by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
Home prices are still 28% or more from their peak in April of 2006, according to the HPI (Home Price Index) of San Francisco-based CoreLogic. However, prices in some states are showing a modest increase over the past four months.
Of the major metro areas, the most significant improvement [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
The new home building market is showing no improvement. “The guys who were hoarding cash are now showing up to buy finished land. There still is no economic reason to buy raw land, because finished land is cheaper than the cost of improving raw land, even if you [...]

The economy is always about the numbers and this week it’s about home mortgages.

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
Wonder why there are fewer ads promoting new homes for sale? Or, why more homebuilders are going out of business? The reason is the same all across the country; no one is buying new construction. According to the Greater Chicago Market Report, a 35-year old cooperative activity report [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
The word from the construction trades is all bad. Previous forecasts of a summer recovery have simply not panned out. The reason, the banks not lending and jobs continue to dry up and commercial construction projections continue to worsen.
Most building trades contractors are reporting that they have no [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
Home builders are going into their third year of sales drought, with no rain on the horizon. When the entry level tax incentives expired, the market died.
Raw land builders have been holding is virtually worthless. Out-of-pocket costs for preparing it for construction is greater than a fire sale [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
Over the past 12 months home values, not including distressed sales, rose in eight states by 2.5% or more; 12 states saw increases of less than 2.5%. This left 30 states with declines. Five states took hits of 5% to 10%, the rest were down by 5% or [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
About the only place to find loans is through government insured programs from HUD. As a direct lender through our correspondent, we are seeing several problems. First, the backup at the regional HUD offices is absolutely staggering. Refinance loans that normally would have processed in 90-120 days in [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
There is a buzz on the street that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be “going away.” We do not think that should happen. Here’s why.
Are there problems with these agencies? Yes. But the gains for the country in fixing them seem to greatly out weigh eliminating them. [...]

by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt
Municipalities The current recession has had an enormous impact on local municipalities. Local governments traditionally count on revenue from impact fees for residential and commercial real estate projects that are simply not happening. They also are getting hurt badly by reduced retail sales taxes as stores go out [...]