Monday December 6 Housing and Economic stories

KeNosHousingPortal.blogspot.com

TOP STORIES:

China to subsidize food after price spike - (news.yahoo.com) China's government is widening its anti-inflation campaign, Wednesday ordering a crackdown on speculators it accuses of illegally pushing up commodity prices. The order comes as Beijing enforces measures announced last week to cool food prices that soared more than 10 percent in October. Analysts expect Beijing to hike interest rates in coming months to rein in inflation even as Washington and other major developed economies try to shore up lackluster growth. On Monday, the government banned hoarding of oil and coal. "Illegal operators are using swindling, conspiring, price-fixing and hoarding to push up commodity prices," said the Cabinet's National Development and Reform Commission in a statement. Local authorities are ordered to "severely investigate speculative activities and safeguard market and price order," the agency said. Chinese families spend up to half their incomes on food, and communist leaders see inflation as a possible trigger of unrest.

Taking a bath inside the Vegas real estate bubble - (www.lasvegassun.com) In 2004, two years before I bought my house, a website urged real estate investors thusly: “It is important that investors make their investments as soon as possible. This is because Las Vegas is growing and expanding at a scorching pace.” In 2005, one year before I bought my house, Ken Jones of something called the Institute of Real Estate Technologies was — in a document on greatlasvegashomes.com — dismissing fears of a bursting real estate bubble: “However, there is no rationale or fact-based reasoning being put forth to support this fear; just that ‘prices are too high.’ ” In 2006, I bought my house, for a price that was too high, unaware — or too deeply bunkered in denial to see — that the bubble was bursting beneath my feet, beneath my house. In 2007, a year after I bought my house, The New York Times reported on concerns by Countrywide, the mortgage company, that “the housing market might not begin recovering until 2009 because of a decline in house prices that goes beyond anything experienced in decades.” In December 2008, more than two years after I bought my house, the median Las Vegas home price was $189,000, down from $369,000 in 2005, according to greatlasvegashomes.com. In November 2009, more than three years after I bought my house, that figure was $150,000. Note to Countrywide: The housing market hasn’t begun recovering here. Note to Ken Jones of the Institute of Real Estate Technologies: I’d like to show you my mortgage numbers versus my home value and hear again about how you “don’t believe there is a national ‘real estate bubble.’ ” Sir, I submit that, however filled with confidence you were in 2005, you were also filled with something else.

House prices plunge as sellers compete with foreclosures - (www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com) It seems like a race to the bottom for home sellers as they try to remain price-competitive with lenders that are dumping foreclosed homes, according to a survey of the nation’s 50 largest cities by real estate information company Trulia Inc. of San Francisco. According to its figures, 15 major U.S. cities have reached an all-time high for price reductions on home listings. Nationally, price reductions for home listings currently on the market in the U.S. remained flat at 27 percent following four consecutive months of increases, says Trulia. The average reduction also remained flat at 10 percent and the total dollar amount of all reductions increased to $31.5 billion.

Europeans Clash on Bailout - (online.wsj.com) European leaders sparred over whether to commit more funds to rescue struggling euro-zone countries, as financial-market pressure on the region's weakest economies intensified. The European Union's executive arm, the Brussels-based EU Commission, floated a proposal on Wednesday to double the size of Europe's €440 billion ($588 billion) bailout fund for euro-zone governments, but the idea was dismissed by Germany, according to people familiar with the situation. The disagreement between Brussels and Berlin comes amid growing fears that the crisis of investor confidence in euro-zone governments, which has already forced Greece and Ireland to seek international bailouts, could expand sooner or later to Portugal and Spain. Many investors and analysts doubt whether the EU has agreed to supply enough financing to rescue Spain if the country were to lose access to bond markets. Support from Germany, Europe's largest economy and biggest contributor to the EU's main bailout fund, would be essential for any funding increase.

Irish Yields Near Euro-Era High as Margin Requirement Raised - (www.bloomberg.com) Spain led declines in the bonds of the euro region’s most-indebted nations as LCH Clearnet Ltd. increased its margin requirements, or cost of trading, in Irish government securities for the third time this month. Spanish 10-year yields rose for an eighth day even as the nation’s deputy finance minister said the government doesn’t foresee problems tapping markets. Irish 10-year yields were near the highest since before the euro’s 1999 debut as the announcement of a new budget amid European Union-led aid talks failed to reverse investor sentiment. French, Dutch and Italian bonds declined as European Central Bank board member Axel Weber said the regional rescue fund could be ramped up if needed. “Liquidity has been a problem for Irish bonds for about a month and the margin requirements are just another nail in the coffin,” said Peter Chatwell, a fixed-income strategist at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank. “The new way to play the spread-widening trade is through Portugal and Spain.”

OTHER STORIES:

Gold Fever: Pondering The Causes - (www.nytimes.com)

Shanghai Futures Exchange Confirms Margins, Limits Increase - (www.bloomberg.com)

Record Hong Kong IPOs Falter as Stock Sales Postponed - (www.bloomberg.com)

Insider-Trading Case Accelerates With 'Expert'-Firm Arrest - (online.wsj.com)

Sovereign debt woes spark European gold rush - (www.ft.com)

Weber Says EU Rescue Fund Can Be Increased If Needed - (www.bloomberg.com)

China’s PBOC Plans to Strengthen Liquidity Management - (www.bloomberg.com)

Japan’s Deflation Moderates on Tobacco Tax Increase - (www.bloomberg.com)

China's Current-Account Surplus Soars - (online.wsj.com)

PBOC Researcher Calls on U.S. to Sell Gold, People’s Daily Says - (www.bloomberg.com)

Fed Considered Setting Target for Interest Rates on Some Bonds - (www.nytimes.com)

Netflix’s Move Onto the Web Stirs Rivalries - (www.bloomberg.com)