The American public is, for obvious reasons, a bit gun-shy when it comes to asset bubbles. Ever since the financial crisis, market watchers have worried about bubbles in the stock market, in high yield debt, and even the …
Real Estate
This Housing Upturn Looks Like the Real Thing
The previous upturn in housing prices faltered after a year, but all the signs suggest that the current home price recovery will be sustainable.
New Hope for Underwater Homeowners
Given the consistently good news we’ve seen from the housing market, it can be easy to forget just how much damage the bursting of the real estate bubble has wrought on the economy and the lives of average people across the …
Forget Lowballing: Bidding Wars Return in Hot Housing Markets
Are buyers being manipulated into overbidding for the relatively few attractive homes on the market?
A Nation of Renters: Should We Be Worried That Fewer Americans Own Homes?
Big Wall Street banks and consumer-advocacy groups like the Center for Responsible Lending don’t agree on much. But recently, these strange bedfellows have been brought together by their opposition to new rules governing …
Can Housing Power the Economic Recovery?
Economic recoveries usually begin at home. Even though the housing construction has historically only accounted for roughly 5% of America’s economic activity, that number tends to rise following recessions, placing a …
Is This Man Single-Handedly Stifling the U.S. Housing Recovery?
Ed DeMarco may not strike you as the kind of man who is capable of fanning the outrage of broad swaths of the American public. But in the past year, this bespectacled economist and lifelong civil servant has endured protesters …
If There’s No Inflation, Why Are Prices Up So Much?
Many of the costs faced by typical American households are rising faster than the official inflation statistics indicate.
Will Reform of Fannie and Freddie Kill the 30-Year Mortgage?
The sequester is all anybody wants to talk about. I get it: It’s the hip new crisis sweeping Washington. But remember Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? You know, the once quasi-independent housing giants whose takeover by the federal government has cost taxpayers upwards of $190 billion thus far? Well, Fannie and Freddie are still owned by the …
Selling Your House? Choose Your Words Carefully
Certain phrases pop up again and again in real estate listings, and these keywords offer a good indication of the prices a property will command. A listing promising a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” for instance, has an …
What Happens When the Fed Really Does Run Out of Ammunition?
The Fed has no good choices. If easy money ends, the economy will slow even more. But continuing the policy risks inflation
Millennials Are Paying Off Debt — but That’s Not Necessarily Good News
A new study suggests that millennials are getting serious about paring down their debt. But a closer look at the numbers shows some troubling signs