| Foreclosures fall, but outlook isn't bright and Mortgage rates fall to record lows |
|
|
|
|
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Foreclosure filings may have fallen in November but the number of homes scheduled for bank auctions grew significantly, indicating that a new wave of foreclosures are set to take place in the New Year.The number of foreclosure filings dropped to 224,394 properties in November, a 3% decline from October and a 14% drop year-over-year, according to RealtyTrac.During the month, one in every 579 housing units received either a default notice or underwent a scheduled auction or bank repossession, the online marketer of foreclosed homes said.The number of completed foreclosures, the last stage of the process when banks repossess the homes of delinquent borrowers, fell to 56,124 homes, a 17% plunge from a month earlier and the fewest since March 2008. Such repossessions are off 45% from their September 2010 peak, when more than 102,000 homes were lost to foreclosure. [Read the full article] NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Home building spiked up in November to the strongest level in almost two years, as record-low mortgage rates and a surge in apartment and condo construction lifted activity.Housing starts shot up to an annual rate of 685,000 in the month, up 9.3% from October and 24.3% higher than a year earlier. Building activity easily topped predictions of 627,000 starts economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting.Building permits, a closely-watched reading that is less affected by weather than actual starts, also shot up, rising 5.7% from October and 20.7% from the year before to 681,000 homes annually."By historical standards, homebuilding activity is still very depressed, but at least it appears to be on an established upward trend," said Paul Diggle, property economist at Capital Economics. [Read the full article] Richard M. Kovacevich is the retired Chairman & CEO of Wells Fargo. William M. Isaac is Global Head of Financial Institutions at FTI Consulting and former Chairman of the FDIC. The views expressed are their own.The recession of 2008, precipitated by the collapse of the subprime mortgage bubble, may be officially over, but economic growth remains anemic and is producing virtually no job growth. We must stimulate the moribund housing markets. Yet in the past three years, there has been no progress on the housing front, and Washington policymakers seem bereft of ideas for turning things around.Congress' latest idea is raising mortgage fees charged by Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FMCC, Fortune 500) to pay for the payroll tax extension.It's not clear how increasing fees charged by Fannie and Freddie will encourage the government to wind down these agencies. [Read the full article] 
|