5 Key Housing Stats: Examining the U.S. Housing Market in May 2008.
The debate has shifted in the last few months with many now feeling that the credit crisis is behind us. Many are now looking forward thinking that the worst in the housing market is here and we are now nearing a short-term bottom. However, others have likened the current environment to being in the eye […]
Mortgage Lending: Past vs Present Diagram. Where it went wrong.
Someone sent me an e-mail with a graph of the difference between past and current mortgage lending. I decided to spruce up the diagram to give you a better idea of how many additional layers have been added to the current mortgage lending process. What you’ll notice is the detachment from the actual real estate […]
Money Markets, CDs, 401ks, and Savings Accounts that Lose Against Inflation: A Society that Punishes Savers.
One of the unintended consequences of this housing market is the punishment conservative savers are taking. Last month we had the rather astonishing release of data from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics telling us for the month, that inflation was at 0 percent. As disconnected as this is from reality, there is a reason […]
$231 Billion in Writedowns and Credit Losses: The List of Mortgage Players Grows Larger.
Yesterday UBS AG said it would write down a staggering $19 billion on assets connected to mortgage assets. The figure is staggering yet the market rallied nearly 400 points on this news. Have we reached a turning point where writedowns simply do not matter? This figure was the largest since the writedowns started last year. […]