The different price indexes can be confusing … From MIT: MIT commercial property price index posts first increase in over a year The 4.4 percent increase in the transactions-based index (TBI) for the third quarter is the first positive price change in the index in over a year, and the…
Last week the U.S. Congress passed a congressional resolution extending the current higher Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loan limits through 2010. This extends the current conforming loan limits of $417,000 for most areas in the U.S. and $729,750 for high-cost areas, including many in New Jersey. The…
Megan writes in: I’m by far the most financially sensible person in my family. I spend far less than I earn, yet I’m happy with the things I do have. I have my retirement savings in very good shape (even after the mess last year!) and I have a…
From Bloomberg: RBS, Lloyds Get $51 Billion in Second Bank Bailout The Treasury will inject 25.5 billion pounds of capital into RBS, for a total of 45.5 billion pounds, making it the costliest bailout of any bank worldwide. The government will fund about a quarter of Lloyds’s 21 billion-pound fundraising.…
Aliso Viejo broker Steve Thomas of Altera Real Estate reports that it would take just 21 days to sell all the bank-owned homes in Orange County based on the current sales pace. And competition to buy those homes is so stiff that accepted offers are averaging 3% over the…
More from the Q3 GDP underlying detail tables … Note: Residential investment (RI), according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), includes new single family structures, multifamily structures, home improvement, broker’s commissions, and a few minor categories. Back in Q4 2008 – for the first time ever – investment in…
Freddie Mac’s quarterly refinance report for Q3 shows nationwide … Share of refinance loans resulting in new mortgages that were 5% or more higher than the paid-off first mortgage balance — a measure of “cash-out” refinancing — fell to a six-year low of 36%. In the first three quarters…
From Bloomberg: Obama’s Advisers Are Considering Second Stimulus, Locke Says President Barack Obama’s advisers are “seriously” considering proposing a second stimulus measure to boost the economy, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in an interview. Locke said another stimulus would be “very targeted and specific and we need to be mindful…
Here is a graph of office, mall and lodging investment through Q3 2009 based on the underlying detail data released by the BEA … Click on graph for larger image in new window. This graph shows investment in offices, lodging and malls as a percent of GDP. The recent boom…
We are very pleased to share with all of you the newest addition to our analytical offerings: The Roubini Global Economics Asset Market Views. Earlier this month, we announced that Arnab Das had joined RGE as Managing Director of Market Research and Strategy. Read the RGE Strategy Team’s Q4…