The Housing Bubble

The Contra Costa Times reports from California. “When most people hear of high-risk loans, they think of first-time home buyers trying to purchase more house than they can afford. But according to a report Friday, the East Bay is seeing more of those loans as owners decide to refinance their homes with risky adjustable-rate mortgages that could lead to negative-amortization loans.”

“Economist Christopher Thornberg said he isn’t surprised that homeowners are refinancing with exotic loans and gambling on appreciation or interest rates dropping in the next two or three years. ‘There are people hunting for something to tide them over,’ he said. ‘Those people are the ones who are in it neck-deep.’”

“According to First American LoanPerformance, the East Bay’s optional-payment ARMs jumped from 0.9 percent of all refinance loans in December 2003 to 39 percent in December 2006. The greater Bay Area numbers were similar.”

“Luke Currier has an option-ARM because of what he calls ‘cash flow reasons.’ Currier, a loan consultant, is self-employed and his income is based on commissions, making him an ideal candidate for the high-risk loan.”

“His $520,000 loan for a Pleasant Hill home in Gregory Gardens works because he pays more than the minimum payment and sets up bimonthly mortgage payments. ‘I try to make a couple of extra payments a year, and that helps negate some of the negative amortization,’ he said. ‘It also sets us up well if we have dips in business.’”

“Currier and his partner, Ed Jeffry, make up Peregrine Lending Corp., which specializes in subprime loans.”

“‘It’s an addiction for homeowners. If you’re given the opportunity to pay the lowest possible payment, you will take it,’ he said. ‘But these loans are not made for W-2 wage earners.’ Jeffry said mortgage brokers are pushing these products without adequately explaining them, leading to trouble.”

“‘There’s probably more blame to put on their loan agents,’ said Jay Damato, owner of Elite Financial in Walnut Creek. ‘Literally, I have had people come into my office and don’t understand the loan they have.’”

The San Francisco Chronicle. “The Bay Area has not been immune to rising foreclosure activity. Between January 2006 and January 2007, every Bay Area county except Marin saw a rise in foreclosure actions, according to RealtyTrac. Solano County had the highest foreclosure rate in the state in January.”

“If your financial difficulties are likely to be long term and you have equity in your home, consider selling the house and preserving your stake, says Jack Guttentag, a former finance professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.”

“‘You have to do this before you become delinquent. If you are 30 days late, you might be able to get a loan. If you are 60 days late, you are not going to get it,’ Guttentag says.”

“If you have no equity in your home and think your problems will be long term, you might persuade the lender to accept a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure. Steve Elias, a bankruptcy attorney in Lake County, says he has heard recently from borrowers who thought they were doing short sales but had to sign a new loan to pay off their first loan.”

“Guttentag warns that lenders typically won’t agree to a deed in lieu or short sale ‘when there is negative equity in the house and the borrower has the capacity to pay but doesn’t want to.’”

The North County Times. “Accredited Home Lenders, a North County mortgage company whose stock price plummeted by 26 percent Monday, said that more than 8 percent of its $11 billion loans to borrowers were delinquent at the end of last year.”

“The company employs 4,000 workers nationwide and 700 in North County. It makes almost all of its loans to subprime borrowers. It currently holds 65,000 subprime loans, or 95 percent of all its loans, Rick Howe, company spokesman, said Monday.”

“Most subprime mortgage companies ‘took an absolute shellacking’ on Monday, said Bud Leedom, a San Diego stock analyst. Leedom said that only the well-run will survive in today’s cooling housing market. ‘This is sort of the first brick to come tumbling down,’ he said. ‘Some of these companies are going out of business.’”

The Union Tribune. “The problems in subprime, which have crescendoed in recent weeks, could have broader implications for the overall housing market. Lenders spooked by subprime’s troubles may tighten their standards for borrowers with better credit.”

“Lenders usually bundle their loans and sell them to investors in the secondary market. But as defaults have risen, investor appetite for subprime loans has evaporated.”

“‘They all got caught up in this insanity of throwing all standards out the window,’ said David Olson of a mortgage research company. ‘They just handed out money thinking any loan would sell to Wall Street.’”

“The result is that the amount investors are willing to pay for certain mortgage pools is less than it costs lenders such as Accredited and New Century to originate loans. ‘Finally, Wall Street is saying no more. These loans aren’t performing,’ Olson said.”

The Press Enterprise. “Sarkis Joseph Khoury, a professor of finance at UC Riverside, said Monday that the latest events could give added impetus to bills in Congress aimed at reining in lender practices that have made credit too easily available.”

“Khoury said subprime lenders are in a situation largely of their own making because many not only financed buyers with below-market-rate loans with temporary teaser rates but also enticed them into taking out second mortgages with similar terms.”

“Experts said lenders’ latest travails could exacerbate conditions caused by a slowing real estate market, with effects already being seen in the Inland region and Southern California.”

“Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi said New Century Financial has begun laying off workers, and similar moves are likely to be seen not only at mortgage companies but also at other businesses that support the real estate market, including escrow and title companies.”

“With second-market lenders giving more scrutiny to the mortgages they purchase, consumers will likely have less access to low-rate loans, Adibi added. Strapped homeowners struggling to make payments could sell their properties at below-market prices to avoid foreclosure, affecting the values of their neighbors’ homes.”

The Merced Sun Star. “Property owners who couldn’t be bothered to mow their lawns got their comeuppance at Monday night’s Merced City Council meeting. The council approved placing liens against 13 properties whose owners never responded to city requests to clean up their land in 2006.”

“After Monday’s vote, those owners are looking at liens ranging from $199 to $6,300 on three separate properties owned by developer Lafferty Homes of Vallejo. ‘There are a lot of property owners that prefer us to take care of (their mess),’ Councilman Bill Spriggs said.”

“That could be because some of them don’t live in the area, Councilwoman Michele Gabriault-Acosta said. Of the 23 properties that were cleaned up by the city contractor, 10 were owned by out-of-towners.”

The Daily Bulletin. “Homes costing half a million dollars now stand in an area once associated with prostitutes and drugs. One block west on Holt Boulevard is Pomona, complete with vacant and boarded-up strip malls, graffiti, shopping carts and debris.”

“But the homes, being built on Holt between Mills and Amherst avenues, are being touted by the developer as an oasis in an improving community. Not only does the company hope to reinvigorate a dilapidated area, it has the ambition to build higher-end homes.” “Between Mills and Amherst will sit 106 single-family homes, each 2,200 square feet, three stories and three to four bedrooms, starting at $475,000.”

“Jose Alkon, VP of sales for Taylor Woodrow homes, admits that some of the surrounding areas are not ideal, but he assures safety for future residents within the gated community. ‘(It) will be surrounded by a 9×13-foot block wall,’ he said. ‘Residents will have their own oasis with one way in and one way out.’”

“Francisco Guiterrez and his wife saw the model homes while driving on Holt and decided to stop. Although the couple are not looking to move right now, they were curious about the new houses.”

“The Pomona residents said they were enticed by the architecture, but were more impressed with the size. ‘You never see a three-story house,’ he said.”

“Guiterrez said he was familiar with the developing area’s past, but that should make no difference in selling a home now. ‘I know for a fact, whenever they build homes, they are going to sell,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t matter the area.’”

Chicago Business reports from Illinois. “A buyer working with Craig Hogan parlayed an ad that said ‘willing to entertain all offers’ into a 13% price reduction on a one-bedroom condo downtown. The buyer offered $205,000 for the condo, which was listed at $249,900, says Mr. Hogan, a broker in Lincoln Park. But the lowball play worked. The final sale price: $217,000.”

“‘It’s like having blood in the water; sharks get wind of it real quick,’ Mr. Hogan says of such ads.”

“Many sellers last year felt the sting of having a house stalled on the market. Homes didn’t sell nearly as briskly in 2006 as they had a year earlier, with total statewide sales for the year down 8.9% from 2005, according to the Illinois Assn. of Realtors.”

“Sales slowed even more in the Chicago area: The association reported 116,463 total home sales in the city and suburbs in 2006, down 12.5% from 2005.”

“Though agents say the market has picked up a bit in the first quarter, it’s still slower than a year ago. ‘In all honesty, I have 27 listings on the market, from $110,000 to the $2-million range, and I’m having problems with all of them,’ says Rita Neri, an agent in Addison.”

“The Chicago housing market hit the brakes hard in the second half of 2006, after years of acceleration. Homeowners looking to sell got caught in the middle, says broker Karey Walker. ‘(They) still want the price that maybe they could have gotten last year,’ she says.”

“And buyers, sensing their newfound power, ‘are a lot less emotional. They’re willing to walk away.’”

The Toledo Blade from Ohio. “Lucas County records show buyers are landing deals. A newer McMansion, four bedrooms, five baths, nearly 5,000 square feet, in the upscale Country Walk development in Sylvania Township was appraised at $575,000 for a sheriff’s sale a year ago.”

“It was acquired by the lender and was resold seven months later for $315,000, or $260,000 below the appraisal, according to the Lucas County auditor’s office.”

The Detroit Free Press from Michigan. “Homeowners across metro Detroit have found themselves confused and angry as they try to reconcile rising property tax assessments in the softest real estate market in years.”

“Southfield resident Paul George. He has tried, and struck out, three times to challenge his property tax assessment. The 65-year-old argued last year that the value of his 1,800-square-foot home should be lower because it’s next to an abandoned house and near a noisy roofing company. He said homes in the neighborhood hadn’t been selling.”

“‘It seems counterintuitive for most people’ that their taxes would go up as their property values decline or remain stagnant, St. Clair Shores City Assessor Scott Vandemergel said. ‘It’s almost as though it’s insulting to them,’ he said.”

The Skyway News from Minnesota. “Some of the inexperienced condo speculators in the Downtown market have forfeited their earnest deposits and scattered, real estate experts say.” “Tom Melchior, manager of marketing research at Larson, Allen, Welshair & Co., said his firm estimates that some developments saw 15 - 20 percent of their units sold to investors.”

“‘Now the condo market is getting hit with a double whammy,’ Melchior said. ‘A lot of unsold units purchased were by investors who decided to walk away.’”

“‘There are a lot of people like myself, investor real estate agents, that are trying to beat up a little bit on the builders to get the best deal because there is a lot of inventory down there,’ Lindsay Gerrard said. ‘The condo market itself is very flat, so what you’re seeing now is more behind-the-scenes where builders and developers and investors are trying to haggle out what type of incentives they would give away to move these products.’”

“Jim Stanton, developer of projects such as the Riverwalk, Bridgewater and Lindsay Lofts, said his projects require a statement that the buyer is an owner-occupant.”

“‘A true investor I would probably accommodate, but there aren’t many of them,’ Stanton said. ‘We’ve had them come in and say we’ll buy 20 units and they want a discount, but we don’t discount. … People are in desperation mode, and some of them do that. Our sales are good without it.’”

“‘Three - four years ago, 15 - 20 percent of buildings went to investors in general,’ said David Abele, a condo investor and real estate agent who is selling the Nicollet. ‘That has dropped to about five percent.’”

“Scott Parkin, marketing director of S.R. Hoffman & Associates, said the investor purchases that helped fuel most condo projects have now disappeared. He said it is difficult to ‘cash flow’ a unit by renting it out, because of the high price per square foot in Downtown condos.”

“‘People are getting better deals right now; developers are making concessions that are making it easier,’ said Matt Havel, a mortgage consultant. ‘A lot of developers have a lot of inventory.’”

“Havel said he started working with investor groups interested in bulk sales in the past 10 - 11 months. ‘It’s tailed off a bit since mid-2006,’ he said. He declined to go into specifics about the speculators, but said many were from California.”

Some housing bubble news from Wall Street and Washington. “Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in January, suggesting lingering weakness in the housing market. The index was 8.9 percent below the year-earlier level, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The index of pending home resales is considered a leading indicator of sales because it tracks contract signings.”

“‘We are seeing temporary near-term weather disruptions in much of the country, but there is an underlying pattern of stabilization in the housing market,’ said David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist. ‘The rapid shift in January to frigid air in much of the country had a cooling affect on home shopping that went beyond normal seasonal factors,’ Lereah explained. ‘Weather disruptions have continued since.’”

From Bloomberg. “General Motors Corp., the world’s largest automaker, may take a charge of almost $1 billion to cover bad mortgage loans made by its former home-lending unit, according to a Lehman Brothers analyst.”

“Residential Capital LLC relies on loans to people with poor or limited credit records or high debt burdens, for more than three-quarters, or $57 billion, of its loan portfolio, Lehman analyst Brian Johnson wrote in a research report. Delinquency rates on such subprime loans made last year are at a record high.”

“GM may have to spend as much as $950 million to make up the difference between the original value of the finance unit and any losses for subprime loans made by ResCap, he said.”

“About 13 percent of the subprime loans backing bonds issued in 2006 and rated by S&P are delinquent, with 6.65 percent of the loans behind in payments by 90 days or more, according to Standard & Poor’s.”

“ResCap may have lost $160 million to $520 million in the fourth quarter because of subprime mortgages, Citigroup Inc. analyst Jon Rogers in New York said on Feb. 28. Credit-default swaps for ResCap gained 23.2 percent to $219,370 yesterday, their highest since July 2005. GMAC credit- default swaps jumped 25 percent yesterday to $204,630 and have more than doubled this year.”

“ECC Capital Corporation today announced that on March 1, 2007 it was notified by the New York Stock Exchange that it has fallen below the NYSE’s continued listing standard relating to minimum share price.”

“ECC Capital Corporation, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is a mortgage real estate investment trust that invests in residential mortgage loans. ECC Capital is currently structured to qualify as a REIT by managing a portfolio of nonconforming loans it originates or acquires.”

National Mortgage News. “Domestic Bank of Rhode Island closed its wholesale division Monday, citing Wall Street’s reluctance to bid any higher than 97 on certain nonconforming loan types it specialized in.”

From CNN Money. “Lending to homeowners and buyers without good credit has suddenly become a very bad business, and possibly a very big problem for the U.S. economy as a whole.”

“Subprime mortgages pumped $640 billion into the economy through facilitating home purchases and refinancings in 2006, according to trade publication Inside B&C Lending. That’s nearly twice the level of this kind of lending seen as recently as 2003.”

“‘Everyone in the subprime sector this year is going to lose money,’ said analyst Bose George. ‘They’re getting squeezed on all sides. Going into the year, we were looking for a decline of 15 percent [in subprime lending], but clearly now that is far too low. It’s now looking like a 25 to 30 [percent] decline.’”

“Some economists say that choking off more than $100 billion in home financing will cause problems for real estate and home prices overall by keeping some buyers out of the market and by forcing some current homeowners to sell or face foreclosure.”

“‘People who a year ago could have purchased a house with a subprime mortgage aren’t going to be able to purchase,’ said Paul Kasriel, chief economist with Northern Trust in Chicago. ‘Increased foreclosures will mean more inventory on a market that already has a glut of homes for sale.’”

“‘Housing has played a very large role in this expansion and one of the reasons it’s played that role is there has been a change in the mortgage market,’ he said. ‘This has been a credit-induced housing boom that lifted other sectors of the economy and it’s all in reverse now.’”

“Orders to U.S. factories fell by the largest amount in 6 1/2 years in January, reflecting widespread declines across a number of industries.”

“The Commerce Department reported that total orders dropped by 5.6 percent in January, the biggest decline since July 2000, a period when the economy was slowing sharply in advance of an actual recession which began in 2001.”

The Missoulian. “The family-owned Pyramid Mountain Lumber Co. has cut wages by 10 percent across the board and plans to lay off 10 workers, company officials said. The company blames the depressed lumber market, which has caused massive layoffs and shutdowns at mills across the country.”

“‘The way prices have been for the last six to eight months, I don’t think anybody is doing well,’ said Loren Rose, the company’s controller.”

“Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. would be hardest-hit on Wall Street if the slump in subprime mortgages becomes a credit crisis like the one that followed Russia’s debt default in 1998, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Brad Hintz said.”

“‘If we experience a crisis similar to the Russian Default/LTCM event in 1998, we can expect Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers to experience the largest annual decline in net revenues, net income and return on equity among the large domestic security firms,’ Hintz wrote.”

“Congress is gearing up for hearings on predatory lending, the latest chapter in its long history of barn-door-closings on already-departed horses. The subprime lending market is in trouble as borrowers who are, by definition, poor credit risks live up to their reputation.”

“‘Investors were irrationally exuberant’ at the same time ‘lenders and brokers were given incentives, a big pay package, to get customers into subprime loans,’ says Andy LaPerriere, a managing director at the ISI Group in Washington.”

“Innovation may have made it easier to mislead,’ he says. ‘But the key driver was the willingness on the part of lenders and mortgage purchasers to take on high risk, which will turn out to be a big mistake.’”

“During a bubble, be it in the stock market or real estate prices, we want the government to stay out of the way. The bust produces finger-pointing, congressional hearings and new regulations.”

“The word ‘predatory,’ with all its negative connotations, is popping up elsewhere; specifically, to describe loss- mitigation practices. There is nothing predatory about ‘improving the collectability of the loan,’ says Scott Valentin, managing director, specialty finance research, at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co.”

“The problems in the subprime market may be just the tip of the iceberg, given the depth and duration of the housing bubble — and the money tied up in it. ‘We’ve created an unproductive asset,’ says Joe Carson, director of global economic research at AllianceBernstein. ‘A house doesn’t produce income.’”

“Mortgage debt rose by $4.7 trillion from the end of 2000 through the third quarter of 2006, according to the Fed’s Flow of Funds report. ‘We created as much debt in housing in the last six years as we did in the prior 50,’ Carson says.”

The Chicago Tribune. “James Bianco of Bianco Research in Chicago notes that the deterioration in the subprime mortgage market has been under way and known for months. Why, then, was the story an element in a slide in stock prices that began just a week ago, he asked.”

“‘It makes you wonder if we shouldn’t go back and say what’s really going on here,’ he said.”

The Motley Fool. “On March 2 of this year, federal banking regulators expressed their concerns that homeowners who buy or refinance using adjustable-rate mortgages may not understand these products’ associated risks.”

“They didn’t say this on March 2, 2002. Not March 2, 2003, 2004, 2005, or 2006. But in 2007.”

“It’s unbelievable to me that regulators have the gall to come out with this now. Were they not in on the little jokes about the products that mortgage banks and brokers were selling? The so-called ‘liar loans’? Appraisal fraud? Degradation of credit requirements, the 103% LTV loans, any of this?”

“Unless I’m mistaken, any and all new rules will be promulgated by the same regulators who waited until everyone on the planet knew that there was irresponsibility going on in the housing market to mention it.”

“In this case, the cow’s out of the barn, out of the paddock, and truth be told, no one remembers the last time they saw her ’round these parts. Rumor has it she’s living in a flophouse in Passaic. I hope the mortgage isn’t delinquent.”

The St Petersburg Times reports from Florida. “Joe Shultz and Louis Ricci tried to disregard Trump Tower Tampa’s growing distress. They will disregard them no longer. Partners on a $1.48-million condo, Shultz and Ricci have become the first Trump Tower buyers to sue to get their deposit back.”

“The pair allege local developer SimDag LLC breached a sales contract by failing to build their 38th-story luxury condo on time. They also blame Donald Trump, suggesting the New York tycoon misstated his relationship to the project. Trump said at the time he had a ’substantial stake’ in the $300-million tower when, in fact, his exposure is limited to a licensing deal with SimDag.”

“‘No hard feelings, but I just don’t think they’ll have it finished,’ Shultz said Monday. ‘I’m kind of baffled why they haven’t returned the money.’”

“The partners may be the first to sue, but they represent an undercurrent of disgruntled buyers, said Tom Long, the men’s Tampa attorney. ‘I think these suits are going to become more frequent. I think we’re three months away from when developers say, ‘Forget about it,’ Long said. ‘There’s a real risk many people will not get their money back. There’s a real risk you’re going to see a bankruptcy filing.’”

“Long suspects SimDag is out of money and has used up some of the deposits. How else to explain why developers owe more than $3-million to contractors forced to place liens on the property?”

“‘I understand their position. To a certain extent it’s a floodgate: If they give one person money back, it’s the same for everyone else,’ Long said. ‘A lot of people are going to be hurt on this thing.’”

“As the stocks of subprime mortgage lenders melted down Monday on Wall Street, one struggling bank put several hundred of its Tampa employees on ice.”

“Fremont Investment & Loan, the country’s eighth-biggest subprime lender, told most of its Tampa staff to stay home Monday on paid leave. The move followed news that Fremont General Corp., its California-based parent company, had decided to quit lending money to home buyers who have bad credit and to try to sell that business line.”

“Other subprime lenders with significant bay area operations include third-ranked Countrywide Financial Corp., for which Tampa is one of four regional hubs, and New Century. Local economic development officials helped attract thousands of financial-service jobs in recent years while the industry enjoyed a growth spurt.”

“Even its commercial loan business showed some signs of weakness lately. In January, the company filed two foreclosure lawsuits against a St. Petersburg developer it had loaned a total of more than $50-million.”

The Herald Tribune. “So far, bankers have only accepted bids on two of the 32 properties that formerly belonged to real estate developer Michael Tringali and were put up for auction on Feb. 15.”

“Bankers who lent Tringali money to finance his developments could not stomach letting assets go for half their value during the boom. ‘That’s what the property is worth today,’ said Martin Higgenbotham, whose Lakeland-based auction house handled the sale. ‘It’s just less than the sellers want.’”

“‘What has happened is that the market got way overbuilt,’ Higgenbotham said. ‘Just like with oranges, when you grow too many, the price goes down.’”

The News Press. “I had a friend come into my office the morning after I delivered my Market Watch speech and she said she wanted to see for herself the man that had a target on his back. This is the same day that the front page of The News-Press had my picture with the headline ‘Home sellers advised to get real on prices.’”

“I have also received the anonymous calls stating that I (along with the local media) am killing the real estate market.”

“Irrational demand drove up the median price almost 90 percent in about 18 months. Sorry to burst your cream puff, but those inflated prices were being supported by frenzy buying, not fundamental investing. In other words, those values were not real, so as they say, what goes up must come down.”

“You only have to drive two blocks to lose count of the number of ‘For Sale’ signs you saw. Our inventory has increased more than 600 percent since the peak of the market. We are approaching 25,000 resale condos and homes.”

“Unfortunately, too many sellers are acting irrationally because they are either needy or greedy. The needy need a certain price because of what they owe. The greedy want a certain price because of what they feel they are owed.”

“The media can run all the positive articles they want, but that will not change the fact that we have more homes for sale than we could sell in two years, assuming that no new listings were taken.”

The News Journal. “Area housing construction plunged 47 percent last year, dropping off even more toward the close of the year, a research firm reported. Building permits were issued for 5,707 new homes and apartments in Volusia and Flagler counties, down from the 10,858 total issued in 2005, according to Hanley Wood.”

“The slowdown worsened during the October-December period, the firm reported. During that quarter, only 904 permits were issued locally, or 63 percent fewer than the 2,414 issued during the same period of 2005.”

“‘We still have a lot of inventory to clear out,’ said Sue Darden, executive director of the Volusia Home Builders Association. ‘I hear inklings that the market is starting to turn around, but we all know it’s never going back to what we had in 2005. The recovery is going to be slower than what we’re accustomed to.’”

“Mark Vitner, a Wachovia Bank economist, said he expects Florida’s housing construction to continue shrinking throughout 2007. ‘Prices are no longer rising, so buyers don’t feel pressured to make a decision right away,’ Vitner said. ‘They feel they can wait six or nine months, and prices will be the same, or even lower.’”

“Mark Soskin, a University of Central Florida economist who has done consulting work for local builders, said younger builders don’t realize how precarious their industry is right now because they haven’t experienced a full-fledged recession.”

“‘People need to be aware this thing could get a heck of a lot worse,’ Soskin said.”

“Susie Labrie used to see herself as a Realtor moonlighting as a bartender, but lately it is hard to say which job is her ‘real job.’ She finds she is working more and making more as a bartender with the area’s housing market slump.”

“‘The real estate market is so bad right now, you have to have another job,’ said Labrie, an agent in Daytona Beach.”

The Palm Beach Post. “Some folks, but not, we hope, our Dear Readers, blame ‘the media’ for falling home sales and prices.”

“Now, some Realtors are grumbling about prices not falling. Guess who they’re blaming? Here’s what Thomas Lawler, former Fannie Mae economist and current president of Lawler Economic & Housing Consulting, has to say in his private newsletter:”

“‘A growing number of Realtors in Florida are frustrated with the state and national Realtors groups’ efforts to ’spin’ the market as one that is strengthening and where home prices are stabilizing.’”

“‘Many (though probably not yet most) Realtors are frustrated by customers who continue to list their homes at price levels that are ‘unrealistic,’ and as a result, sales volumes, and thus commissions, continue to remain depressed.’”

“‘While Realtors have noted to customers that many home builders in Florida have slashed new-home prices in order to move bloated inventories, many home sellers are still holding off, hoping, along with FAR and NAR, that prices will start moving back up soon.’”

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