While Ben Bernanke spent the past couple days on Capitol Hill delivering some dour predictions for U.S. economy, the one sector in America actually pulling its weight these days — housing — had a pretty good week.
Real Estate
Should Eminent Domain Be Used to Save Underwater Homes?
The one glimmer of hope in a otherwise disappointing recovery is the recent bottoming out of the housing market. While no one expects home prices to start skyrocketing again anytime soon, it appears that the steady descent they …
Do the Suburbs Make You Selfish?
Urban areas have begun to outpace the growth of suburbs. Could that be good for America’s social ecology?
Countrywide VIP Loans Went to Key Lawmakers: Congressional Report
When people ask why banking CEOs haven’t been called to account for the devastating mortgage meltdown that helped plunge the United States into the worst recession in generations, a name that invariably comes up is Angelo Mozilo, …
Is Stockton the Start of a Rash of Municipal Bankruptcies?
State and local borrowing amounts to only a fraction of the national debt, but while the scale may be smaller, the financial crises are much, much closer.
Can the Economy Get Healthy Without a Housing Recovery?
This spring has been filled with disappointing economic news, but one bright spot has been the possible bottoming out of the housing market. The conventional wisdom is that a stable housing market is important not only because …
Our Net Worth Is Down 39%. How Worried Should We Be?
It’s unlikely that most families will be able to make up for lost time after a 21-year period in which growth in their net worth has averaged out to less than nothing. However, some analysts are clinging to misconceptions that …
Home Sales Jump as Number of Foreclosures Drops
April housing numbers released by the National Association of Realtors were, wait for it … good. Spring is traditionally a busy season for home sales, but the real estate market has been in such a slump for the past couple of years that “ordinary” good news comes as something of a surprise.
Report: Housing Market Recovery Has Officially Begun
A new analysis suggests that home prices will begin to rise later this year.
Congressmen Accuse Fannie and Freddie Boss of Ideological Bias
Updated at 1:30 p.m.
There’s a sizable portion of the American public that’s against bailing out underwater American homeowners under any circumstances. That sentiment was most eloquently summed up by CNBC’s Rick …
Has the Housing Market Finally Hit Bottom?
Housing and jobs: these are the two keys to the economic recovery really taking off, and while we’ve gotten some positive news on the jobs front recently, real estate prices have more or less continued to decline steadily since …
Building a Better Bailout: Can Fannie and Freddie Help American Homeowners?
Since the financial crisis, American taxpayers have collectively made all sorts of investments that would have been unthinkable ten years ago. We bought stakes in the auto and insurance industries and, perhaps most significantly, …
