Real Estate News Daily

One of America’s leading economists who have predicted the events of today way before they were entering their critical levels, Robert Shiller releases his view and forecast of the current housing market crisis. The figures the Yale economist sees in Standard & Poors-Shiller home price index shows that the levels are so low they might even surpass levels of the great depression of the 1930’s. Many fail to accept his views as they try to maintain a positive outlook for the housing industry, but the figures don’t lie. He also says that the only way the government can avert a catastrophe is if the Federal bank releases billions in bail-out packages so the millions of Americans facing foreclosure can get to keep their homes. His analysis places the industry at a position where the figures have no where else to go but down further quelling hopes that the industry would be bouncing back soon.

Today’s Industry data shows that the number of homes that will be going up for foreclosure has doubled in the first quarter that the whole of last year meaning the problem is getting worse. Efforts by the government to stop the said foreclosures are headed to the house for deliberation as they try to find ways of stopping the ugly climb. Many homeowners are powerless due to the utter weakness of the economy with higher gas prices, food and other necessities have followed suit. The power of homeowners to prevent their houses from going to the highest bidder has diminished so much they simply stand back and weep at the prospect of losing the very one thing they could have called their own, their homes.

As promised, the proposal for the federal government to offer loans to homeowners who are under threat of losing their homes is going to the house for deliberations and a subsequent ruling. The move is aimed to keep people in their homes as they continue to fail to make their mortgage payments. The loan would allow people to borrow as much as 20% of their mortgage which would give them time to regroup and also give the economy time to recover from the economic slowdown. The problem is that if the Federal government does not do anything now, they still end up losing in the long run. As people lose their jobs and also the ability to pay their mortgages they get thrown out of their houses, end up on the street with the state picking up their housing, medical care and the many other costs. The end product, strain on the Federal government again, sot hey are moving to take some steps to alleviate the increasing problems with defaults on mortgages that is running into the millions since the problem began last year.

In Montana that is, where a realtor group has asked the state board to review the actions of a listing broker who has violated the rules of engagement so to speak in the real estate business of the practice which was approved by the state, that all agents are to submit their listings to a broker who then consults the group which places the property in listings. The listing broker in question broke the rule by taking his listings and submitting offers to buyers without consulting the local industry thus bypassing their value in the whole deal. The norm for such transactions would have a seller hire an agent, who submits their listing to the listing agency who then is contacted by the agent of the buyers all while they are under the eyes of the realtor group and state officials. There was a circumvention of the process when the listing company got seller agents directly in contact with buyers with evidence to support it having taken place. The Montana Realty Board is reviewing the case and is set to release a statement soon.

Money may be harder to come by but these people who can afford to spend are indeed spending. The rock-bottom prices, even of the most affluent homes are getting the wealthy excited for they even get properties with everything inside as part of the deal having them get second, third and so on and so forth number of homes. These assets can be sold in the future as the market rebounds or kept to add to their ever growing empires in the arena of real estates. Before we forget, the wealthy represents around less than 10% of all Americans, the rest fall in the lower 90%.

All’s well for America’s wealthy for they see the current housing crunch as opportunity. That opportunity comes in the form of properties they either acquire for themselves as vacation homes or as investments in expectation of the expected recovery of the market. The rich and wealthy of the country are buying up properties like hotcakes and many areas such as Florida are getting big purchases. Even in the crowded city center’s, properties are exchanging hands (with some discounts and negotiations of course) but they are still selling. Families who earn in excess of half a million a year are the prime movers with those in the lower brackets (affluent, upper middle class) voicing interests of their own.

Selling your home in today’s rock-bottom market may be hard enough but making it reality is even harder. This may sound scary, but it sure is for the tons of regulations and safety requirements that must be met for a house to be allowed for sale can cost you an arm and a leg if you’re serious about your plans. The clause “AS IS” is your way of telling prospective buyers that the contents of your house may or may not all function properly, it doesn’t end there. The stiff regulations in building and safety codes dictate that all safety related issues are to be remedied before a permit for listing the house would be allowed. Brokers would also advise you to do such for any problems with these issues can come to haunt you just as you are about to close your deal, ending all dreams of getting your dream house that is more manageable and would cost you less to maintain. Do consult licensed brokers for advice and hire one for your sake, they cost money but they can save you that arm and leg we started with!

Even non-financial firms are bearing the brunt of the problems with many in the services and manufacturing industry reeling back from the increasing prices of materials and other overhead costs. The problem is that most of the people and companies that provide the bulk of the necessary economic cushioning have run dry due to sleeping investments in those unsold houses. Foreclosures are no solutions either for even as lenders get their property in exchange for lost capital, no new buyers are turning them into cash that should be pouring into their stores. All costs are on the rise as companies try to get funds form their customers, electricity, gas and even food are rising so fast most Americans are finding it hard to come by. Time will tell if the decisions of today will bring a swift end to this crisis, some say next year others by 2010, no one knows. What should be known is that the lessons gathered from this experience should be collated and made into proper measures of control and regulation so it does not happen again.