19 June 2009

Business/Economic Headlines: 19 June 09

Californians learning the grass is not greener across their border with Oregon

S&P Downgrades 18 Banks

Geithner: Financial Markets Require Well-Designed Regulation

Housing bubble-heads in Arizona biting on a new mania leading to oversupply of rental properties

Home sellers say new appraisal rules make deals harder

Must Read For All Housing Bottom Callers: Worse than subprime? Other mortgages imploding slowly

San Diego vacanacies rise, rents fall

Two Roubini videos: "Risks Of A 'W' Shaped Recovery" and "Risks Of TARP Paybacks"

Coldwell Banker CEO: "Move-up buyers absent"

Vending Machines Which Dispense Gold

Estimate Places U.S.A.'s Natural Gas Reserves 35% Higher

Expense of finding oil and natural gas jumps (average cost per barrel for the past 3 years is $51.96)

Scientists Confirm U.S. Has World’s Biggest Oil Reserves?

Oil rises towards $72 on economic hopes

Property tycoon loses his £21m home in Britain's biggest ever repossession

Projection: It'll be years before jobs return to much of U.S.

Cost of driving in Florida about to go up

Business/Economic News for 19 June 09

17 June 2009

One Chart For Bottom Callers On US Housing To Absorb


Be sure to click on chart to enlarge it. It is self-explanatory. And be sure to read the John Mauldin link in which Paul Krugman is "depressed" and believing we are following Japan in a "Lost Decade":


Business/Economic News: 17 June 09

Business/Economic Headlines For 17 June 09



California puts 90-day hold on foreclosures


15 June 2009

More Proof Key West's High End Housing Is Crumbling Into Negative Equity

Two weeks ago on June 1, 2009, a luxury condo in Key West's Harbour Place sold for $887,500.

It was marketed with these comments:

Sensational Key West Corner Condo in Harbour Place, on the top floor of one of the most prestigious buildings. Sweeping views of the Gulf and Pool area. 2/2 renovated Kitchen and Bathrooms. High ceilings, Crown moldings, recessed lighting, tile floors and Central Air. This unit comes with a transient License and a deeded covered parking space.

Original MLS Listing # 107706
Address: 113 Front St 308
City: Key West
Mile Marker: 0.0

Original Price: $1,495,000
Listing Price: $1,195,000

Selling Price: $887,500

Sale Price/List Price: 74.27

Price Per Sq Ft.$669.81
Listing Date: 1/28/2008
Days on Market: 479
Interior Sq Ft. 1,325
Lot Sq. Ft. 0
Year Built: 1992
Bedrooms: 2
Full Baths: 2.0
Property Type: Condo

What isn't mentioned in the specs/info list above is this: the seller of this condo in 2009 is taking a major bath. The seller bought the condo at a price of $1,137,500 on April 4, 2004.

When the condo owner first tried selling their place 479 days before this sale on June 1 of this year, they were asking $1,495,000 in early 2008. Had they been able to sell at that price, they would have made some good money.

Doing the math:

$1,495,000
-$1,137,500
__________

$357,500 gain on sale plus equity from principal payments over 5 years

Assuming these particular owner(s) never used a HELOC loan, they would have walked away with over $400,000 had they been able to sell at $1,495,000 when they put this condo on the market 479 days before they finally sold it.

However, that is not the case.

This condo finally sold two weeks ago for just $887,500.
Now to make this seem less harmful, the local National Association of Realtors make it seem as though the seller only took a 25.73% fall in "listing price" versus what it actually sold for.

(That's just one of the neat little tricks the Real Estate cartel use to take your mind off the real fall in Key West Real Estate prices: when a local Realtor member posts "Good Deeds" in the Key West Citizen every Sunday, they no longer post the "original price" which would have shown a much more drastic cut in price.)

So let's look at what this condo's fall in price really was.

The seller's original asking price was:

$1,495,000

The seller finally sold the house June 1, 2009 for only:

$887,500

That's a 41% drop between what the seller wanted and what the seller had to settle for.

But wait, let's have a closer look at what is really lost: equity.

The seller bought this place in April 2004 for:

$1,137, 500

The seller finally had to let the upside down mortgaged condo on June 1, 2009 for:

$887,500

How much equity was lost, how upside down/underwater had the 5 year old mortgage from 2004 become valued in mark to market terms in June 2009?

Divide $887,500 by $1,137,500.

Thus, we find this condo in 5 years time really lost 22% of its equity, and possibly more had this seller taken out a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) to finance a vacation around the world, a remodel of their condo, a new boat, etc.

The proof is here for all to see: some Key West high end housing is now cheaper than 2004 prices and has much further to fall.



As always, Caveat Emptor and Carpe Diem,


Rock Trueblood

Business/Economic Headlines: 15 June 09

Depression Porn: How Banks Are Gaming The Real Estate Market

Bill Fleckenstein: Printing money isn't the cure

Property Rights Take a Hit

Post Office Looks to Scale Back

Hospital Industry Bristles at Cuts

Obama rolling out new rules to oversee banks, Wall Street; hopes to avert future crises

Is the housing bust about to take Manhattan?

Bold
U.S. malls' ills give independent stores an opening

Mozilo case sparks new scrutiny of CEO trading plans

U.S. taxpayers have reaped a 7.4 percent return on the $45 billion used to rescue Citigroup Inc.

Asian Stocks Fall on Valuation Concerns; BHP, OZ Minerals Drop

Gas prices spike 17 cents a gallon in last two weeks

Six Flags Amusement Park Company Declares Bankruptcy

Office Building Sells at 40% Below Construction Costs

Foreclosure Reality Check: 1.6 Million Foreclosure Filings with 5 Months of Data. California Notice of Defaults and Foreclosures Skyrocketing.

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