Home-Purchase Index Plunges
So much for the Housing Rebound:
“Mortgage applications to purchase homes in the U.S. plunged last week to the lowest level in almost nine years as Americans waited for the outcome of deliberations to extend a government tax credit.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to buy a house dropped 12 percent in the week ended Nov. 6 to 220.9, the lowest level since Dec. 2000. The group’s refinancing gauge rose 11 percent as interest rates decreased, pushing the overall index up 3.2 percent.
The drop in buying plans points to the risk that the recent stabilization in housing will unravel without government help. In a bid to sustain the recovery, Congress passed and the administration signed a bill last week to extend jobless benefits and incentives for first-time homebuyers, adding a provision that also made funds available to current owners.”
If stabilization comes only through government subsidies and artificially propped up home prices, is it truly stabilization?
>
Source:
Home-Purchase Index in U.S. Plunges to Lowest Level Since 2000
Bob Willis
Bloomberg, Nov. 12 2009
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1_pyNFw6mbg&pos=5
November 13th, 2009 at 6:29 am
Winter is their “slow” season, typically.
November 13th, 2009 at 7:11 am
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33905331
Weak Dollar Adding $20 to Oil: Exxon CEO
…If we, of the sheeple persuasion looked at this, we’d see where property taxes, income taxes, oil, commodities, and wages are heading. It might be a good time to step back from the government-led attack on empty houses and let them sit for awhile…
…just a thought.
B in T
November 13th, 2009 at 7:16 am
these types of surprises, along with a U$D, might pay the sales tax on your AM ration of SBUX..
http://www.earthodyssey.com/sales_tax.html#pullingTool1
http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=cost+of+starbucks+coffee
for the less mathematically gifted, among us, 0+1=1
November 13th, 2009 at 7:31 am
The Boston Globe thinks that perhaps if you worked in government you might be better able to afford a house:
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/melrose/news/top_100_melrose_city_salaries/
…and of course, pensions……
November 13th, 2009 at 7:32 am
If stabilization comes only through government subsidies and artificially propped up home prices, is it truly stabilization?
————
Of course. The USSR stabilized its economy for longer than an individual could stay solvent but then the wall suddenly came down.
The question is not about the stability, it’s about future growth. Our system is priced for growth, and if there is no growth, watch out.
November 13th, 2009 at 7:44 am
…growth indeed. George Bush was right: there’s a war going on, get out there and shop.
November 13th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Builders Downsize the Dream Home
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125807017854346243.html?mod=igoogle_wsj_gadgv1&
November 13th, 2009 at 9:34 am
[...] This Week’s Data Weekly mortgage applications fell 11.7%. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/11/home-purchase-index-plunges/ Weekly jobless claims dropped 12,000 versus expectations of a 2,000 [...]
November 14th, 2009 at 8:04 am
If stabilization comes only through government subsidies and artificially propped up home prices, is it truly stabilization?
————
During a period of > 10% unemployment yes – When that number approaches 7% and is falling again, the punch bowl & tax credit will be removed.
I know the fact that the government steps in when necessary, to prop up market failures caused by free market extreemism and deregulation – drives free market extreemists out of thier minds.
Sorry guys – this will be the new normal until the unemployment turnaround.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Free Market Extreemist Says:
“I know the fact that the government steps in when necessary, to prop up market failures caused by free market extreemism and deregulation – drives free market extreemists out of thier minds.”
——–
You should try picking up a history book for a change. The government has been “[stepping] in when necessary” to support home ownership and housing prices for the better part of a century. In recent decades, government has only increased its meddling. So I’m not sure where you are getting all this “free market,” “market failures,” and “deregulation” talk.