Monday, May 08, 2006

Bubble Sphere Roundup

Welcome to all the readers from Wonkette. :-) Thanks for the mention.

Crash2006 reports that another mortgage firm bites the dust. Merit Financial clearly did not have enough merit to stand up during a housing bubble bust.

Is David Lereah like Charles Ponzi? Is the housing bubble a giant Ponzi scheme?

The Baltimore Metro Area Housing Blog has a great post about a house that is having massive price reductions. The speculator clearly won't make as much as they had hoped for, but probably will turn a tidy profit on the property.

DC Bubble reports that the amount of inventory and the percentage of housing units where prices have been reduced has increased in DC proper. It bubblicious here.

Northern New Jersey Real Estate Bubble
has a great find about how 'Land Value Increases In Japan, First Time In 15 Years'

Finally, SocketSite continues to offer solid coverage of the San Francisco housing market.

5 comments:

  1. David,

    Regarding the Baltimore Metro Area Housing Blog property. This is a short sale if you go to the properties listing through the link. That means that the owner likely refinanced to take cash out of the appraised equity, and can no longer afford the mortgage payments.

    I really doubt that he is making any money on this home.

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  2. Anon-
    That's my blog, and thank you for making that point. Can I ask why in the world they would put that in the listing? What are the advantages/disadvantages to it? Thanks!

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  3. OK, I looked it up and still cannot fathom why they would put that in the listing...so should I run in there and offer them $200K for the house? If the lender is will to accept less than what they seller owes, is there a minumum they'll accept before they do force foreclosure? This could be a steal, and will royally screw the comps, correct?

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  4. The realtor's listing is noting a condition of sale. It is really a note to other realtor's that a bid at the listing price may not be received by the third party (bank).

    I don't know that it would screw up comps, because I don't know what the sales prices are for homes near there. Most lenders aren't going to come out and tell you what they will accept. My advice would be to wait on this property. If enough time goes by, either 1) it is sold way below market value or 2) it is repo'd by the bank and subsequently sold way below market value.

    I can tell you that the "owner" is in a world of hurt. If they short sale the property, they are taking a loss on their mortgage. Either they are putting up the cash or the bank is going to forgive the remaining balance. If the bank forgives the remainder, then the "owner" is responsible for paying income taxes on the amount forgiven.

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  5. Thatnks...it's been on the market almost 200 days, but only a few at the current price. My feeling is that there are homes just as nice, if not nicer, for sale for the same price or less that do not require all the work and time that it seems has to go into doing this (from what I've read), and that it may sit for a loooong time. If it sits longer does that make the lender more likely to accept a lesser price? Hell, if they drop the list to $100K, that doesn't matter if the lender wont accept it, right?

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