Wednesday Real Estate Reading
Housing
Housing experts optimistic, despite dismal data – WaPo
“I feel as confident as I have since the crash began that it’s now coming to an end,” Zandi said. “With a little luck, I think we’re going to be feeling better about housing six months from now and certainly a year from now. . . . All the fundamentals for housing are much, much better today than at any time since the crash.”
Why does anyone still consider Mark Zandi to be a real estate expert?
REALTORS® Forecasting Higher Prices - NAR
shocker here.
FHA Bailout Risk Looming Larger After Guarantee Binge – Bloomberg
San Francisco home prices declined most in January in survey of U.S. cities – Contra Costa Times
Housing market about three years away from full recovery – The Hill
Sheila Bair Told Administration Its Housing Programs Would Bomb, Was Rebuffed on Better Solutions - Yves Smith
Foreclosure Deal Credits Banks for Routine Efforts – NY Times
“The $17 billion is supposed to be the teeth of this settlement,” said Neil M. Barofsky, the former inspector general for the Treasury’s bank bailout fund known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program. “And yet they are getting all this credit for practices that they do every day.”
Economy
Fed Prevented ‘Total Meltdown,’ Bernanke Says – WSJ $
Student Loans Take the Place of Home Equity – Tim Iacono
Misc.
Why Don’t Young Americans Buy Cars? – The Atlantic
ids these days. They don’t get married. They don’t buy homes. And, much to the dismay of the world’s auto makers, they apparently don’t feel a deep and abiding urge to own a car.
