Leading indicators jump 1.4%, topping estimates

[Nbadan]

We can pretend all the underwater mortgages represent only paper losses, but the loss of equity can have significant financial consequences short of default.

Equity can be made up, homes are to live in not investments, besides banks like BOA are already reducing their exposure to home equity losses by withdrawaling people's access to their equity...

[2centsworth]

Housing has borrowed from 1 to 2 year demand incentiving purchases today with tax credits.

In addition, all them short-sales are going to preclude those sellers from getting financing for the next 2 years. Top that with FHA tightening this summer, so I'm looking for a really tough real estate market over the next 12 to 24 months.

[coyotes_geek]

Depends on your market, in San Antonio they are making a slow to moderate growth, but there is a lot of room for future growth when you see what you can get in SA compared to other parts of the country..

The problem the democrats have though is that stabilized home prices in states like Texas aren't going to help them. Same goes for unemployment. The recovery is not going to affect all 50 states equally. Generally speaking, the red states are faring better than the blue states and that's going to make it harder for the democrats to point to the unemployment rate and home prices and say "look how good a job we're doing".

[coyotes_geek]

Housing has borrowed from 1 to 2 year demand incentiving purchases today with tax credits.

In addition, all them short-sales are going to preclude those sellers from getting financing for the next 2 years. Top that with FHA tightening this summer, so I'm looking for a really tough real estate market over the next 12 to 24 months.

Good point. I also heard some real estate expert on the radio during my morning commute talking about how there are still a lot of people getting into adjustable rate mortgages and how they're all going to get hammered 3 to 5 years from now. Tough times ahead.

[boutons_deux]

Dems weren't going to win the blue-state-subsidized red-states anyway.

[Winehole23]

Real estate market interventions certainly don't help home buyers who would be better off with a natural drop in prices. They don't help homeowners who would be better off having some idea when the value of their house bottoms out. They might provide a brief advantage to home sellers who are looking to unload an asset they know is about to take another swan dive; but you know, Goldman Sachs is getting sued for that kind of thing right now.

http://reason.com/blog/2010/04/21/sh...jacked-up-pric

[RandomGuy]

It looks the the teebaggers are gonna split the right-wing vote with the Repugs.

They pretty much are republicans.

They will force the GOP to run much, much more conservative candidates, further forcing moderates from voting for them.

"Yay, we have a really motivated base"

"Boo, our really motivated base is losing moderates"

(shrugs)

I really, truly have little idea how it will ultimately turn out, but my gut says that the Tea Party won't quite be as beneficial to the GOP as they seem to hope, due to this mitigating factor.

[RandomGuy]

Good point. I also heard some real estate expert on the radio during my morning commute talking about how there are still a lot of people getting into adjustable rate mortgages and how they're all going to get hammered 3 to 5 years from now. Tough times ahead.

A lot of people who got those ARMs 3 to 5 years ago are just now starting to get hammered now.

Don't expect the drumbeat of foreclosures to abate.

The suck thing is that a lot of bondholders are suddenly going to find themselves owning rapidly decaying, abandoned homes, and in the position of having to pay property taxes and other unexpected expenses for those houses.