Bubbledom, rejoice!  This just in from the National Association of Realtors: WASHINGTON, April 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — David Lereah, senior vice president and chief economist of the National Association of Realtors(R) for the past seven years, is joining Move Inc. as executive vice president of a new business entity, effective in mid-May. Move Inc. operates NAR’s official Web site, http://www.realtor.com/, and http://www.move.com/. Lereah will act as chairman and partner of the new enterprise under Move Inc. that will launch in the third quarter of 2007. He will serve with Allan Dalton, who will be president and CEO of the new business…
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Doomers, let’s hope the U.S. government doesn’t read this one.  The New Zealand government has a plan to artificially prop up home prices, I mean help first time home buyers. They are launching a plan to kick in 25-30% of the purchase price of a home: [Hat tip once more to Ken!] The Government has confirmed plans to unveil a shared equity scheme to help people buy their first homes. Housing Minister Chris Carter said tonight it would be a way to provide direct financial assistance to buyers faced with prices which would otherwise stop them getting into the housing…
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It’s Monday Morning and the MSM seems fast asleep.  Indeed in France and other countries that take May Day seriously, many "building a bridge" over this isolated business day may not be up for much before Wednesday.

We here at Doom have lamented the spin from the REIC in the U.S. and Canada, but spin seems to be a global, not just a North American phenomenon.  New Zealand is a case in point.  Kiwis have been experiencing a bubble of their own, but people are starting to get nervous that maybe all is not right with the housing market.  [Hat tip to Ken, who keeps me abreast of the New Zealand market!] From yesterday morning’s Sunday Star Times (Auckland), Mortgagee [Foreclosure] Sales Double:

On Friday the Census Bureau released its report of vacancy rates and homeownership.  According to Reuters: The share of U.S. homes owned but empty rose for the 10th straight quarter at the end of March to a record 2.8 percent, the Census Bureau said Friday. The number has been steadily climbing since the fourth quarter of 2004 when it was at 1.8 percent and indicates a housing market bloated with speculators, said William O’Donnell, head U.S. government bond strategist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. What is most striking is the rise in vacant properties that are for sale:

The May issue of Realtor magazine is out.  It includes an "economic report" by the National Association of Realtor’s chief economist, David Lereah. I thought I would share just a bit of his "Subprime Reckoning" article: Now, about one in eight adjustable-rate loans (a quarter of which are subprime) totaling some $325 billion are in foreclosure, many in high-cost states like California. More trouble could be on the way. A bit more than $300 billion in subprime ARMs is due to reset during the next two quarters. Most lenders will try to work these out, but in some cases the…
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Who says there’s no more land? Why just last Tuesday a Swiss Scientist announced the discovery of Gliese 581c, an earth-like globe just 20 light years away. Coming soon — The Space Cadet, starring Donald Trump!

Long time readers know that I take exception to the MLS reports, and in particular to the reports from the National Association of Realtors. [OK, you only had to be a reader since yesterday to know that, but that's beside the point.] Part of the problem with these reports is the willingness of the cheerleaders to torture the data rather than analyze it.  We’ve been told the market has been "stabilizing" or "bottoming" for months, only to be told about a new "stable bottom" the next month.  Lousy analysis isn’t the only issue.  Probably the bigger problem is the nature…
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An article from the Online Journal quotes Henry Paulson: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson delivered an upbeat assessment of the slumping real estate market on Friday saying, “All the signs I look at” show “the housing market is at or near the bottom.” Paulson added that the meltdown in subprime mortgages was not a “serious problem. I think it’s going to be largely contained.” It’s difficult to see how "containment" can be achieved though when subprime mortgages are out there masquerading as less risky loans.  One of the methods being used to gussy up a subprime borrower is to use a…
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As you can imagine, as the mother of five, I know a fairy tale when I see one.  Consequently I recognized this one right away from the Arizona Republic:  [Hat tip M.R.!]  It was entitled U.S. Housing Market Worsens as Valley Improves.  Like all works of fantasy suited to the minds of children, I recognized that this fairy tale needs pictures.  So here is my illustrated version of their article: Newly released data show that U.S. home prices fell their steepest in almost 15 years in February. And the industry got another shot of bad news when sales of existing…
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The Marketwatch headline today?  New-Home Sales Inch Higher in March: Boosted by warmer weather in the Northeast and Midwest, sales of new homes increased by 2.6% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 858,000, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. That is of course month-over-month.  Year-over-year, [YOY] sales are down 23.5%.  According to the Commerce Department: Sales of new one-family houses in March 2007 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 858,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 2.6 percent (±12.9%)* above the…
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The National Association of Realtors released their report for March–and started with excuses: Unusually bad weather in February curtailed home shopping, slowing sales that closed in March, which may have been dampened further by a decrease in subprime lending volume, according to the National Association of Realtors. It’s interesting to note that areas like Phoenix and Las Vegas saw large drops in sales [Phoenix down 26% YOY, Las Vegas was down 36%] while having lovely weather–but weather is as good an excuse as any. According to Yahoo Finance today: Sales of existing homes plunged in March by the largest amount in…
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How do you expand on this unbelievable quote from Senator Dodd? [Hat tip Doomer G!] Senators, including presidential hopeful Christopher Dodd, urged the Federal Reserve on Monday to protect borrowers in the subprime mortgage market by toughening rules on both bank and nonbank lenders and restricting some loans. Joined by nine other Senate Banking Committee Democrats, Dodd, D-Conn., said that the Fed should require all mortgage originators to evaluate a borrower’s ability to repay a loan before making a mortgage loan.

Many thanks to Aaron at Implode-O-Meter for helping Doom to a record day last Thursday.

In yesterday’s Arizona Republic, Catherine Reagor talked about "foreclosure rescue groups": For those on the verge of losing their home, foreclosure-rescue groups seem like their only hope. But many so-called rescuers aren’t helping at all. Instead, their offers are thinly veiled schemes to take control of a struggling homeowner’s house and strip any equity left in it. "Foreclosure rescue sounds like something good, but it isn’t. There are some sharks out there," Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said. "They are taking advantage of desperate homeowners and need to be stopped." There are variations on the rescue theme, but generally these…
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