KeNo's Housing and Economic Portal: Wednesday March 2 Housing and Economic stories

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Wednesday March 2 Housing and Economic stories

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TOP STORIES:

California Implements $2 Billion Loan-Owner Welfare - (www.irvinehousingblog.com) California residents who are unemployed or owe more on their mortgages than what their homes are worth now have four new state programs that will help them stay in their house and current on their mortgage. The California Housing Finance Agency fully implanted the programs under its "Keep Your Home California" initiative, a nearly $2 billion endeavor funded by the U.S. Treasury's Hardest Hit Fund. Alabama recently jump-started a program to distribute its funds from the Treasury HHF. “Our goal is to get the very most out of these federal dollars to assist California families,” said Steven Spears, executive director of CalHFA. “With families struggling through a number of financial hardships and the disruption in the real estate market, these programs will help those in need while stabilizing neighborhoods and communities severely impacted by foreclosures.”

Administration housing proposals draw fire from left - (www.washingtonpost.com) The Obama administration's plan to overhaul the U.S. housing marketdrew fire Friday from some of the president's traditional allies, who argued that proposals in the newly released report could make it too costly for many Americans to buy a home. But while consumer and civil rights groups broke with President Obama over the long-awaited white paper, the plan met with little objection - and even praise - from Republicans, who have pilloried the administration over its housing policies. Senior administration officials offered a series of suggestions for scaling back the federal role in the housing market, which has been on government life-support since the mortgage meltdown three years ago. In the near term, the administration wants to require larger down payments and higher fees for home loans and reduce the number of borrowers getting government-backed loans.

Drop in Ohio foreclosure filings may not be real - (www.dispatch.com) According to data collected by the Ohio Supreme Court, 85,483 foreclosure cases were filed throughout the state last year, a 4percent decline from 2009. Central Ohio reported a slight drop, but much of the decline occurred in northeastern Ohio. Foreclosure filings fell 9percent in Cuyahoga County last year, even though the county continued to lead the state in number of foreclosures. Lorain, Summit and Trumbull counties also reported significant declines. In all, 58 of Ohio's 88 counties had drops in the number of foreclosure filings. But few observers believe the data represent any sort of turnaround. "It's a wonderful number and we should be happy, but we shouldn't expect it to continue," said James Newton, chief economic adviser at Commerce National Bank. "In the final analysis, any improvement will depend on whether people get jobs."

Wall Street: Endless Free Money and No Real Production - (www.zerohedge.com) The Federal Reserve’s actions in combating the Financial Crisis have had dozens if not hundreds of consequences. However, one of the most profound has largely gone unnoticed by all commentators. That consequence of the Fed sending the clear message: incompetence pays. Consider that since the Financial Crisis first hit in mid-2007, the Federal Reserve has pumped TRILLIONS of Dollars into Wall Street. The banks have done what they do best with the money: funnel it into obscene salaries and bonuses. Meanwhile, all of these firms remain bankrupt (thanks to the suspension of accounting principles no one cares), the underlying issues that nearly took down the system remain in place, and savers and other sensible folks have been fleeced due to US Dollar devaluation and future taxpayer obligations.

The Economic Hitmen - How Broken Capitalism Rules The Globe - (www.dailybail.com) VIDEO: The Economic Hitmen - How Broken Capitalism Rules The Globe (Author John Perkins). Highly recommended. Perkins is author of Hood Winked and Confessions Of An Economic Hitman. Wikipedia page - Perkins is a former Chief Economist of the war machine...