The Housing Bubble

The Star Press reports from Indiana. “How hard is it to sell a house in today’s real estate market? How about two houses? That’s the challenge facing the Cantu family. After 10 years in Muncie, Sandy and Dean Cantu are moving to Illinois. They’ve just bought a house there, in Peoria. As the Cantus and their three kids prepare for the move, they’re hoping to sell not only their own home but a house that Dean’s father lived in recently.”

“The two-story is now priced at $219,000, cut from the original asking price of $224,000, while the one-story ranch is priced at $99,000 — cut twice since the original price of $114,900. ‘We might not have dropped it if we were not moving out of state and had two homes to sell,’ Sandy Cantu said. ‘At this point, we’ve got to liquidate.’”

The Fort Wayne Business Weekly in Indiana. “Legislation signed July 30 by President George W. Bush will be good for hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and could help real-estate markets nationally, but the impact in northeast Indiana probably won’t be as significant, said Bob Coffee, president of the Fort Wayne Area Association of Realtors.”

“‘I’d have liked to see (an incentive) that was more immediate,’ Coffee said. For first-time home buyers, ‘the most help is needed in the down payment.’”

“Mortgage rates are up slightly and lenders also have tightened their lending standards, Coffee noted. Tighter standards for mortgage loan originators, which will eliminate some of the fly-by-night operators, should help home buyers, however.”

“‘Even in Fort Wayne, there were mortgage brokers popping up all over,’ Coffee said.”

“‘This is a market correction,’ Coffee said. ‘Real estate is cyclical. 2002 through 2007 were the five best years ever, and we’re still above 2002 levels. Some people believe that the sky is falling, but it’s really not. This is something we kind of expected to see because (the market) just couldn’t sustain the growth.’”

The Daily Herald from Illinois. “The French doors, custom windows and hardwood floors in Pamela Olander’s home are beautiful. They’re also bleeding her dry. Unable to unload the Palatine house Olander and her husband built as an investment, they’ve turned to guerrilla marketing tactics.”

“Thousands of drivers can find a pajama-clad Olander plastered on a digital billboard along Route 53, advertising an open auction that takes place at the home at noon today. ‘The idea is I’m not going to sleep until I sell this property,’ Olander said, who lives elsewhere in Palatine.”

“The original April listing price for the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house was $799,000. Today’s minimum bid is $500,000, though she’s not obligated to accept an offer. ‘This has been very taxing emotionally and financially,’ Olander said. ‘I doubt we’ll break even, so this is going to be a very costly learning experience.’”

“Olander realizes she took a gamble and lost. ‘It will be a long time to build back what we lost,’ she said. ‘It’s been a mountain of headaches, but I’m in the same boat as a lot of people.’”

The Plain Dealer from Ohio. “Officials estimate that Cuyahoga County has 20,000 vacant or abandoned lots. But now, with the population and economy slipping, some officials say building new houses on all of them would depress the values of old homes around the region by raising the supply beyond the demand.”

“‘We should have a countywide goal to tear down two houses for every new home,’ said Paul Oyaski, Cuyahoga County’s development director.”

“A couple of neighbors have begun to talk to Shaker officials about buying recently leveled property for side lots. But not everyone wants an extra lot. One neighbor who withheld her name scoffed at the idea. She said she could barely afford her current property with the city’s high taxes and strict exterior maintenance codes.”

“A few years ago, Euclid tried to interest neighbors in side lots, with no luck, said Oyaski, the city’s former mayor. Neighbors would mow the lots and use them, but none wanted the costs of owning them.”

The Leader Telegram from Wisconsin. “In the past 10 years, the value of farmland has more than doubled across Wisconsin and tripled or more in several west-central Wisconsin counties, according to a new state report.”

“In Barron County, the average value of land sold nearly tripled from $847 an acre in 1998 to $2,444 in 2007. Values also nearly tripled in Eau Claire, Buffalo and Pepin counties. Values more than tripled in Pierce County, which went from $1,249 to $4,223, the highest in the region.”

“‘People are converting farmland into residential for housing or buying it for recreational purposes for hunting,’ said Tim Jergenson, Barron County UW-Extension Agricultural department administrator. ‘It was often people out of the area that wanted that land.’”

The Capital Times from Wisconsin. “Foreclosure filings in Wisconsin continued at record levels in July. New figures released Monday show close to 14,300 foreclosure filings recorded in the first seven months of 2008, a 31 percent increase over the first seven months of 2007.”

“‘Wisconsin foreclosures have been building up to the current levels for the past three years,’ said Robert Jensen, president of ForeclosuresWI.”

“He said foreclosures averaged 11,687 a year in Wisconsin from 2003 to 2005 and rose to 16,473 in 2006 and 20,995 in 2007. At the current level of filings, more than 25,000 foreclosures are expected to be filed in the state this year.”

The Green Bay Press Gazette from Wisconsin. “Brown County had 489 homes in foreclosure in the first six months of 2008, according to a report.”

“‘When a neighborhood is struck with multiple foreclosures, like many are right now in Brown County, the potential for blight and vandalism increases, as does the potential for more lasting neighborhood decline and instability,’ said Andrew Higgins, president of the Astor Neighborhood Association.”

“The city first sends notifications to the owner of the property to take care of it and if necessary will eventually mow the lawn and charge the owner through the property tax bill. Depending on the severity, the city may condemn the building or order it be torn down, said Cheryl Renier-Wigg, Green Bay neighborhood development supervisor.”

“‘That’s the problem we are experiencing right now in the city,’ she said. ‘If a property is foreclosed on, generally the owners have left it. Often times, the lawn isn’t getting mowed or there might have been code issues with the property that are now getting worse.’”

Living Lake Country from Wisconsin. “Should Lake Country’s potential homeowners be worried? First Weber Executive VP Roger Rushman estimates that Lake Country homes had experienced five to six years of ‘tremendous highs’ but now might be suffering from a lack of appreciation. ‘Three to four years ago, if you bought a lakefront property, you knew it would appreciate,’ he said. ‘Now, it has bottomed out. You don’t see the properties appreciating like they were.’”

“‘It may seem bad because houses that were bought for $2 million may be selling for $1.8 million, but if you look at the percentage difference, it’s not that far from lesser-priced homes. The large amount of money just makes it seem worse,’ Rushman said.”

The Stillwater Courier from Minnesota. “Armed with nearly $500,000 in grants, a Lake Elmo-based organization is on Washington County’s front lines, battling the effects of a nationwide home-foreclosure epidemic. Recently, the Metropolitan Council awarded the organization a $200,000 grant so it can acquire and rehabilitate homes for resale, primarily in Cottage Grove, Forest Lake, Newport, Oakdale, St. Paul Park and Stillwater.”

“Further, the Washington County government awarded it $310,000 to ‘recapture and recreate starter homes,’ according to information from Two Rivers Community Land Trust.”

“Beyond these efforts, keeping track of housing data is crucial to the HRA’s work, said Executive Director Barbara Dacy. At the same time, the HRA sees the same opportunities as does the land trust. Now that the real estate bubble has burst, the post-foreclosure era should provide opportunities to acquire, improve and resell properties, Dacy said.”

“‘We want to document what I would call the suburban experience,’ she said. ‘In general, the problem is impacting all across the board’ in the county.”

The Pioneer Press from Minnesota. “They were high school sweethearts who grew up to be two of the most well-regarded homebuilders in the metro area, then watched their company crumble amid their own fraud and illegal borrowing.”

“Michael and Ardith Parish, the architects of what is presumed to be the largest case of mortgage fraud in Minnesota history, were sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. Michael Parish, 63, received 13 years in federal prison or a work c his wife, Ardith, 62, received five years.”

“Their son-in-law, Christopher Troup, 40, was sentenced to 10 years for playing a lead role in the massive housing scheme, which the courts believe involved 240 homes now in various stages of foreclosure.”

“Cindy Novak, who owns a plumbing company with boyfriend Tim Olsen, told the court Thursday that the fraud has ruined her family’s financial life.”

“‘I think they should be doing life. I think they should have to sell their (home). How do they afford their Christmases?’ said Novak, a contractor who has not been paid.”

“The Parishes began to run into financial troubles about four years ago when they were unable to find buyers for their luxury-style homes, including more than 100 in New Prague and dozens in New Market and Lonsdale.”

“Rather than stop or slow construction, they kept building expansive houses worth $300,000 to $500,000, according to prosecutors and court documents.”

“In an April letter to the court, court-appointed receiver Gary Hansen painted a bleak picture of the fallout, noting that dozens of foreclosed homes were clustered together, dragging their market value an estimated $100,000 below their mortgage debt.”

“‘I believe that all residents of New Prague have been affected by this, (with) the loss of home equity totaling millions of dollars,’ said Karen Witt, a real estate broker who owns a land-development company. She told the court she was an ‘indirect victim’ of the Parish’s fraud.”

“‘I can’t sell a $150,000 house and I can’t sell a $450,000 house because of this,’ Witt said.”

The Granite City Press Record. “Homeowners facing the possibility of losing their home need to take action as soon as possible. And there is help available. That is part of the message the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is trying to get out to area homeowners as the number of foreclosures continues to rise.”

“Many homeowners who got adjustable rate mortgages had expected to refinance their homes before the lower rate expired by using their home’s value as equity. When the housing market weakened in 2006, those homes often lost enough of their worth to be valued less than the cost of the adjustable rate mortgage, leaving borrowers stuck paying more than they could afford.”

“‘It’s like a natural disaster,’ said Bill Emmons, supervisory officer and economist at the Federal Reserve. ‘It’s been a rapid turn of events. A booming market in 2006 to utter collapse today. It’s still very serious.’”

“Emmons said that after years of a highly profitable housing market, the process began to collapse in on itself in 2006. ‘Part of the problem is lending got fast and loose and a lot of borrowers got over their heads and got into overheated markets and that’s why we’re experiencing the correction,’ Emmons said.”

“‘We’ll…liaison with the homeowner and the lender service so we can figure out if the family can stay in their home, whatever the situation may be, so that family can stay in their home,’ said Chris Krehmeyer, CEO of Beyond Housing, based out of St. Louis.”

“There is no charge for the organization’s service. ‘More than half the people who get foreclosed never call anybody,’ Krehmeyer said.”

“In the mean time, the market is unlikely to stabilize again anytime soon, Emmons said. ‘This is a major, major correction that is going on and we’re not finished,’ he said.”