Category — News

BLOOMBERG TV reports year end job losses are being revised upward 824,000.

Federal agencies, like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are now engaged in intentional misrepresentation of fact, also known in the private industry as fraud.  Did someone say there is a “trust deficit” between the public and Washington D.C.?

ECONOMISTS SURVEYED by Fortune magazine are critical of Obama’s proposed new financial regulations.

The CRE community should become aware of proposed new regulations and related constructive criticism.  Via Bubble Meter.

APPRAISAL CUTS jumped significantly in September from August.

This isn’t a surprise in a falling commercial market.  This article in the CA Real Estate Journal reviews the CRE market statistics.

THE S&P/CASE-SHILLER home price index for July moved up including San Francisco.

3 Oceans has the story, and a roundup of mortgage market news, including interest rates going up next month.

The upward move in home prices in July is very temporary.  Lower inventory spawned the price increase and seasonal buying.  But lenders are holding thousands of REOs off the market, the Shadow Inventory.

Housing Needs Stabilization

A FEDERAL RESERVE  STUDY PREDICTS long term interest rates may double causing a double dip recession reports the Telegraph.

This is consistent with my prior posts.  Whether this story is true or not, I don’t know.

Should this occur, and long term Treasury interest rates double,  real estate would be plunged into a depression far worse than the 1930s.

Connecting the dots, there seems to be a direct connection between the Stimulus funds not being disbursed and the Treasury’s  reluctance to auction the Treasury bills and notes necessary to finance the Stimulus.  The mainstream media seems to forget,  Treasury does not have the cash to disburse the Stimulus money.  Tax revenues have long since been spent.   The government must first sell Treasury notes and bonds to borrow the money to pay the  Stimulus money authorized by Congress.

Selling an additional $787 billion in Treasuries may well cause  interest rates to double, for example the 10 year T note interest increasing from 3.5% today to 7%.  Fixed rate 30 year mortgage interest rates would increase to 10%.