When mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the Bush Administration in 2008, the nearly $200 billion bailout was the largest in history. Since that time however, and aided by the rapid recovery of the …
Real Estate
Where the Next Huge Real Estate Bubble May Be Building
The 2000s real estate bubble—which burst in 2007 and precipitated a once-in-a-century financial crisis and recession—is not something most folks are excited to see repeated. But five years of declining or stagnating housing …
Home Prices Are Rising, But Don’t Call it a Recovery
The housing market is back, right? For well over a year now, housing prices nationally have been appreciating at a rapid pace, with some markets like Dallas and Denver recently touching all-time highs. Overall, housing prices are …
Money Talking: The First Economic Victim of the Shutdown
Aside from the furloughed federal workers, the housing recovery may be the first economic victim of the government shutdown. Over the last two years, housing has gone from being a headwind to a major boon to U.S. economic growth. …
Is the American Dream Withering or Just Changing?
Opportunity, homeownership and retirement security are down. Now we hear that most believe the next generation will be worse off than the last. Well, OK, but the kids don’t believe it.
Upscale Armageddon: Sales of Swanky Underground Doomsday Homes Continue
“Buy now! Before it’s too late!” Many salespeople use some variation of this pitch to get buyers to bite. But this sales spiel takes on heightened new meaning when the item being hawked is a home built for riding out the apocalypse.
Richmond, California Moves Ahead With Plan to Seize Underwater Mortgages
The city council of Richmond, Calif., has voted 4-3 to proceed with a plan to use eminent domain to buy up underwater mortgages at deep discounts and give homeowners a new, cheaper loan that would have lower monthly payments and decrease the chance that the home will be foreclosed upon.
In addition, Richmond has agreed to help other …
Good Jobs, Lots of Dollar Stores: The U.S.’s Best Cities for Cheapskates
Which American cities are best for folks who prefer to keep tight hold of their money? Don’t go looking anywhere along the coasts.
Rising Interest Rates and the Fate of the Housing Market
The U.S. housing market is still on a hot streak, as evidenced by yesterday’s Case-Schiller housing numbers which showed home prices rising on average 12.1%. This follows a year-long trend of double-digit annual housing price increases, in which some cities are actually seeing higher home values than before recession.
But for some …
Feds Say No Way to Using Eminent Domain to Help Underwater Homeowners
On Thursday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sent a strong message discouraging municipalities from using eminent domain to help bail out distressed homeowners — dramatically changing the tenor of a closely watched …
President Obama, Defender of the 30-Year, Fixed-Rate Mortgage
President Obama is availing himself of the bully pulpit again this week, with a speech in Phoenix on Tuesday and an online question-and-answer session hosted by real estate website Zillow, both of which focused on the real estate …
China, the U.S. and a Special Relationship in the Making: 5 Shared Economic Challenges
As President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping settle into conversation in California for the weekend, there’s talk of a new kind of G-2 alliance between the nations, and even a “grand bargain” over issues like trade, …