The B.S. Thread
09-25-2007 | 03:04 PM
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From: Houston
Hey Wade I thought the ol' Sutphen was gone...
09-25-2007 | 03:28 PM
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From: Lake Conroe TX
09-25-2007 | 03:32 PM
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From: LAKE CONROE, TX
Home sales thud to 5-year low point
Realtors say sales of existing homes drop for sixth consecutive month, to lowest level in 5 years; separate report shows steepest price drop in 16 years.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com
September 25 2007: 3:21 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Housing markets continued to slump across the nation in August as the number of existing homes sold dropped for the sixth straight month to their lowest level in five years, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors.
Sales fell 4.3 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.50 million. Sales have fallen 12.8 percent since last August's pace of 6.31 million homes.
Current Mortgage Rates
Type Overall avgs
30 yr fixed mtg 6.09%
15 yr fixed mtg 5.74%
30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 6.99%
5/1 ARM 6.04%
5/1 jumbo ARM 6.48%
Find personalized rates:
Lawrence Yun, senior economist for NAR, blamed the current credit crunch. "The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market, including a significant rise in jumbo loan rates, resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or cancelled sales, with many buyers having to search for other financing when loan commitments fell through," he said in a statement.
The slump pushed up the inventory glut to 4.58 million existing homes, an all-time high. There is now a 10-month supply of homes on the market at the present rate of sales.
More home price drops are coming
Some positive news from NAR was that prices broke a 12-month decline. The national median existing-home price for all housing types rose 0.2 percent to $224,500 in August from a year ago, when the median was $224,000.
The report clashes with other sources that have reported falling prices for most of the nation. The latest figures from the S&P/Case-Shiller index show prices fell between July 2006 and July 2007 in all 10 major housing markets covered by its main index. The average decline was 4.5 percent. Of the 20-city Case-Shiller index, 15 cities suffered declines.
Foreclosures have soared during the past year, more than doubling since last year, according to RealtyTrac, a marketer of foreclosed properties, which has added to the glut of inventory of home listings.
With inventory at an all-time high, the 10-month supply of homes has not been topped since May 1989, according to Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research.
"The supply of homes goes up and up every month," said Larson, who blamed much of the rise on listings put up by investors trying to get out from under unprofitable homes they bought during the boom.
"Sellers are still not being realistic about selling prices. They have a false sense of the worth of their homes," he said. Owners who do not need to sell quickly are holding out for their asking prices.
That explains the contradictory trend of fairly stable prices but sharply lower sales numbers. The slight August rise in the national median price "is not reflective of what has to happen to clear the books of inventory," said Larson.
Motivated sellers, who need to sell quickly, have had a much harder time maintaining their asking prices. According to Jonas Lee, of Redbrick Partners, a private equity firm that invests in residential real estate, motivated sellers in most parts of the nation are having to discount asking prices by 15 percent or more to move their properties within 90 days.
There could be even worse news coming, according to Larsen. "The August numbers reflect contracts signed in June and July, still not the heart of the credit crunch, which happened in August," he said.
"We'll find out next month if the Fed cut will help turn the market around," said Larson.
NAR reported that August existing-home sales in the West suffered more than any other region, dropping 9.8 percent from July and 21.7 percent from last year. The median price in the West was $332,300, 3.8 percent below a year ago.
In the Northeast, existing-home sales were off 2.0 percent from July and trailed last August by 5.7 percent. The median price in the Northeast was $282,300, up 3.6 percent from a year ago.
Sales in the South slowed by 2.7 percent from July and were 12.7 percent lower than August 2006. The median existing-home price in the South was $183,500, down 0.7 percent from last year.
The Midwest showed a 5.2 percent drop from July to an annual rate of 1.28 million, and a 10.5 percent decline from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest of $177,100, was up 3.1 percent from August 2006.
Realtors say sales of existing homes drop for sixth consecutive month, to lowest level in 5 years; separate report shows steepest price drop in 16 years.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com
September 25 2007: 3:21 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Housing markets continued to slump across the nation in August as the number of existing homes sold dropped for the sixth straight month to their lowest level in five years, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors.
Sales fell 4.3 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.50 million. Sales have fallen 12.8 percent since last August's pace of 6.31 million homes.
Current Mortgage Rates
Type Overall avgs
30 yr fixed mtg 6.09%
15 yr fixed mtg 5.74%
30 yr fixed jumbo mtg 6.99%
5/1 ARM 6.04%
5/1 jumbo ARM 6.48%
Find personalized rates:
Lawrence Yun, senior economist for NAR, blamed the current credit crunch. "The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market, including a significant rise in jumbo loan rates, resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or cancelled sales, with many buyers having to search for other financing when loan commitments fell through," he said in a statement.
The slump pushed up the inventory glut to 4.58 million existing homes, an all-time high. There is now a 10-month supply of homes on the market at the present rate of sales.
More home price drops are coming
Some positive news from NAR was that prices broke a 12-month decline. The national median existing-home price for all housing types rose 0.2 percent to $224,500 in August from a year ago, when the median was $224,000.
The report clashes with other sources that have reported falling prices for most of the nation. The latest figures from the S&P/Case-Shiller index show prices fell between July 2006 and July 2007 in all 10 major housing markets covered by its main index. The average decline was 4.5 percent. Of the 20-city Case-Shiller index, 15 cities suffered declines.
Foreclosures have soared during the past year, more than doubling since last year, according to RealtyTrac, a marketer of foreclosed properties, which has added to the glut of inventory of home listings.
With inventory at an all-time high, the 10-month supply of homes has not been topped since May 1989, according to Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research.
"The supply of homes goes up and up every month," said Larson, who blamed much of the rise on listings put up by investors trying to get out from under unprofitable homes they bought during the boom.
"Sellers are still not being realistic about selling prices. They have a false sense of the worth of their homes," he said. Owners who do not need to sell quickly are holding out for their asking prices.
That explains the contradictory trend of fairly stable prices but sharply lower sales numbers. The slight August rise in the national median price "is not reflective of what has to happen to clear the books of inventory," said Larson.
Motivated sellers, who need to sell quickly, have had a much harder time maintaining their asking prices. According to Jonas Lee, of Redbrick Partners, a private equity firm that invests in residential real estate, motivated sellers in most parts of the nation are having to discount asking prices by 15 percent or more to move their properties within 90 days.
There could be even worse news coming, according to Larsen. "The August numbers reflect contracts signed in June and July, still not the heart of the credit crunch, which happened in August," he said.
"We'll find out next month if the Fed cut will help turn the market around," said Larson.
NAR reported that August existing-home sales in the West suffered more than any other region, dropping 9.8 percent from July and 21.7 percent from last year. The median price in the West was $332,300, 3.8 percent below a year ago.
In the Northeast, existing-home sales were off 2.0 percent from July and trailed last August by 5.7 percent. The median price in the Northeast was $282,300, up 3.6 percent from a year ago.
Sales in the South slowed by 2.7 percent from July and were 12.7 percent lower than August 2006. The median existing-home price in the South was $183,500, down 0.7 percent from last year.
The Midwest showed a 5.2 percent drop from July to an annual rate of 1.28 million, and a 10.5 percent decline from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest of $177,100, was up 3.1 percent from August 2006.
09-25-2007 | 03:33 PM
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From: LAKE CONROE, TX
Projected median sales prices for single-family homes:
Q1 2008: $154,850
Q4 2009: $161,910
Growth rate: 4.6 percent
Downtown Houston is also one of the places to be these days. The Texas oil capital is notorious for its suburban sprawl and horrendous traffic jams, but within the so-called Inner Loop bounded by Interstate 610 lies a new land of opportunity. That's where a multibillion-dollar expansion of Houston's medical center has spurred an influx of high-earning workers looking to live nearby.
Commuting to the center of the city has gotten worse in recent years, so suburbanites are flocking to the Inner Loop to snatch up older homes just for their lots and location. The trend is none too surprising, given that Houston is the only major U.S. city with no formal zoning code, which makes purchasing older houses and tearing them down to build whatever you want pretty easy. New homes on old lots start at about $1 million and reach as high as $4 million. Meanwhile, Big Oil is keeping Houston humming; the city added nearly 100,000 jobs last year.
Q1 2008: $154,850
Q4 2009: $161,910
Growth rate: 4.6 percent
Downtown Houston is also one of the places to be these days. The Texas oil capital is notorious for its suburban sprawl and horrendous traffic jams, but within the so-called Inner Loop bounded by Interstate 610 lies a new land of opportunity. That's where a multibillion-dollar expansion of Houston's medical center has spurred an influx of high-earning workers looking to live nearby.
Commuting to the center of the city has gotten worse in recent years, so suburbanites are flocking to the Inner Loop to snatch up older homes just for their lots and location. The trend is none too surprising, given that Houston is the only major U.S. city with no formal zoning code, which makes purchasing older houses and tearing them down to build whatever you want pretty easy. New homes on old lots start at about $1 million and reach as high as $4 million. Meanwhile, Big Oil is keeping Houston humming; the city added nearly 100,000 jobs last year.
09-25-2007 | 03:35 PM
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Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 15,491
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From: LAKE CONROE, TX
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to escape, to hide. When he came to the United States, being Jewishmobile radio and wireless communications; the other was
At last you will never worry about your size any more.
We have something special that will make all your 'se^xual wishes come true.
Leave behind what you've heard before. The new era for you begins!
Girls will love you!
Friends will be jealous!
And you will At last your new life! Like a real man with a real penis!
you will never worry about MegaDik and something special your new size!
09-25-2007 | 03:37 PM
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 14,914
Likes: 1
From: Lake Conroe, TX.
Hell yeah, I heard Prauge was a hell of a place to party.
