Housing

National housing market posts seventh straight quarter of declining prices

New numbers from the real estate website Zillow.com, via CNBC:
Home values fell 9.7 percent year-over-year in the third quarter to a Zillow Home Value Index of $202,966, according to the third quarter Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, which encompass 163 metropolitan areas.
Home values have dropped a total 12.8 percent since the market peaked in 2006.
Year-over-year [...]

Minneapolis home sales are up, but prices are down again

It’s become a broken record of late: Home-price declines breaking records. With the economy on the skids and the subprime crisis still unfolding, home values are getting devoured first. This morning the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index was released, revealing that the trend doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. The 20-city index showed year-to-year August price declines of 16.6 percent. Minneapolis saw a drop of 13.3 percent over the year period, with a 1 percent decline from July to August.

‘Joe the Plumber’ finds new career winterizing Minnesota’s foreclosed homes

Joe, Steve, Scott, Mario, Rodney, and Paul the Plumber are not only in recession-immune jobs, they’re making a career out of a collapsing economy. According to KAAL-TV in Rochester, Minnesota, a company called 1st Class Plumbing and Heating is getting most of its calls for service from banks and Realtors needing foreclosed and vacant homes [...]

Minnesota foreclosures rise 42 percent in September

A recent report by RealtyTrac reveals that Minnesota foreclosures rose 42 percent in September compared to foreclosure filings during the same period in 2007. Overall there were 2,144 foreclosure filings in Minnesota during September, placing Minnesota 26th in the nation for foreclosure filings that month. Hennepin County made up more than half of all foreclosure filings in the state.

HUD chief calls McCain’s mortgage plan a ‘grave concern’

In a town hall meeting in Seattle Monday evening, Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary Steve Preston said John McCain’s mortgage proposal is an issue of “grave concern.” McCain’s plan for the housing decline includes the government possibly buying up troubled mortgages and paying the difference between principal balance and the home’s new lowered value as a result of the housing crash.

“I have a very grave concern about that,” Preston said, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Mortgage woes might hurt John Kline’s reelection chances

Foreclosures are rising rapidly in John Kline’s 2nd Congressional District, where counties like Le Sueur and Carver saw foreclosures spike by more than 140 percent last year. Most of the district is experiencing a foreclosure rate that surpasses the national average, and the numbers are expected to rise this year. With the economy in a slump and a consistent record of voting against foreclosure prevention and help, is Kline’s reelection in jeopardy?

Another Bachmann liability: Mortgage troubles abound in her district

Even before her Friday Hardball debacle, Michele Bachmann faced a challenge back home that’s been little-noted but may pose difficulties for the first-term incumbent: the impact of the mortgage crisis in her suburban and rural district.

Credit card defaults rise, consumer debt spikes 75 percent

Got credit card debt? You’re not alone. According to a recent report, consumer credit card debt has increased 75 percent since 1999 while wages have remained flat and savings rates have declined to their worst since the Great Depression. Already banks are hoarding cash in preparation for what analysts say is the next great crisis.

When it comes to negative equity, the Twin Cities are seriously under water

A story last week by the Wall Street Journal reveals a growing and troubling trend: One in six homeowners are under water, or living in a home in which they owe more than it’s worth. In the Twin Cities the economic picture is even more dismal. Minneapolis and St. Paul rank fifth in the nation’s most in-debt households, meaning that area homeowners have less equity in their homes–and are more in debt–than the national average.

Subprime targets: Why everything pundits and politicians are telling you about the CRA is wrong

Conservative columnists, pundits, bankers, and politicians like Minnesota’s own Michele Bachmann have taken to blaming the subprime fallout and subsequent credit crisis on the Carter-era Community Reinvestment Act. But housing and civil-rights experts say they’re just plain wrong. And if Minneapolis doesn’t take steps to fix the problem soon, things will get a lot worse.