The prospects for housing

Here's how The Economist sees the outlook for the U.S. housing market:With home prices falling once more, recovery in housing markets could be farther off than anticipated, and residential investment could prove more of a [economic] drag than initially foreseen.They have more he...

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U.S. national debt hits $13 trillion

The U.S. Total Public Debt has hit a new record:The U.S. national debt has passed the $13 trillion mark, according to USDebtClock.org, an independent website that tracks the real-time growth of U.S. revenues and spending.On Tuesday, the national debt stood at $12,995,779,490,444.52, according to the Treasury Department's national debt-tracking website TreasuryDirect.gov.Federal Debt Held by the Public, a better measure of the national debt because...

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S&P/Case-Shiller HPI down 3.2% in Q1

Sorry about the delay in posting this:Home prices fell in the first quarter of 2010 but are still higher than they were a year ago.According to the S&P/Case-Shiller nation-wide index, home prices fell 3.2% quarter-over-quarter but have still managed to climb 2% year-over-year.The index continued to show weakness despite very low mortgage interest rates and tax incentives to encourage home purchases. ..."The housing market may be in better shape than this time last year; but, when you look at recent trends there are signs of some renewed weakening...

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Fortune: Housing not recovering

Fortune Magazine argues that housing isn't really recovering:Americans purchased homes at a surprising clip in April, but don't let that fool you into thinking the housing market is back.Although economists were expecting a month-over-month increase of 5.5%, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that sales of previously owned homes rose an unexpected 7.6%. That continued a yearlong rise in housing activity and marked the highest number of sales recorded since November of last year.It also follows a drumbeat of similarly rosy economic...

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Economic outlook good

The National Association for Business Economics sees good economic growth ahead:The U.S. economy should expand at a solid pace this year and next as consumers increase spending, confident the recession is behind them, a panel of economists said in a survey released Monday.The 46 economists surveyed in the National Association for Business Economics report between April 27 and May 7 predicted U.S. gross domestic product would expand by 3.2% in 2010...

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Fannie Mae to require a second credit check

More signs that Fannie Mae is cracking down on lax lending standards:Beginning June 1, your lender is likely to order a second full credit screening immediately before closing.The last-minute credit report will be designed to find out whether you have obtained — or even shopped for — new debt between the date of your loan application and the closing. If you've made applications for credit of any type — for furnishings and appliances for the new house, a car, landscaping, a home equity line, a new credit card, you name it — the closing could be...

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Diversity growing in the suburbs

A new Brookings Institution report highlights the changes that are taking place in America's suburbs:The idealized vision of suburbia as a homogenous landscape of prosperity built around the nuclear family took another hit over the past decade, as suburbs became home to more poor people, immigrants, minorities, senior citizens and households with no children, according to a Brookings Institution report to be released Sunday.Although the suburbs remain a destination of choice for families with children, nuclear families are outnumbered. Nationwide,...

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Updated blog comment policy

For those who have accounts and log in:As far as I'm concerned, you have complete free speech on this blog, except when it comes to posting link spam. (Note, however, that David is less tolerant of foul language than I am.)For those who choose a consistent username, but don't log in:As far as I'm concerned, you will usually have free speech on this blog, but if you are nasty toward others, post link spam, or I suspect you are either trolling or engaging in sockpuppetry, I may delete your comment.For those who insist on posting as "Anonymous":If...

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Freddie Mac is a mess

Economist Dean Baker suspects Freddie Mac continues to have huge losses because the government is using it to provide a stealth bailout to mortgage lenders:Mr. Baker’s concern that Freddie may be racking up losses by overpaying for mortgages derives from his suspicion that the government might be encouraging it to do so as a way to bolster the operations of mortgage lenders.That would make Fannie’s and Freddie’s mortgage-buying yet another backdoor bailout of the nation’s banks, Mr. Baker said, and could explain the government’s reluctance to include...

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Interview with the CEO of Goldman Sachs

Here's a good long interview with Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, from last week's episode of Fareed Zakaria GPS.Fareed Zakaria GPS airs Sundays on CNN at 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM. The show is highly recommended for anyone interested in government policy and international relations. Zakaria has a PhD in Political Science and is far more knowledgeable than most Washington journalis...

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University of Chicago economics professor Casey Mulligan denies there was a housing bubble

Some economists trip all over themselves to prove that bubbles can't happen.Update: Dean Baker points out more flaws in Professor Mulligan's reasoni...

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Harvard and UPenn economists: Credit market policies didn't cause the housing bubble

Two Harvard economists and one University of Pennsylvania economist say most of what is popularly believed about the growth of the housing bubble isn't true:Contrary to the assertions of many economists and others, the boom and bust in housing over the last decade was not primarily caused by low interest rates, reduced downpayment requirements, or laxer underwriting standards, conclude Edward Glaeser, Joshua Gottlieb, and Joseph Gyourko in “Did Credit Market Policies Cause the Housing Bubble?” a new Policy Brief...“It isn’t that low interest...

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Fannie Mae to tighten ARM and IO lending standards

Fannie Mae is finally moving toward sensible lending standards:Fannie Mae on Friday said it will tighten lending standards on adjustable-rate mortgages and "interest-only" loans that helped fuel the housing bubble and have led to a disproportionate share of losses for the mortgage-finance giant.The changes, which will take effect in September, will require lenders to qualify borrowers based on whether or not they can afford potentially higher payments once adjustable-rate loans reset, and will require much more stringent criteria for interest-only...

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The home buyer tax credit is no more.

Good riddance. CNBC's Diana Olick offers the following comment:Most experts I talk to, including the Realtors' own economist, believe we may see another dip in sales and prices before we are really on the road to recovery....

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Goldman Sachs CEO inverview on CNN

For anyone who's interested, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is being interviewed on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS right now. It re-airs at 1:00 PM ET.Both last week's and this week's episodes dealt almost entirely with financial reform and the financial crisis. Here's last week's episode, which included an interview with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithn...

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