Real Estate and Economic Links

RealtyTimes.com:

* San Francisco Bay Area Ground Zero for National Housing Recovery

Calculated Risk:

* Unofficial Problem Bank List August 27, 2010

Real Estate and Economic Links

The Nation's Housing:

* Lenders won't have to run a second full credit check before closing on mortgage

REO Insider:

* Phoenix home sales hit 15-year low in July

* California foreclosure prevention bill on life support

Calculated Risk:

* Jim the Realtor: "Good time to be a looker"

* Analysis: Bernanke paves the way for QE2

The Federal Reserve Board:

* The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy [Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Speech]

Dr. Housing Bubble:

* Countrywide and Pay Option ARMs on trial – The most toxic mortgage ever invented by mankind is now under trial by the SEC with Countrywide.

Real Estate and Economic Links

American Banker:

* Procrastination on Foreclosures, Now 'Blatant,' May Backfire

The Big Picture:

* Google Trends – A fresh look at search frequency [Economic perspective analysed]

Calculated Risk:

* CoreLogic: 11 Million U.S. Properties with Negative Equity in Q2

* MBA Q2 2010: 14.42% of Mortgage Loans Delinquent or in Foreclosure

Market Watch:

* Foreclosure inventory down, new delinquencies up

Bloomberg:

* Savers Pay U.S. Banks to Keep Cash as Rates Dip, Fees Multiply

* WaMu Will Face Trial in November Over $4 Billion of Low-Ranking Securities

Economist's View:

* Does the Recovery Depend on Housing?

* Inequality and the High-End Bush Tax Cuts

HousingWire.com:

* 'Overwhelming Supply' Affecting Housing Market: Radar Logic

* Roubini on the risks of a double-dip this year

CNN Money:

* Housing's a wreck. Builders rally. Huh?

* Say goodbye to the McMansion

FEDERAL HOUSING FINANCE AGENCY:

* House Prices Rise in Second Quarter

Real Estate and Economic Links

Calculated Risk:

* Home Sales: Distressing Gap

* New Home Sales decline to Record Low in July

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development:

* NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN JULY 2010 [Actual PDF report]

Naked Capitalism:

* Guest Post: Existing Home Sales Horrendous – So, Why Are Housing Stocks Moving Higher?

NASDAQ:

* UPDATE: Builder Toll Brothers Posts First Profit Since 2007

Mortgage Bankers Association:

*Mortgage Refinance Applications Continue to Increase as Rates Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Real Estate and Economic Links

Zillow Blog:

* Tyler Perry Buys Georgia Mansion for $7.6 Million

Lanser on Real Estate:

* Multi-family construction at 23-year low

The Baseline Scenario:

* Housing in Ten Words [Interesting comments to read as well]

Calculated Risk:

* More Negative News Flow Coming

* Existing Home Inventory decreases 1.9% Year-over-Year

* Existing Home Sales lowest since 1996, 12.5 months of supply

WSJ Blogs:

* Moody’s: Odds of a Double Dip Increasing, Prices Could Fall 20%

HousingWire.com:

* Housing's Second Leg Down

Realty Times:

* Vacation Rental Owners' Hard Lesson from the Gulf Oil Disaster

* Real Estate Outlook: Fannie Forecast

Real Estate and Economic Links

Real Estate Channel:

* Will Growing Rental Trends Undermine U.S. Home Sales?

CNN Money:

* The latest real estate rip-off?

Lanser on Real Estate:

* $70,670 needed for starter home

Housing Doom:

* 15 Reasons Housing Is Going From Bad To Worse

Calculated Risk:

* Lawler: Existing Home Sales: “Consensus” vs. Likely

* Chicago Fed: Economic activity rebounded in July

Econobrowser:

* Will the Fed do more?

CNBC's Realty Check [Courtesy of Patrick.net]:

* Housing Double Dip Is Not Just Tax Credit Hangover

MISH'S Global Economic Trend Analysis:

* Benevolence by JPMorgan? "JPMorgan Offers us a Chance to Refinance at 4% with No Closing Costs" What's Going On?

BlackBerry Storm It Is ...

After obsessive and excessive back and forth, the Realty Buzz has upgraded existing BlackBerries to the BlackBerry Storm. Yes, we did eye the iPhone 3G. In fact, we gave the iPhone a test run. It was nice but, in short, we had concerns with the AT&T network (already being on the Verizon network and having great voice / data service), price points were considerably higher for the iPhone itself while data plans and voice costs were similar between both carriers, and (most importantly) the immediate receipt of emails on the BlackBerry was too much to pass on.

In brief, the screen real estate on the BlackBerry Storm is wonderful. We like "clicking" the keyboard less touch screen (definitely a matter of opinion though as plenty of reviews can't stand this feature). The operating system is considerably buggy (to be expected with a first generation phone). Leaked OS's provide for considerable improvements from what Verizon currently has loaded on their Storms (.75). We are running leaked OS (.113) which is rumored to be the next "official" OS release from Verizon. Not a perfect OS by any stretch but SIGNIFICANTLY better than (.75).

Much more to come in future posts as we begin to discover the limitations and possibilities of this phone ...

Are you a Storm user?