The Housing Bubble

The Boston Globe reports from Massachusetts. “Massachusetts single-family homes and condominium sales continued to fall in June, a month that is typically one of the busiest of the year for closing real estate transactions, according to industry reports out today. ‘June was a tough month for housing sales - one of the toughest this year,’ said Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of the Warren Group.”

“The Warren Group said that Massachusetts single-family home sales fell 8.3 percent in June, the second biggest drop this year; the median price for a single-family was $334,000, down 4.6 percent from $350,000 in June 2006.”

“According to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, the number of Bay State single-family homes that sold in June dropped 6 percent to 4,959 when compared with June 2006, and on year-to-year basis, the median price for a single-family home in Massachusetts fell 1.6 percent, from $370,000 in June 2006 to $364,000 in June 2007.”

The Republican from Massachusetts. “The region’s real estate slump seems all the more real with last week’s report from registers of deeds in the three Pioneer Valley counties. All three showed a sharp rise in housing foreclosures in fiscal 2007.”

“Not since the recession of the early 1990s have the officials seen such a spike. Marianne L. Donohue, register of the Hampshire County registry, called the numbers ’staggering.’”

“In Hampden County, the number of foreclosures almost doubled from 278 in fiscal 2006 to 529 in fiscal 2007. In Franklin County, foreclosures more than doubled, rising a whopping 130.7 percent from 26 in 2006 to 60 in fiscal 2007. In Hampshire County, foreclosures rose by 78.8 percent to 59.”

“The number of attachments filed by creditors on the property of people who owe them money is also up in each county. And Donald E. Ashe, Hampden County register of deeds, said the rising attachments are ‘a bad sign for the economy.’”

The Associated Press. “Home sales in the Philadelphia area fell by 9.5 percent in the first half of the year, as the region remained mired in a housing slump that started last fall, according to a report.”

“The southern New Jersey suburbs showed the biggest decline, down 13 percent, while northern Delaware was down 11.7 percent and southeastern Pennsylvania fell by 7.5 percent, according to all multiple listing service data of existing single-family homes and condominiums compiled by Prudential Fox and Roach in Devon.”

“‘We were hopeful it would start coming back in the first half of this year. It has not,’ said Steve Storti, marketing director at Prudential, the nation’s fifth largest real estate brokerage.”

The Tribune Review from Pennsylvania. “It took about six months for David and Teresa Cunkelman to find a new house, but the couple still can’t find a buyer for their old home in Murrysville.”

“The Cunkelmans aren’t alone. The Pittsburgh housing market is showing signs of slowing down. Figures from RealStats show a 13.4 percent decline in home sales during June, compared with a year ago.”

“About 15 potential buyers have toured the Cunkelmans’ former home on Impala Drive since it went on the market in February. The house is priced at $215,000.”

“‘Until now, we have not had a serious buyer,’ Teresa Cunkelman said.”

The New Haven Register from Connecticut. “Originally hoping to spend no more than $1,200 or $1,300 a month on mortgage payments, she ended up taking out two adjustable rate mortgages, or ARMs, one covering 80 percent of her $199,000 loan and another covering the remaining 20 percent, resulting in combined monthly payments of about $1,600. She financed the entire mortgage, with no down payment.”

“She was driven by the American dream of owning a home, she said. Now, 16 months later, her mortgage payment has ballooned to more than $2,000 a month, forcing her to work at least 80 hours a week, split between two jobs.”

“And the threat of foreclosure looms. ‘It does worry me,’ (Ms.)Wright said.”

“Making matters worse, the housing market has slowed in recent months from the high level of activity seen in the past couple of years, when sales and prices skyrocketed. That means, in many cases, homes are worth less than when buyers purchased them. Or, the worst case scenario, the house is worth less than the mortgage.”

“In the second quarter of this year, for example, the median sales price of Greater New Haven homes fell 1.3 percent and the number of homes sold dropped 8.2 percent, compared with a year ago, according to H. Pearce Real Estate Co. in North Haven.”

“In Connecticut, 2,386 homes were in foreclosure in June, up 2.5 percent from May and up 124 percent from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac.”

“‘When I sat down at the table at the closing, no one told me my mortgage was going to be $2,000,’ Wright said. ‘They claim it’s just because of things costing more. I’m house-poor now. I work two jobs. It’s really kind of a scary experience. This is not the American dream like everyone said it is — not at this rate, anyway.’”

“In New Haven alone, 405 homes are now in foreclosure, according to Empower New Haven Inc. ‘The interest rates on the ARMs have kicked in,’ said Peter L. Ressler, partner at Goob, Ressler & Mulqueen PC in New Haven, which specializes in bankruptcy cases. He has seen ‘a tremendous increase’ in bankruptcy filings and attributes 90 percent of them to mortgage defaults.”

“‘(People) get these notices of a change in their monthly mortgage application and it just throws them into a collapse,’ Ressler said. ‘They just didn’t anticipate that their payments were going to go up so drastically. It’s a combination of factors that creates an insurmountable situation.’”

“There is a total of $10 billion to $12 billion in outstanding subprime loans in Connecticut, said Howard Pitkin, commissioner of the state banking department. ‘That involves thousands of families in Connecticut,’ he said.”

“Some in the mortgage industry defend ARMs and subprime loans, saying they work well for the right borrower and are not the root of the foreclosure problem.”

“‘There’s a lot of misconception,” said Mike Peracone, owner of Branford Financial. ‘I have plenty of people I’ve put in these mortgages. If used correctly, people are not stuck into them. It could work out great if they pay their bills.’”

“Andy Ross, owner of a Hamden-based mortgage brokerage company, generates about half of his firm’s business from subprime lending and said most borrowers understand what they are getting into when they sign a subprime loan or ARM.”

“‘A very, very high percentage of people understand what they are doing,’ he said, but some simply take on more debt than they should because they want a certain home. ‘They are just blinded because they want what they want. The real estate market has outpaced what people can afford, but I really don’t believe all of this is strictly the result of adjustable rates going up.’”

“A New Haven resident, who declined to be identified, was surprised recently by difficulties he’s had securing a fixed-rate mortgage on a home he wants to buy in Clinton, even though he’s had another fixed-rate mortgage with the same lender for nearly five years and has always been in good standing with the loan.”

“He was told by the lender that he would be approved for a the new mortgage but, soon after, the lender, citing the company’s increased concern over foreclosure rates in general, said it needed to see additional financial documentation before going through with the loan.”

“‘We were told everything we needed was in place,’ he said. ‘We’ve never been late on a payment, we’ve always paid extra. (Now) the same exact company is saying, ‘We need more.’ We’re in shock. It’s a life-changing conversation every time I talk to the mortgage company.’”