Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1410.0 | -2.6 | -0.18% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 2486.0 | -15.2 | -0.61% |
| Oil (WTI) | 104.53 | -0.7 | -0.67% |
| LIBOR | 0.4692 | 0.001 | 0.21% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 78.934 | 0.114 | 0.14% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 2.16% | -0.02% | |
| RPX Composite Real Estate Index | 170.63 | 0.1 |
Equity markets are slightly lower this morning on no major news. Bonds are up half a point and MBS are up about 1/4 of a point. After spiking to 2.38%, the 10 year bond has been slowly rallying, with yields back to 2.16%.
Regulators are trying to figure out how to apply some of the terms of the landmark $25 billion settlement to other financial firms. Iowa AG Patrick Madigan fires a shot across the bow of servicers: “Loan servicing has been a mess for the past four of rive years. Reforming that industry is very important and very challenging.” He goes on further to say that it isn’t only the servicer / borrower relationship that he is focused on, it is also the servicer / MBS investor. Of course this helps explain why you can’t give away MSRs right now. Regulators are going after another 8 banks – SunTrust, US Bancorp, PNC, EverBank, GOldman, OneWest, MetLife, and HSBC.
The $25 billion settlement included a foreclosure moratorium which kept a lot of property off the market. They are about to be released, and RealtyTrac estimates that prices could drop as much as 10 percent. Moody’s estimates sales of REO will probably rise 25% this year. A lot of these properties could be 100% losses. Interesting statistic from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: Foreclosures held less than a year lose about 35%. After two years, the loss is close to 60%.
The NYT has yet another piece on institutional investors buying REOs and turning them into rentals.
The markets will be looking to the release of the FOMC meeting minutes for more clues into QEIII and what replaces Operation Twist. They should be released around 2:00 – 2:15 EST.
Filed under: Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
They are about to be released, and RealtyTrac estimates that prices could drop as much as 10 percent
Local market prices? National single family home average? What?
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Mark, I just read in the local paper that the moratorium is over for foreclosures as part of the mortgage settlement and now a glut of foreclosures will hit the real estate market. So I’m assuming the 10% is a local issue, wherever the foreclosures are, like CA. Oh Happy Days.
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Hi Stranger!
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@Mark, the article didn’t say or link to the RealtyTrac numbers, so I don’t know.
There is a lot of institutional investor demand for foreclosed properties to turn into rentals, so that 10% decline sounds high to me.
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Hi, NoVA. What’s happening on the East Coast? We’re finally starting to warm up here after a couple of months of gloomy weather. I’m ready for a swim.
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We’ve had great weather as of late. chilly mornings and mid-60s during the day. Tourist season is starting in DC. Cherry blossoms bloomed early and all the cars are coated in yellow/green pollen.
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” There is a lot of institutional investor demand for foreclosed properties to turn into rentals, so that 10% decline sounds high to me.”
Buying up foreclosures for rentals looks like a good strategy right now, at least in markets where employment is stable or growing. I question that strategy in overbuilt markets that have limited local employment opportunities.
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That 10% will probably be here in FL and Tampa specifically.
“Once again, Tampa Bay has a front seat on the foreclosure train.
The number of bay area properties receiving a notice of default, scheduled auction or bank repossession jumped nearly 38 percent from January to February, according to a RealtyTrac report released today.
Year over year, the jump was a nation-leading 64 percent; Miami placed second with 53 percent. ”
Foreclosures in Tampa
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Worth a read for those who haven’t seen it:
“An 11-year-old’s solution to the euro crisis
Posted by Suzy Khimm at 10:40 AM ET, 04/03/2012”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/an-11-year-olds-solution-to-the-euro-crisis/2012/04/03/gIQAvvc3sS_blog.html
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http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/04/02/jobs-act-jeopardizes-safety-net-for-investors/?nl=business&emc=edit_dlbkam_20120403
I think Sorkin is correct. Stripping blue sky regs so that anyone can raise money over the internet is like inviting Nigerian bank scammers for tea and expecting the silverware to be safe.
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Interesting story about George Zimmerman. It paints a more complex picture of him if true.
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2012/04/daniel-zimmerman/quote-of-the-day-narrative-destroying-edition/
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David Brooks today in the NYT:
“Op-Ed Columnist
Respect the Future
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: April 2, 2012
Last fall I asked readers over 70 to send me “Life Reports” — essays evaluating their own lives. Charles Darwin Snelling responded with a remarkable 5,000-word reflection.
Snelling was a successful entrepreneur who spent decades serving his community. He was redeemed, he reported, six years ago when his beloved wife, Adrienne, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. “She took care of me in every possible way she could for 55 years. The last six years have been my turn,” Snelling wrote.”
…
“On March 29, less than four months after we published his essay online, Snelling killed his wife and then himself. ”
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Snelling killed his wife and then himself
Wow, what a sad story. I’ve never been in favor of hastening death but after working with hospice for so many years I can appreciate the burden on loved ones and the pain of watching the dwindling connections we have to those we love the most. I’ve never really been sick before, not seriously, but recently I became quite ill and now have an entirely new perspective from both the patient’s standpoint and the caretakers’, something I’m still processing. Of course now that I’m feeling better I’m pretty happy no one put me out of my misery.
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jnc:
David Brooks today in the NYT:
Thanks for the link. I’m guessing that Snelling’s essay was at least in part an effort to convince himself. Events seem to suggest he failed to do so. Which, based on my own experience, is pretty understandable.
lms:
Of course now that I’m feeling better I’m pretty happy no one put me out of my misery.
Me too!
But I think one of the most psychologically debilitating things about AZ with regard to caretakers is the utter futility, the knowledge that there really is no light at the end of the tunnel, and that next week will almost certainly be worse than this week. It’s a wonder, I think, that we don’t hear more stories like that of the Snellings.
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Glad your better Lms!
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Thanks McWing
Scott, I’ve found that most people really want to take care of their loved ones and are even willing to make enormous sacrifices, but caring for an AZ patient, in particular, requires enormous patience and a support network that really needs to keep growing as the disease progresses. Not everyone’s desire matches their abilities.
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lms:
Not everyone’s desire matches their abilities.
That is certainly true. The sustained effort required can be mind-boggling.
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lms:
On a lighter note, I’ve also thought that experiences with AZ are ripe for a comedy show, if it could be done with the proper degree of sensitivity. I was with my mother in the emergency room a couple weeks ago (she’d fallen and cut her head) and the admitting nurse was getting information, but my mom, in her confused condition, was unable to answer any question about anything, so my dad and I had to provide all the info. Then the nurse finally turned to my mom and asked “Do you know where you are?” My mother pondered it for about 30 seconds, and you could tell she was really trying to come up with a sensible answer. Finally she said, in sharply irritated tone, “I’m right here.”
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Scott
I’m sure there are so many endearing and comical stories similar to that one. It could be wonderfully funny. I live with a natural comedian and he would have a field day with some of that. We believe in humor around here. My grandmother had a stroke in her sixties and she and my grandfather lived with us for a couple of years. She used to say the funniest, out of character things, and the dinner table suddenly became the comedy hour at our house. Poor thing never really knew what we were laughing at but she seemed to get a kick out of it anyway.
One day while I was sick I was trying to get a little work done and all of a sudden I barfed all over my keyboard. My husband thought that was the funniest thing he’d ever seen and proceeded to run it under water at the kitchen sink knowing full well it was a goner. He then refused to buy me a new one for a few days to keep me in bed.
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The life report that he wrote in response to Brooks is worth reading for those who didn’t follow the link from Brooks’ article itself.
http://brooks.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/07/the-life-report-charles-darwin-snelling/
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Anyone know if the passive actively loss limitations on rental properties changed for this year? my tax software is not giving me the answer 1) that I’d like and 2) that I thought it would
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