KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Tuesday January 31 2017 Housing and Economic stories

Monday, January 30, 2017

Tuesday January 31 2017 Housing and Economic stories

Uh-oh! Americans Are Flipping Houses Like It's 2006 – (www.wallstreetexaminer.com) Yes, Americans are “flipping” homes again, just like in 2006. The steps involved in “flipping are: 1) buy a house, 2) apply a fresh coat of paint, 3) trim some bushes, and then 4) resell the home at a profit. According to Trulia, investors flipping homes account for the largest share of US housing sales since … 2006. What do these cities have in common? Look at the housing bubble peak of 2005-2006. It looks like a repeat of the housing bubble (except for Dallas).

ECB’s Insider Connections Under Scrutiny Again - (www.wolfstreet.com) Just months after chastising former European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for accepting an “advisory” role with Goldman Sachs, EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has a new job on her hands: investigating the close ties ECB President Mario Draghi and aides have with private banks. The inquiry, launched after a complaint lodged by the NGO Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), will delve into Draghi’s membership of the Group of Thirty, a secretive forum of influential finance executives, academics, and policy makers. “CEO research has exposed a severe lack of critical distance between the ECB’s decision-making bodies and corporate bankers in the G30,” the NGO said. “Our study shows that high-level employees of the ECB are far too close to the representatives of the banks they supervise and that the information they transmit at the G30 meetings is out of control,” asserted Kenneth Haar, a member of CEO.

Noah Ravenscroft, former Quicken Loans exec, charged with killing wife – (www.theoaklandpress.com) A Commerce Township man and former Quicken Loans executive is jailed without bond after being charged in his wife’s brutal slaying. Noah Ravenscroft, 36, was arraigned on a charge of first-degree premeditated murder via video after being entered into Oakland County Jail inmate records tied to the Monday, Jan. 23 stabbing death of his wife, Kristy. Bond was denied for Ravenscroft, who was charged while in the hospital. A probable cause hearing in his case is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. on Feb. 1, and a tentative exam date was set for 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 8.

New Homes Sales Fall 10.37% In December, Back To 1991 Levels – (www.wallstreetexaminer.com) Great success! US new home sales are now at 1991 levels! US home sales for December 2016 fell 10.37 from November to December while adding 536 thousand units SAAR. The midwest crashed by 40% while the northeast grew at 50%. Bear in mind that the base is small for new home sales in both the northeast and midwest. Both the south and the west fell around 9%. New home sales back to only 1991 levels. One reason that new home sales are so lame? The under 620 credit crowd have essentially vanished from the housing market for new homes.

Sales of New U.S. Homes at 10-Month Low as Mortgage Rates Jump - (www.bloomberg.com) Purchases of new U.S. homes fell in December to a 10-month low, suggesting the post-election jump in mortgage rates pushed out potential buyers. Single-family house sales dropped 10.4 percent, the most in almost two years, to a 536,000 annualized pace, Commerce Department data showed Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey was for 588,000. The figures indicate that the increase in mortgage rates curbed momentum in the housing market after steady job gains and historically low borrowing costs helped push full-year sales to the highest since 2007. Stricter lending standards also remain a hurdle for buyers this year.

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