A Definite Downward Price Bias In The Market
The Whitefish Pilot reports from Montana. “A growing backlog of homes for sale in the Flathead Valley coupled with increases in foreclosures and bankruptcy filings have drawn the attention of professionals concerned about local real estate trends. Northwest Montana Realtor Association president Ted Dykstra Jr. said he was surprised in March when the number of local homes in foreclosure increased from the typical 12-20 to as high as 80.”
“‘A lot of people have gotten themselves overextended,’ said Dykstra. ‘We’ve always been about six months to a year behind the rest of the nation. Now that a recession or downturn in the market is here, we might be down for a little while, but it will probably turn around again by the end of the year.’”
“He said the correction in the local real estate market began last March, traditionally the busiest month of the year for sales, and it’s continuing. ‘I think it was due to the market being flooded with houses,’ said Dykstra.”
“Whitefish appraiser Ellie Clark said she has noticed a large increase in real estate inventory. ‘Historically, there’s been a 12-month-or-less real estate inventory,’ Clark said. ‘Now we’re facing 18 months or more, exceeding the past several years. I don’t know that in Whitefish there is necessarily a slowing, but I don’t think the sales volume is what it was.’”
“‘There’s a lot of development going on, but whether or not they sell is another story,’ said Leo King (owner of) North Country Builders, in Whitefish. ‘My feeling is there won’t be as many buyers as there are lots being created, not by a long shot. It’s a fact, there are a lot of for-sale signs on homes, and they’re staying up a lot longer. Anybody can see it.’”
“Dan Henderson, a Realtor with Realty Executives of Northwest Montana, said he’s noticed ‘a definite downward price bias in the market.’”
The Jackson Hole News from Wyoming. “David Viehman, owner and broker for Jackson Hole Real Estate & Appraisal, released a quarterly market analysis Thursday. Viehman reports the median home-sale price, as of July 1, grew to almost $1.18 million. At this time last year, it was $920,000, an increase of almost 28 percent.”
“‘Why is there a crisis?’ Viehman said. ‘The median price was just barely $1 million in April. It’s almost at $1.2 million in three months. It won’t be long until it’s $1.3 or $1.4 million.’
“For comparison, at this time in 2003, the median home-sale price was $542,500, meaning the figure more than doubled in four years.”
The Daily Bee from Idaho. “While sales for the nearly 3,000 properties on the market in Bonner and Boundary counties are down, it is at a far lower rate than the rest of the country, said Gina Hurley, executive director for Selkirk Association of Realtors.”
“‘When we look at our decline compared to the nation in terms of a decrease, it’s a far smaller decrease,’ Hurley said.”
“Sales in Bonner and Boundary counties are down, particularly if compared to 2004. ‘If we had the same (demand) three years ago, much of it would be gone,’ said Dale Pyne, president of Selkirk Association of Realtors. ‘The market and developers reacted to the demand and now there’s some beautiful inventory out there.’”
“A few years ago, there were 700 properties on the market, Pyne said. ‘Now we have over 1,400 homes for sale and we have over 1,600 unimproved properties,’ he said. ‘We went from 700 to 3,000. That was an answer to low inventory. We have an extensive supply.’”
“He said on Wednesday that in the last 24 hours, there were 24 pending sales and 53 properties listed for sale.”
“As for the future, Pyne remains optimistic. ‘This is a soft landing versus a market crash or a bubble burst. It’s just an economic adjustment,’ he said.”
The Oregonian. “A Denver-based developer will build a 270-apartment project among South Waterfront’s towering condos, another signal that Portland’s robust rental market and sluggish condo sales are starting to reshape the city’s housing mix.”
“Staring at slumping condo sales, Homer Williams said they agreed to sell the site for apartments.”
“Williams’ company has finished two towers at the Meriwether and has three more under construction. But sales have slowed. Williams says they sold 30 to 50 condos a month when they started. ‘That wasn’t sustainable,’ he says. ‘A lot of it was investors, speculators.’”
“Now, Williams says they sell three to four a month. Williams says he isn’t worried about the slowdown. He expects the market inventory to level out in the next six months or so. But right now, Williams says of condos: ‘You wouldn’t want any more.’”
KTVZ from Oregon. “More than 80 homes around Central Oegon are being showcased in the 19th annual Tour of Homes, and while the record number reflects a growing inventory and drop in home sales, Realtors and builders remain upbeat about the future.”
“Encouraging signs might seem hard for builders these days, with home sales around Central Oregon down 30 to 50 percent from a year ago.”
“‘There was so many people moving into the area and a lack of homes on the market that the price ranges got, I would say maybe a little bit out of control, or a little bit higher than what the market value could sustain,’ said Realtors Jennifer Wilson. ‘Whereas now, it is a market where the buyer gets to choose. There’s a lot of options out there, and there’s all ranges now.’”
The Spokane Journal from Washington. “The number of new lots platted in Spokane County shot up by almost 23 percent last year to reach its highest total since at least 1976.”
“Some 3,087 lots were platted in the county in 2006, up from 2,515 lots in 2005 and 2,574 lots in 2004, says the spring Real Estate Report. Just 1,497 lots were platted in 2003.”
“At least in the near future, lot availability isn’t a pressing problem for Condron Construction Inc. The prominent Spokane home builder maintains a five-year inventory of buildable lots, says Corey Condron, the company’s vice president.”
“‘I’m finding enough land to plat, and there is quite a bit of platted land for sale,’ he says.”
“Condron says lot prices have leveled off after a steep increase in the last few years.”
“Land, however, is significantly more expensive than it was five years ago, and that’s probably contributing to a slowdown in new-home sales after sales peaked in 2005, he says. Condron says he recently offered $42,500 per lot for a 49-lot parcel. That’s about $12,000 more per lot than he would have paid for the same lots five years ago, he says.”
“Condron Construction builds entry- and mid-level homes priced from $185,000. Five years ago, entry-level homes were selling for around $135,000, he says. ‘A pretty large chunk of the increase is in the lot prices,’ he says.”
“Company President Wendell Olson says he doesn’t see any immediate shortage of available lots. ‘We have plenty of lots and people wanting to sell us lots,’ Olson says.”
“Randy Barcus, chief economist for Spokane-based Avista Corp., says he expects an average of about 3,000 lots for single-family homes will be needed annually to handle growth in Spokane County for 20 years.”
“‘The availability of lots is important,’ Barcus says. ‘The last thing you want is a shortage of lots, or prices will go up dramatically.’”
The Olympian from Washington. “Two summers ago home sellers were in the driver’s seat as limited housing inventory and low mortgage rates resulted in strong demand and average selling times that at one point dropped to 38 days.”
“Today, the South Sound real estate market has more than 2,300 active listings, according to Northwest MLS and Olympic MLS data.”
“The result is that Olympia home stagers such as Karen Nielsen of Eye 4 Design LLC and Susan Bogni of Atmosphere InStyle have experienced an uptick in business during the last six to nine months.”
“Now, when the phone rings, the caller is usually someone who has heard the real estate market has slowed and wants to stage their home before it’s listed, or their home is listed and nobody’s making offers, Nielsen said.”
“Lacey homeowner C.S. Sodhi put his 3,000-square-foot, custom- built home on the market last year and then pulled it off the market after 90 days. He listed it again last week using Nielsen’s advice.”
“The staging, plus a reduction in price from $349,000 to $315,000, has him feeling more hopeful about a possible sale, Sodhi said.”
“Chad and Melissa Stussey of Tumwater put their 2,600-square-foot home up for sale in March. After a month on the market, they lowered the price and then did it again just to be a little more competitive, Melissa Stussey said.”
“The Stusseys had yet to sell their home as of late last week. While staging it might prove to be fruitful, they also lowered the listing price from $435,000 to $399,000, Melissa Stussey said.”
“The lack of interest has the Stusseys puzzled because their 2,600-square-foot home also sits on more than one acre. They’d like a smaller home so that her husband can return to school to get a teaching certificate, Melissa Stussey said.”
“‘If we end up staying, that’s OK, too,’ she said.”
“David Viehman, owner and broker for Jackson Hole Real Estate & Appraisal, released a quarterly market analysis Thursday. Viehman reports the median home-sale price, as of July 1, grew to almost $1.18 million. At this time last year, it was $920,000, an increase of almost 28 percent.”
Is inflation that bad now??? Are we trailing Zimbabwe?
No, Jackson is a special case. It’s a resort community with very little middle class. All this means is that the cheaper part of the market has frozen up and almost all the sales are in the high-dollar properties, which jacks up the median quickly. Most other places have already moved past that stage.
Yeah, I wonder how many homes they are talking about? When there a few homes in the caluculation, the median tends to fluctuate wildly.
Yup, it was one of my picks last weekend for a “bubble proof” market. Hollywood types still need a place to get away from the hoi polloi. Let ‘em eat cake!
When we need suitcases of “pesos” to buy groceries, I expect houses prices to rebound 20% per year.
Does anybody know how many $$$ per day the feds can print? This can give a measure of the true inflation situation to a degree.
this is amusing on the topic of nouveau riche
http://www.amazon.com/Richistan-Journey-Through-American-Wealth/dp/0307339262
Most of the $US creation driving inflation is electronic, not hard cash.
Can’t speak for the gov’ts methods, but I print 3 bills per page, 50 ppm.
But I have an even better idea. The US should absolutely print endless amounts of currency - the Euro! [before you laugh, Germany did it to us in WWII)
Never fear! The gubmet to the rescue with the new and improved AMERO! Now being printed in endless amounts to replace your falling dollar:
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15017
Sellers do not get it yet. The conditions that made their homes so much more valuable a year or two back (ez credit, liar loans, perception of rising market etc…) no longer prevail.
If the experience in Japan is any indicator, it will be at least another 5+ years before prices return to 2000-levels.
Here’s a graph: http://infoproc.blogspot.com/2006/02/bubblicious.html
Better to rent at the moment.
Umm….no it is going to probably flatten out this year then start to make some profits at the end of the year. I believe that Suzanne has researched this, and the brightest minds at the NAR came up with this…how can you defy such sold facts and gut feelings?
I know you meant “solid facts”, but I think I like “sold facts” better.
The NAR is just doing their job: fluffing things up.
Granite countertops are the new eyeballs!
Yeah but Top Ramen tastes so much better on granite!
Flipping is the new paradigm shift!
“The Stusseys had yet to sell their home as of late last week. While staging it might prove to be fruitful, they also lowered the listing price from $435,000 to $399,000, Melissa Stussey said.”
“The lack of interest has the Stusseys puzzled because their 2,600-square-foot home also sits on more than one acre. They’d like a smaller home so that her husband can return to school to get a teaching certificate, Melissa Stussey said.”
“‘If we end up staying, that’s OK, too,’ she said.”
- I am glad that Melissa is ‘OK’ with staying in the house. It will give Mr Stussey plenty of time to devote to his studies for his teaching credentials. They will probably need to plan on being ‘OK’ for about another 5 years.
“I don’t know that in Whitefish there is necessarily a slowing, but I don’t think the sales volume is what it was.”
BEN! Why do you did this to me? I’ll eventually put my fist through my monitor! Lol…
“I don’t know that in Whitefish there is necessarily a slowing, but I don’t think the sales volume is what it was.”
Is there an inbreeding problem in Montana?
“Is there an inbreeding problem in Montana?”
Nope, but the sheep are a darn sight nervous!!
So THAT’S how sheeple are made…. mystery solved!
Ha, Ha, Ha, That’s so funny I almost forgot to laugh. Gallitan County ones had a District court judge, W.W Lesley. One day he sentenced a punk who pleaded guilty to rape; to take cold shower. Then he sentence some other guy who had been caught messing around with a sheep in a barn at MSU; 5 year’s. In memory of Judge Lesley, the County named the Law and Justice Center after him.
LMAO! Thanks, Imploder… made my day!
‘I think it was due to the market being flooded with houses,’ said Dykstra.”
Note to self: Never let yourself be quoted.As far as I can tell they only print the stupid things you say.
Yeah, no kidding. I’ve often thought that myself.
So, just for good measure (at least she acknowledged the existence of a bubble):
“I just don’t think we have what it takes to prick the bubble… I don’t think prices are going to fall, and I don’t think they’re even going to be flat.”
Diane C. Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago
New York Times, “Trading Places: Real Estate Instead of Dot-Coms”, 3/25/05
Things are not that good in Bonner County, Idaho. As one would expect, the local real estate “executives” spin what is really happening in this area. Rumors are that several major developers and real estate offices are on the brink of going under. Homes stay on the market for years not just months. Wages stink here and the price of homes has been inflated way beyond what most people can afford. Realtors think that rich second home buyers and refugees from California will save them. They are in complete denial. To admit otherwise would be to ruin the fantasy that Sandpoint, Idaho, is a little paradise in the woods. Reality will bite shortly.
Can’t be an equity locust if no one buys your over priced box.
The food chain has ceased to exist and starvation is begining to spread.
I love the area around there, but couldn’t believe the prices being asked for homes and land. I am not surprised in the least bit, that many developers and realty companies are going under. Northern Idaho is NOT the next Aspen.
From Tahoe to the Puget Sound, over to Whitefish, and down to Colorado, developers have carved up millions of acres (destroying wildlife) and created [insert name here] estates. They all went after the high end, much the same as the condo developers. Problem is, the buyers don’t exist. Developers need to plan on carrying the land for 20 years or more, or sell at a loss. They’re done.
Correction:
[insert obligatory name here that pretends to be an homage to said destroyed wildlife - i.e. - Pheasant Run, Windy Ridge, Deer Creek]
No, Bend, Oregon is the next Aspen! Didn’t you get the message?
News flash… to all those in Bend…..
Bend Over
> Northern Idaho is NOT the next Aspen.
Northern Idaho pisses me off. I was driving on the interstate on July 4th, and got a speeding ticket in a “work zone”. Not that there was any work being done on a national holiday. The cop was hiding around a curve at the bottom of hill. The highway was empty.
hey man, when people cant afford the RE taxes, you gotta make up the difference somewhere.
“From Tahoe to the Puget Sound, over to Whitefish, and down to Colorado, developers have carved up millions of acres (destroying wildlife) and created [insert name here] estates. They all went after the high end, much the same as the condo developers. Problem is, the buyers don’t exist.”
Hear, hear. This is one of the solid truths about this real estate bubble. This is the money quote the MSM should be putting in their news articles.
“Things are not that good in Bonner County, Idaho”
How is Kootenai county? I never see them mentioned.
Kootenai county is really soft. 4,100 properties on the market and the high end is very stagnant. I am looking for a home in Hayden. Much better pricing than Bonner County. The realtors I talked with say that 100s of REO are coming on to the market in Kootenai County. Still, homes are overpriced for the average wage earner. Yet builders are adding to inventory.
“Things are not that good in Bonner County, Idaho.”
This just in… if negative situation continues, County officials have decided they will drop one of the “n’s” from the county name….
LOL, clever.
I watched the 4 horsemen on CNBC trying to ride to the rescue of the economy.
Strong dollar is good for the economy. So, what are you going to do about it??? Strong dollar is good for the economy.
Sub-prime contained. What makes you think that???? Becsause it isn’t spreading.
Strong global economy, especially China and India. But most of their economy is selling to the U.S. so how can they be okay if we’re having a credit crunch? Strong global economy.
Globalization good! But it is bad for individuals that have their jobs off-shored. Yes, but it is good for society as a whole as prices drop.
My counter question would have been: Yeah, but isn’t the society the sum of the individuals? Presumed answer: Yes, but not all individuals will have their jobs off-shored? All I can figure, is that globalization sucks for the 80% of individuals that have their jobs off-shored so are forced into lower paying retail and construction jobs, but is great for the other 20%.
Everything is great, because we say everything is great…. Ignore spill over of subprime into prime. Ignore the crashing corporate bond market. Ignore the unwinding of the carry trade. Ignore the hedge fund implosions. Ignore the housing market. Ignore headline inflation and falling consumer spending on non-fuel and food.
What a joke!!!!!
Believe us that everything is okay, because.. well, if there was evidence we’d give it to you, but since there isn’t sooooo…. believe us becuase we really hope you’ll believe us.
Until the offshoring becomes internal… Once recession sets in the a depression, I expect people to line up to pick up lettuce. “jobs american’s don’t want” will be the only ones left.
I can’t wait until they offload wallstreet jobs to India.
They already do. The backoffice jobs that once went to places like Metrotech in Brooklyn have largely been sent offshore for cheap processing of accounts.
If you’re waiting for brokers and bankers and analysts…that’s happening too, especially with analysts. And some of the high-end has already shifted to London.
But if you’re waiting for Wall Street pain, wait for the RIFing to start–Citibank, Lehman and JPMorgan now
have a number of pier loans that are going nowhere…
I’m anxiously awaiting the outsourcing of the bankers themselves.
I was trying to figure out who was supposed to be the audience for the bizarre Soviet Style CNBC dog and pony show this morning.
Dragging out the 4 highest ranking business/finance officials to explain that everything is just fine is a BAD sign IMO.
And yet, every radio program that mentioned the prez’ speech today claimed that it was NOT in response to yesterday’s market performance.
Riiiiiiiiiight.
Totally agreed. Just down right bizarre.
ALL IS WELL! ALL IS WELL!
You know things are getting bad when the Four Hourseman of the Financial Apocalypse are riding to the rescue. Sadly, one cannot help but wonder if Famine, Pestilence, War, and Death will follow in the wake of their deeds if they do manage to unleash a Greater Depression upon the world. Fools that they are! Everything is fine as long as you are super-rich - the rest, well… we can all burn! Or eat cake! Argh!
Ahhh here is a nice one from behind the Orange Curtain, a sign of things to come. Ohh…and all you RE trolls and Kool Aiders I talked to over the years who scoffed at logic…bite me!
This is in ….*ahem*….Irvine.
“My favorite thus far is the house for which somebody paid $1.29 million in May 2006, putting down only $91,000 in cash. Today it’s on the market for $850,000, a whopping 34 percent reduction in about a year.”
Now we get to see what happens to the new homes with the ocean view in HB next to the Bolsa Chica wet lands….I don’t think these are going to sell like the builder thinks…regardless of ocean views.
Wetlands? What wetlands? Are you referring to the wetlands under the asphalt and golf course clubhouse?
“…we might be down for a little while, but it will probably turn around again by the end of the year.”
Fall/winter is the hot selling season in Whitefish? All those people doing the parade of homes in -10 degrees?
Well, there are a lot of drug problems in NW Montana, so maybe they don’t seem to notice the cold.
I think in the future in the Flathead Valley (Western Montana) will be news stories about California equity locust who moved to Flathead Valley, built an expensive gentlemen’s farm on 5-20 acres; spent alot of time making the farm “perfect”. Then they started a business (painting houses, building barns, espresso stands, etc.) After their California equity is all locked up in the farm & service business, the local economy slows (high energy prices knock out summer tourist dollars & raise cost operating remote “perfect” ranch). And with help from a blow-off of the “borrowed money” economy, less house painting, less hobby barns built, fewer double mocas for the obese.
The news story will be a sob story: how the locust ran out of cash flow and their “perfect” hideout from the gritty big cities is too expensive to own.
“‘A lot of people have gotten themselves overextended,’ said Dykstra. ‘We’ve always been about six months to a year behind the rest of the nation. Now that a recession or downturn in the market is here, we might be down for a little while, but it will probably turn around again by the end of the year.’”
As if these people just overspent a little while on a cruise or something. “Man, I dropped $600 more on drinks then I expected too. I should have it paid off in a couple of months.” Big difference between $600 and $350,000. Duh
Dystrtra, sounds like he is from Manhatan or Churchill Montana. He repeating the usual BS the the media likes to hear in this state. This state is not six months behind, Montana’s economy is in sinc with the national economy when Montana’s economy is booming, like now. The problems happen after a major recession. Montana’s economy is wiped out and dosen’t recover for a decade or more. The 1981-82 recession didn’t end in Montana untill 1992. The 1957 recession didn’t end in this state untill 1969. It also could be said, the state never entered the Great Depression because the state was allready in a depression during the 1920’s. Montana always had a boom and bust economy. A trip to the local library is all these so called reporters need to find that out.
“‘Why is there a crisis?’ Viehman said. ‘The median price was just barely $1 million in April. It’s almost at $1.2 million in three months. It won’t be long until it’s $1.3 or $1.4 million.’
“For comparison, at this time in 2003, the median home-sale price was $542,500, meaning the figure more than doubled in four years.”
I’m surprised a home there isn’t free. Isn’t there like 400,000 people in all of Wyoming, and like a gajillion square miles in Wyoming?
Ah, Andy, all of Wyoming is not Jackson Hole. Believe me, it’s not. There are about 1/2 million people, much of the land is public, and much of it is high arid (windy and cold) desert. It has its own stark beauty (especially if you grew up here), but it’s not what fancy folks are looking for. There’s very little private land around Jackson Hole, as well. Regular workers take the bus in from Afton.
That’s true - big, empty spaces.
Though more than 90% of Teton County, Wyoming, is owned by the Federal government. I’m not saying Jackson is “Fed landlocked” or anything - it’s just a statistic.
The more meaningful statistic would be the % of houses in 2003 sales that were trophy places, or upper middle equity locust acquisitions, or those financed by the Bank of Mom & Dad.
My bet would be that there’s as much of these buyers per capita in this locale than almost anywhere.
OT - I recall riding the Jackson Tram in March of 2003 and hearing some of the entitled whine about the debacle at Enron and how it was impacting their lifestyle (they worked for the company; my impression is that they were on a first name basis with the cast of characters who became household names).
I went to court this morning for my client. She was being evicted from her apartment. JP Morgan Chase was the plaintiff, as title holder of an REO property.
You see, my client rented from some deadbeat with a middle-eastern sounding name who bought a 6-flat on the northside of chicago. He stopped paying the rent on the building a while back and subsequently went into foreclosure.
My client learned of the foreclosure and moved out in February of this year. Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to her, squatters moved into the building.
JPM Chase foreclosures and now owns the building. however, they need to evict all the people who still live there (rent free of course) and the squatters. So they sue all the former tenants. Even the ones that don’t live there. And they serve everyone by publication so that they don’t need to be personally served.
I ran into court this morning and said, “Judge, what the heck is going on here with JP Morgan Chase. My client moved out in February and they’re suing her for an eviction. She doesn’t owe them anything. JP Morgan sued all the former tenants because it has no idea who lives in the foreclosed building. Judge, JP Morgan is trying to ruin my client’s good credit! I can’t let JP Morgan ruin my client’s credit report with an eviction! She’ll never get an apartment again!”
The judge got really really pissed at the bank’s lawyer. He said, “counselor, what the heck are you doing? Why are you suing all the former tenants!”
The bank’s lawyer’s head was spinning. He was so flustered and discombobulated. It was hilarious. These guys are so unprofessional.
I’ve figured it out. The banks are the bag holders. They’re stuck with all these piece of crap overpriced REOs and the can’t even get the squatters out of them.
Here’s another stock tip. HSBC is screwed. Everytime I’m at court I see another HSBC loss, whether it’s a first mortgage, a second mortgage, a HELOC, a credit card or a car note, they are getting screwed right and left. I saw some analyst the other day say that HSBC stock was a ‘buy’ and that it would outperform this year. Yeah right, they’re screwed beyond belief.
HSBC?
British bank. Used to be Hong Kong Shanghai Bank of Commerce based in Hong Kong. Owns HFC I believe.
They also started making a big push to gobble up some smaller mid- to lower end CC issuers like Metris approx. 3-4 years ago. They were one of the first ones to get toasted over their subprime losses earlier this year.
Their headquarters in Hong Kong is one of Norman Fosters finest:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC_Hong_Kong_headquarters_building
It will be interesting to see if this edifice changes hands once things get really bloody and commercial real estate starts to buckle.
“HSBC is screwed.”
All I can say is that it couldn’t happen to a greedier bunch of SOBs!
hahaha! Great post. “Mr Plaintiff, this is outrageous, I have never heard of such behavior in the courtroom before.”
Seventeen of 29 analysts tracked by Bloomberg recommend investors hold or sell HSBC shares.
https://w3.courtlink.lexisnexis.com/cookcounty/FindDock.asp?NCase=&SearchType=2&Database=1&case_no=&Year=&div=&caseno=&PLtype=1&sname=household+bank&CDate=
https://w3.courtlink.lexisnexis.com/cookcounty/FindDock.asp?NCase=&SearchType=2&Database=1&case_no=&Year=&div=&caseno=&PLtype=1&sname=hsbc&CDate=
https://w3.courtlink.lexisnexis.com/cookcounty/FindDock.asp?NCase=&SearchType=2&Database=3&case_no=&Year=&div=&caseno=&PLtype=1&sname=hsbc&CDate=
Hundreds and hundreds of lawsuits filed in Chicago from 2006 and 2007 under the name household bank a/k/a HSBC.
How can they be making any money if all their customer relationships ultimately result in litigation?
Very interesting story.
I would take this as a warning to anyone who has sold, leased or rented anything in the last couple of years to watch your newspapers, mail box and email for claims against you. With all the crazy lending I doubt that records have been properly updated to show who actually owns, leased or rented property so don’t be surprised if someone tries to make you the bag holder. The lenders are getting desperate and don’t want to take the fall. If you get wind of anything like this you need to jump on it and make sure that you are in the clear.
NY Post’s graphic on the contagion spreading from bad mortgages
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07272007/photos/biz035.jpg
I’m suprised the Post is publishing this kind of information.
They’re usually a rag for the GOP/White House.
Please file this under S-H-O-C-K-I-N-G and utterly unexpected!
Wow, I didn’t see this one coming! Are you telling me that the stock market is full of thieves, liers and shills?? Noooooooo…
But, but, but TOL and CFC and KBH are all great picks! Cramer said so! Maria said so! Bear Sterns said so! Suzanne researched it!!!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/business/
Wall Street Analysts Gave Favorable Stock Ratings In Exchange For Favors
Bleh…. a couple of people mention a company and they don’t have to do anything or show anything that would indicate growth or why they are going to grow….but stock will go up on the mention of their name alone from the tards who sit on the edge of their seats waiting to move money around. This is ridiculous, just gambling with a high profile accepted by the masses, because they can’t understand it.
Nothing new under the sun…
After taking Digital Impact public, and earning $5 million, CSFB maintained a “buy” or “strong buy” rating on the stock even as its price sank to $2 a share from $50. Starting in May 2001, a new CSFB analyst wanted to downgrade the stock but was overruled by investment bankers, regulators charge.
Internal CSFB e-mails show that a research analyst who thought little of Synopsys was allegedly informed of two “unwritten rules.” The first, which came to the analyst from his superiors in the investment banking division, was: “If you can’t say something positive, don’t say anything at all.” The second: “Why can’t you just go with the flow of the other analysts, rather than try to be a contrarian?”
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/brokerage/2003-04-28-cfsb_x.htm
I HAD to share this with you good folks, this is from July 18 paper here in Orange County, this is exactly why realtwhores are the laughing stock of people with 2 synapses to rub together.
http://www.ocregister.com/money/nar-home-year-1770542-association-brokers
Realtors expect market rebound by early 2008
Patricio,
bold off.
While I agree with you, one small problem.
75% of the population are down to their last synapse.
Got popcorn?
Neil
Enhh…put bold the whole thing instead of the title of the proclamation of the realwhores, took away from the statement that I thought was a world class blunder.
To quote Krusty the Klown: Ain’t gonna happen kid!
Hu-Hu-Hu-HAY-HU
“A growing backlog of homes for sale in the Flathead Valley coupled with increases in foreclosures and bankruptcy filings have drawn the attention of professionals concerned about local real estate trends.”
All real estate trends are local.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/money/13767698/detail.html
DENVER — A federal judge has ordered that former Qwest Communications chief Joe Nacchio spend six years in prison, pay a fine of $19 million and forfeit $52 million in assets to the government in the next 15 days.
The judge also ordered him to serve two years’ probation after serving his sentence. The prison time is 15 months shy of the maximum Nacchio had been facing.
“The crimes the defendant has been found guilty of are crimes of overarching greed,” U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham said. Nottingham said Nacchio condoned a culture of insider training.
“These are crimes of greed … Crimes do not pay, it costs,” Nottingham said.
He said that the only reason Nacchio came to Colorado was because of greed and money.
Nacchio was convicted in April. A federal jury concluded Nacchio sold $52 million in stock when he knew the company faced financial risk, but didn’t tell investors.
Look out Robert Toll and Angelo Mozilo.
So how does the government confiscating the fines for itself help rectify the problem? The fines should go to people hurt by his actions…
Check out the Portland Housing Blog for more on the Portland Market
http://www.portlandhousing.blogspot.com/
I love the “SoWhat” title! Hadn’t heard that one before.
All I know is those buildings are a third full by my estimation. Ah, but good ol’ Homer Williams gets to sell out to apartment builders.
I say since ground is already broken there, keep adding inventory. Rents, along with prices, will plummet accordingly. Luxury apartments, my a$$.