Real Estate

Latest chaos gives U.S. housing policy fresh legs

14 Oct 2010

The foreclosure paperwork mess has shoved America s housing crisis back onto the political stage. For now, Washington s response has been more talk than action. Next year, though, expect a new Congress and the White House to restart the hunt for ways to help homeowners stay put.

Lloyds’ kitchen-sinking starts giving back

11 Oct 2010

The bank is putting a highprofile property developer into administration, triggering cries of foul play. Lloyds can be tough, having marked down its assets aggressively last year. With the bank required to shrink its loan book, other struggling property borrowers should beware.

Foreclosure fiasco will further slow MBS reboot

11 Oct 2010

The private sector needs a renaissance in securitization to get back into U.S. mortgage lending in size. Yet the latest documentation woes add to the list of failures stemming from shortcuts the business took last time round. All must be fixed if the market is to blossom again.

House price plunge may add to UK policy jitters

7 Oct 2010

The 3.6 pct monthly fall in the Halifax house price index looks worse than it is, after rises in recent months. But house prices are likely to slide, and the shocking number may make the government nervous about cuts. Even so, the coalition mustn't be diverted from tough action.

Foreclosure freeze could put banks at home in DC

7 Oct 2010

It s not just JPMorgan and BofA that need fret about evicted borrower probes and Obama s rejection of a bill potentially unfriendly to homeowners. The fallout jeopardizes the whole industry s position on Capitol Hill. Wall Street could easily be put in the crosshairs again soon.

Three reasons U.S. homeowners shouldn’t lose hope

6 Oct 2010

Folks already depressed by the shrunken value of their biggest asset should skip the IMF s missive on the risk of a double dip in property prices. The fund s grim outlook is hard to dispute. But three historic measures now suggest that homeowners can put down the revolver.

It looks nasty for the UK housing market

14 Sep 2010

A bear market in UK residential property is looming. Onethird of the country's estate agents say prices are falling, new mortgage advances are depressed, and firsttime buyers cannot find finance. The British faith in houses as a store of wealth is about to be severely tested.

Arnault makes a small deal of his reputation

13 Sep 2010

The owner of French luxury powerhouse LVMH insists he won't sell his small stake in property website SeLoger to Axel Springer. True, the German publisher's offer may be a bit low. But for Arnault, the fight is about much more than that.

Spain’s housing bubble only half deflated

10 Sep 2010

House prices have held up and are now only 12 pct down from the peak. Volumes in the second quarter were up 25 pct yearonyear. Cheap money and a dash to avoid July's VAT hike explain the surge. But the full force of latent threats to housing's recovery could be felt next year.

Even the good part of Fannie and Freddie is bad

27 Aug 2010

A federal report on the U.S. mortgage giants shows it was guarantees, not portfolios of home loans and securities, which caused the bulk of $226 bln of losses to date. Yet guarantees in some form are a sacred cow in the American mortgage debate. Slaughter shouldn t be ruled out.

U.S. house sales decline brings double dip closer

24 Aug 2010

The plunge in existing home sales in July owes much to the expiry of a home buyers' tax credit. But real house prices are still as high as in 2000, so their tentative recovery is vulnerable to another significant leg down. That in turn could bring a second recessionary downturn.

Government guarantees won’t die with GSEs

18 Aug 2010

Bond guru Bill Gross warned on Tuesday that without government guarantees, only mortgage bonds backed by supersafe loans would interest him. He frets too much. It may be Fannie and Freddie's funeral, but housing support from D.C. will live on. The key question is how much.

Fannie, Freddie in danger of prolonged survival

13 Aug 2010

Whatever the future of U.S. housing finance, the two discredited institutions need to go. But with a key Aug. 17 conference on their future coming in the runup to November elections, common sense and taxpayers interests may once again lose out to political temptation.

UK housing set for overdue correction

10 Aug 2010

Surveyors have found house prices lower for the first time in a year. Sellers who previously held back are emerging while buyers, fearing a worse economy, are wary. The UK's postbubble correction was arrested last year. But a substantial fall in prices still looks likely.

China property crackdown stokes hard-landing worry

5 Aug 2010

Beijing seems serious about curbing property excesses. The banking regulator ordered banks to test the impact of a 50 percent fall in house prices. A sharp drop in price will be hurtful, unless Beijing can pull off a lowcost housing scheme to keep construction going.

U.S. should shun hair-of-the-dog housing plan

4 Aug 2010

One Wall Street idea to boost growth is for the government to loosen rules so millions more Americans can refinance mortgages, thereby freeing up cash for spending. A desperate Washington might be tempted but it's too reminiscent of how the economy first fell into trouble.

U.S. housing finance can work without government

4 Aug 2010

It's close to an article of faith that Uncle Sam's guarantee is needed to ensure mortgage availability. But today's system absolves lenders of responsibility, while the UK example shows the private sector can do the job. The goal should be for D.C. to exit the home loan business.

Further U.S. house price fall may set banks back

27 Jul 2010

The 4.6 pct yearly rise in May's CaseShiller house price index was driven by the Federal homebuyer subsidy. Still up 47.3 pct from 2000, prices look set for a further drop, as jobs are scarce and confidence falling. That will test the limits of last year's bank stress tests.

Commercial property still at risk from bond slump

20 Jul 2010

UK property firm Capital & Regional has extended a 1 bln pound bond, one of several recent workouts in Europe's 150 bln euro CMBS market. But negative equity and conflicts between creditors will complicate future restructurings. A wave of asset sales still looks likely.

Fannie, Freddie stocks at last slip into obscurity

16 Jun 2010

The U.S. mortgage giants will delist from the NYSE under watchdog orders. Both are on intravenous bailouts, yet are still worth around $1 bln each. In the penny stock market, that may change though the government fiction that they are private companies almost certainly won t.