By EIR

A real estate investment and analysis firm, John Burns Real Estate Consulting, said on May 21 that it is “going public with our concerns” that the national sales information for both new and existing homes, is misleading and covering up a deep plunge of the housing sector. “The housing market has softened much more than is being reported” by the Fed, and the National Association of Realtors (NAR), says JBREC.

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Washington Post - By Kenneth R. Harney

When your credit scores don’t qualify you for the home mortgage you want, where do you turn? That’s an especially timely question now, as lenders tighten underwriting standards for applicants with less than perfect credit.

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By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. banks dramatically tightened their standards for approving residential mortgages in the first quarter, the Federal Reserve said Monday.
In particular, banks made it harder to get subprime residential mortgage loans and nontraditional loans such as interest-only loans, the Fed reported.

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With the cooling of the real estate market, the meltdown of sub-prime loans and over $1 Trillion worth of loans scheduled to reset in 2007, the number of homeowners that find themselves in foreclosure has skyrocketed.

As real estate professionals we are seeing more and more people in foreclosure that are upside down in their properties. They owe more on their loans than the property is worth. Unfortunately, many agents today do not know how to help these people. Some may have heard about a short sale but don’t have the expertise to successfully complete one. Most agents struggle with short sales because they have not learned how to effectively manage the process.
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THE CUP IS HALF FULL – NOT HALF EMPTY
by Lance Churchill

Thoughts on the Sub-Prime Mortgage Market Crises

You can’t turn on your computer, watch TV or read a newspaper without seeing a story about the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the irresponsible lending practices that are causing a massive increase in foreclosures nationwide. Studies now estimate that two out of ten sub-prime mortgages will end up in foreclosure. However, when I read that of the 20% of the sub-prime mortgages will end up in foreclosure that means that 80% of the sub-prime borrowers received the chance of realizing the American dream of homeownership that they might not otherwise have had. To me, that’s an 80% success rate. Not bad.

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Long criticized as too upbeat, Realtors’ departing economist now sees recession

Chicago Tribune
BY MARY UMBERGER

On his way out the door, the housing industry’s self-described “cheerleader” is making one last economic forecast — a sober one at that.

“We’re in a real estate recession,” said David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, who surprised many this week when he announced he would leave the Chicago-based trade group on May 19.

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by Los Angeles Times
Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Strickland is a postman of bad news, delivering eviction notices in the western stretch of San Bernardino County.
He is armed with a Glock .45, which he seldom draws, and Scotch tape, which he goes through in prodigious amounts while posting court orders on doors and windows.

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