed it would only be available to “primary home” borrowers (thus excluding the second home and investment property owners here in the Ocean City Maryland [...]

Mortgage Rates Dip to New Record Lows

DSNews.com reported some good news for prospective home buyers (who qualify) last Thursday:

“Mortgage rates continued to slide downward for the week ending July 29, 2010, marking yet another round of record lows, Freddie Mac and Bankrate reported Thursday.”

“For the sixth week in a row, interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages eased [...]

The Psychology of Real Estate: Welcome, Out-of-Towners!

Yahoo Finance has an interesting article on buyer and seller attitudes when buying and selling real estate. Looks like it is genuine, based on real research.  Of particular interest to buyers of Ocean City Maryland properties, was this quote:

“Welcome, Out-of-Towners!

Out-of-state buyers tend to pay more than locals for properties of equal [...]