Category: Housing
UK house prices fell another 1.7%, now down 12.4% annually
Nationwide released its monthly survey of U.K. house prices and the results are not promising. In September 2008, the month-to-month of 1.7% matched last month’s decline, but the annual change in Nationwide’s index fell 12.4%, the largest fall since at least 1991. Nationwide’s Chef Economist Fionnuala Earley, always looking for a silver lining, had this
US Home prices down 16% over last year
The headlines about home prices are pretty dire, showing a record plunge in home prices of 16.3% over last year. In reality, it’s not all doom and gloom. So, let’s dig behind the headlines about the S&P/Case-Shiller Index released today to get a sense of what is really happening with U.S. home prices.First, one must
Subprime, Alt-A Delinquencies Rise
Connecticut-based Clayton Homes, now owned by Berkshire Hathaway and called Clayton Holdings, (not to be confused with Clayton Homes, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway)*, has warned that Subprime and Alt-A delinquencies in the U.S. are still rising. This suggests that the fundamental problem underlying the banking crisis has not been addressed. At its core, the
Canadian housing crisis warning
Canada, along with Australia, ranks as one of the two last major bubble markets to remain relatively immune to the types of house price falls we have seen in the UK, Ireland, the U.S. and Spain. Yes, there has been some damage in Alberta, where prices had been rising too rapidly. But the rest of
Builder News: Comstock defaults, NVR pulls offering
I have been so busy following the ongoing saga in financial services that I forgot to tell you about two Washington DC-area home builders in the news. Comstock, a privately-held developer, just defaulted on almost $100 million in debt. In addition, NVR, another builder, but a publicly traded company pulled a debt offering due to
The irony of falling prices and first-time homebuyers
When the housing mania was in full bloom, many first-time home buyers were understandably panicked about being locked out of home ownership and missing the boat to get onto the property ladder. This was the case in both the UK and in the United States. In the UK, deals were done at upwards of six
Home Equity Loans: Banks overzealous on cuts
When it comes to residential property in the US, banks were overzealous on the way up and now they are overzealous on the way down. You have probably heard that banks are cutting HELOCs (home equity lines of credit) like mad. Borrowers, looking to tap an additional source of liquidity as the U.S. economy softens,
Nationwide: UK house prices down 10.5%
House prices are falling at an ever faster rate in the UK, according to Nationwide’s latest survey for August 2008. The Nationwide Index was down to 329.5 from 335.9 in July, a fall of 1.9%. The index is down 10.5% compared to August 2007, the first double digit fall in prices since Q4 1990. In July, those figures were only 1.5% and 8.1% down respectively, suggesting declines are still accelerating in the UK. The average home in the UK will cost you £164,
Case-Shiller Time Machine: June 2008
The S&P/Case-Shiller housing index is out for prices for June 2008. So, it’s that time of the month again — let’s play the Case-Shiller time machine game. Basically, prices in the U.S. housing market have been falling for about two years now (the index topped out in July 2006) because housing prices had moved way
Frankfurt property market in freefall
As far back as May, I had warned that commercial property was destined for a bust — collateral damage in the real economy. In particular, I mentioned the U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) market as a particular problem for local and regional banks, which have large exposure to the CRE market. In May, I also
The Housing Bubble and Bailout
The past few weeks I have been chronicling how Europe is fast catching up to the United States in terms of the magnitude of the housing bust and its effects on its economies. I’d like to turn back to the United States and Northern California, which has been hit hard by the bust. Below are