Housing Market
I bet big builders like Lennar Corp., Fort Worth-based D.R. Horton, and Pulte Homes are breathing a collective sigh of relief. According to a report from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, housing starts are up — way up, as a matter of fact — from November 2011. According…
Read MoreI hate to put a damper on your holiday week, but hope you saw this item: the agency responsible for guaranteeing most of our housing loans, may need a bailout: FHA. The agency doesn’t make loans, but it backs lenders if borrowers stop paying, like a nice parent or co-signee. With this guarantee in place,…
Read MoreTo a real estate junkie like me, this was almost as exciting as getting a new Porsche: People are starting to get wise about Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller report. Did you notice that numbers came out this week, Monday in fact, the news was pretty bleak IN SOME LOCALES, but no one (here, at least) freaked out? Then the…
Read MoreJust to show you how crucial housing and home building remains to the nation’s economic recovery, Fed Chairman Ben Bernake rubbed shoulders (and used hand gestures) with Bob the Builders last week in Orlando. His talk was the hottest ticket in town at the 2012 National Association of Home Builders International Builders Show in Orlando. Dallas photographer…
Read MoreOh my, on the housing real estate front, his SOTU speech was even more dissappointing than I had anticipated. While President Obama spoke, I was at the rain-drenched McFarlin Auditorium at SMU hearing out Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short and his latest book I am dying to devour, Boomerang. I thought it ironic…
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