Anyone who says the economy is on the upswing is full of it. Contrary to what I previously believed, it would appear that the economy will remain in the toilet for quite some time. And all this talk about the lowest mortgage rates in decades is BS. What difference does it make if the interest rates are down; banks aren’t issuing loans!
Millions of people are currently unemployed or have had drastic salary cuts. And most of those fortunate enough to still have a job who haven’t had their income reduced more than likely have not had a significant pay raise in years, while over the same period of time the cost of living has soared!
And by the way, all of this talk about the Making Homes Affordable Program by Barack Obama is a farce, and I’m making this statement from experience. I started the loan modification process with Chase Bank on July 14, 2009, after having had my salary significantly reduced a number of months prior. To summarize, after repeatedly sending in the requested documentation (some of which was requested time and time again for over a year) and making weekly calls to the bank for again, over a year, I was finally informed (via telephone) on August 20, 2010 that I had been declined. Additionally, my mortgage principal balance was never reduced, even though I am $100,000 upside down on the property. Yet supposedly the Obama administration was working with banks to lower balances on mortgages to correspond with reduced property values.
I pity anyone working with Chase Bank on a loan modification. This is the absolute worst banking institution on the planet. The fact that the Obama administration allows this and other banks to foreclose on properties and have decent individuals lose their homes due to the economic times is reprehensible, especially since these same banks have received billions of dollars in assistance from the federal government.
Bottom line: the economy is in shambles; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. And as is generally the case, the rich get richer and the poor poorer, especially during times such as these. Yet worst of all, our government, the same government which relentlessly demands our tax dollars, couldn’t care less about us as individual or our state of being. TGO
Refer to story below. Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Sales of previously occupied homes plunged last month to the lowest level in 15 years, despite the lowest mortgage rates in decades and bargain prices in many areas.
July’s sales fell by more than 27 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.83 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. It was the largest monthly drop on records dating back to 1968, and sharp declines were recorded in all regions of the country.
Sales were particularly weak among homes priced in the lower to middle ranges. For example, in the Midwest, homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000 tumbled nearly 47 percent.
As sales have slowed, the inventory of unsold homes on the market grew to nearly 4 million in July. That’s a 12.5 month supply at the current sales pace, the highest level in more than a decade. It compares with a healthy level of about six months.
One reason the market is hurting is that buyers and sellers are in a standoff over prices. Many sellers are reluctant to lower their prices. And buyers are hesitating because they think home prices haven’t bottomed out.
“It really is a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Aaron Zapata, a real estate agent in Brea, Calif. “If all buyers perceive that home prices are coming down, then they will stop making offers — and home prices will come down.”
The housing market is also being hampered by the weakening economic recovery. Unemployment remains stuck at 9.5 percent and many potential buyers worry they might not have a job to pay the mortgage.
Prices have fallen in part because foreclosures are running about 10 times higher than before the housing bust. Though the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has sunk to 4.42 percent, many people can’t qualify because banks have tightened their lending standards.
Home sales picked up in the spring when the government was offering tax credits. But the tax credits expired on April 30 and the market has been hobbled since.
The drop in July’s sales was led by 35 percent plunge in the Midwest. Sales were down 30 percent in the Northeast, 25 percent in the West and 23 percent in the South.
The median sale price was $182,600, up 0.7 percent from a year ago, but down 0.2 percent from June.
