The Housing Bubble

WCNC reports from North Carolina. “Shattered glass and plywood-covered windows are a common sight in the Windy Ridge subdivision. More than half of the owners have defaulted on their mortgage payment in the last five years, according to real estate records reviewed by WCNC. City leaders blame absentee landlords, transient residents, and predatory lending for the rapid decay of the 5-year-old subdivision.”

“‘We know that (foreclosures) will only get worse,’ said Susan Burgess, Charlotte Mayor Pro-Tem said…adding the foreclosure problem is not limited to Windy Ridge.”

“Homeowners who have stayed in Windy Ridge have seen a decline in the value of neighboring properties. A house that originally sold for $108,000 recently sold at auction for just $58,300, online records show.”

From News 14 in North Carolina. “City leaders are taking aim at stopping the rising foreclosure rate in Charlotte. In the last seven years, the numbers of foreclosure filings are up 244 percent in Charlotte, from about 2,300 to nearly 8,000.”

“‘Being that prices are so steep, it’s driving people out of the neighborhood,’ said Rodrigo Robinson, who lives with his grandparents at a home in Windy Ridge. ‘Because of the foreclosed homes and the boarded up houses, that doesn’t look good for any neighborhood.’”

“Mayor Pat McCrory said he wants to target landlords who allow homes to fall into ruin or become havens for criminal activity.”

The Charlotte Observer from North Carolina. “The developers of a 75-unit condo project in South End have stopped sales and will build it as apartments instead. ‘We are returning deposits and releasing buyers from their contracts,’ said Terrence Llewellyn, whose Llewellyn Development is doing the project.”

“Other multifamily developers have adopted strategies similar to Chelsea’s and are shifting to apartments, said real estate analyst Frank Warren of Warren & Associates. In the Charlotte area, the apartment vacancy rate rose two percentage points to 9.2 percent over the past year due mainly to a flurry of new construction, especially along the light-rail line.”

“‘If Chelsea’s developers have any challenges,’ Warren said, ‘It’s going to be the potential for an oversupply of apartments in the South End market.’”

The Washington Post. “A new form of sightseeing is catching on in the Washington suburbs. They are known as foreclosure tours or home buyer tours. One that originated yesterday at a Northern Virginia Long and Foster office was labeled ‘The Centreville Gateway Foreclosure Tour of Homes.’”

“‘The benefit of this is that everyone is here at one time,’ said Debbie Jeffries, a Centreville resident who was hunting for something with enough garage space for her mint-condition 1985 Lincoln Town Car. ‘I want rock-bottom prices.’”

“One stop on the tour was a massive townhouse in Centreville that sold for $519,000 in February 2007 and is now listed at $399,000. Then there was a hearty brick rambler on a quiet Manassas Park street with a huge yard, hardwood floors and a finished basement. Asking price: $284,000.”

“‘As a buyer, you can still get in with zero money out of your pocket,’ said Kellian McIlwrath, a loan officer from Wells Fargo-affiliated Prosperity Mortgage, adding that banks are so eager to sell foreclosed properties that they are offering cash back to provide borrowers with enough for a down payment and closing costs.”

“After years of climbing, Frederick County home prices fell 2 percent in 2007. The figures didn’t surprise real estate appraiser Wayne Six. ‘We knew this was going to happen,’ said Six. The slump, he said, is a correction to the double-digit-percentage run-up in house prices from June 2001 to June 2005.”

“Doris White, supervisor of assessments for Frederick County, said she has seen a big increase in the number of foreclosures. ‘In every pile of deeds, I’m probably going to have five or six that are foreclosures,’ she said, noting that she has never experienced this in 25 years of assessment work.”

“‘People bought more than they should have when the market was at its peak,’ said Mary Richeimer, owner of an Urbana agency that represents only buyers. Now, she said, the foreclosures are adding to the glut of homes on the market.”

“Some of Richeimer’s clients prefer houses in poorer condition that sell for 25 to 30 percent less than comparable homes in good condition, she said, because they can make some repairs and show what she called ’some instant equity.’”

“Richeimer said she is also seeing more attempts at short sales. But getting a bank to accept a short sale, in which it forgives the seller the difference between the price of the house and the higher mortgage, is often wishful thinking on the seller’s part, she said.”

The Asbury Park Press from New Jersey. “After languishing for nearly two years, frozen in a declining market, more than 50 Lakewood homes were put up for sale Wednesday in the largest auction yet of properties seized from bankrupt real estate mogul Solomon Dwek.”

“Yet by the end, the banks still owned at least a third of the properties. Of the first 25 auctioned off, only 10 fell into the hands of individual bidders. The rest were either bought back or kept by the dozen banks because many offers fell short of mortgage amounts. Amboy Bank alone took home nine of its 17 parcels.”

“The first auctioned home — a three-bedroom condominium with a new kitchen on Governors Road — went for $155,000 to a mother buying it for her daughter. Later a young couple closed at $165,000 on the home they were renting on Downing Street.”

“After being outbid three times, Alexander Vargas, 29, and his fiancee, Mila Borisevich, 27, finally purchased a three-bedroom ranch house on Morris Avenue for $200,000 — their preset limit. After May 19, the couple can move into their first home, putting to use a house that has sat empty under an investor’s ownership.”

“‘It needs some new paint and carpet and it’s ready to go,’ Vargas, an Arby’s manager, said.”

“When Charles Stanziale, as one of the auctioneers Wednesday, cried ‘I’m shocked’ when a house on Tudor Court failed to get more than $171,000, investor Pat Fasano of Asbury Park scoffed, saying, ‘You’re in Lakewood. Where do you think you are, Beverly Hills?’”

“Overall, Stanziale considered the auction a success. ‘We got a lot of interest,’ he said. ‘Many were low-grade properties and we were lucky we got anything for them.’”

From 13 WHAM.com in New York. “Developers hoped to have all 23 lots on Northampton Estates in Ogden built and sold by now. Two years later, there are still nine lots left.”

“Housing starts in Monroe County are the lowest they’ve been since at least 1990, according to the Rochester Home Builders’ Association. In the last five years, there’s been a dramatic drop in single-family home construction. In 2002, 1,474 single-family home permits were issued, compared to 821 in 2007.”

“Rick Herman of RHBA, downplayed the numbers, pointing out that Rochester is in much better shape than some cities where there’s a glut in new homes.”

“‘I think it’s an adjustment period that we’re going through. The early 90s and mid-90s were really boom areas,’ Herman said. ‘We’ve also seen a number of those units go to outlying counties.’”

WCBS TV in New York. “The subprime mortgage mess is being blamed for a big spike in the number of foreclosures in Westchester County.”

“Westchester County Clerk Tim Idoni says foreclosure filings are up 39 percent over the first quarter of last year and up more than 200 percent over the first quarter of 2005. Many filings are hitting homes like 82 Maple Lane in Yonkers – in low-income neighborhoods.”

“‘Lower income areas, particularly in Mount Vernon and Yonkers have been preyed upon by some mortgage brokers who did not qualify the residents properly,’ Idoni said.”

“Nassau and Suffolk lead suburban counties with the highest number of foreclosure filings. But Putnam County has the highest foreclosure rate. The foreclosure rate in Westchester County is about average for New York State, and New York is doing a lot better than many other places.”

“Nevada, California and Florida lead the nation in terms of the foreclosure rate. New Jersey is ranked 13th, Connecticut 14th and New York all the way down at 30th.”

“For Matt Mickelson of Ossining, the American dream of home ownership has taken a distinctly nightmarish turn. He blames the broker who sold him a complicated mortgage that could reset to a higher rate at any moment.”

“‘I’m on the edge of foreclosure all the time because I don’t know when the next shoe is gonna drop,’ Mickelson said. ‘When they say hey you’re paying $2,500 now but next month it’s $5,000, just because that’s the way the ball bounces. Every day is like living with a gun to your head.’”

From Bloomberg. “Manhattan apartment sales plunged the most in 18 years in the first quarter as buyers faced the prospect of a recession and job cuts at Wall Street securities firms. Financial companies have cut at least 34,000 jobs in the past nine months as losses and writedowns related to mortgage- backed securities climbed to at least $230 billion.”

“Wall Street drives Manhattan real estate, with the median apartment price roughly tracking bonuses paid by investment banks since 1997, said New York-based real estate appraiser Miller Samuel President Jonathan Miller.”

“‘It’s not that they’re not looking, but there is no sense of urgency,’ said Prudential Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman. ‘If you continue to see inventory rise, that would be a sign that you are going to see a price dip.’”

“‘What we are seeing now is buyers who are emboldened to be more aggressive in their offers,’ said Pam Liebman, Corcoran’s CEO. ‘They don’t hesitate to bid lower and sellers now will have to decide whether or not they want to lower their prices.’”

“‘There is no question 2007 was the record year for real estate in New York City,’ Liebman said. ‘I don’t think any of us will be surprised if 2008 doesn’t hold up in comparison.’”