30-year mortgage rates rise above 6%

I am not planning to buy a house but if I were, I would consider buying it soon.
Even though the housing market is still too hot, the long-term mortgage rate is still at a multi-decade low. So for homeowners instead of speculators, it's still a good time to lock in for loan.
30-year mortgage rates rise above 6% - The Boston Globe

Craigslist "Reduced" at 235

Currently there are 235 "Reduced" listings on Craigslist

Long Term Rates on Rise

The current 6-month high set for the 30-year mortgage rate is no surprise to me
USATODAY.com - 30-year mortgage rate highest since April
In fact, I have been short on this ETF iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treas Bond (TLT) for quite some time. And I suspect we are seeing just the beginning of a profound trend of rising long-term rates. A couple of good indicators include

• Fed has reintroduced the 30-year treasuries
• Long term financial committment required for recontructions from the natural disasters like Katrina. Besides the 34 billions of bonds issued since 1995 needs bailout, $60 billion in new debt also lacks government guarantee.
  

• Needs for improvements on other infrastructures

Bill Gross

Bill Gross in his PIMCO Bonds - IO October 2005: "Investment Outlook" describe the downturn in housing market to be "99% inevitable"
Let me state categorically that the above sequence is barely questionable, almost inevitable, 99% unavoidable, and in modern parlance - “slam-dunk.” In so saying, I hope I am not being unkind to those of you who think otherwise - I’m trying to do you a favor!

First Crack in Bubble?

First Crack in the Housing Bubble ... And Everyone Missed It
The median price of a home fell in July by a whopping 7.2%
I confirmed these figures from economagic.com and here is a 5 year chart generated from the same data.















There is a widely published number of $218,000, which is supposed to be the July median sale price of existing homes, and more importantly, that's a new record high and an increase from last year.

Do not know why the two sets of numbers are so different.

Housing Prices Slowing

New York Times is running a story on slowing housing prices
Slowing Is Seen in Housing Prices in Hot Markets

In Manhattan, the average sales price fell almost 13 percent.... The amount of time it took to sell a home was also up 30.4 percent over the same period.

For-sale listings have also swelled throughout California, according to the California Association of Realtors. In the San Francisco Bay area, they have increased 16 percent in the last year, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage said.

New York Post has a similar one
Real Estate in Bubble Trouble

In the Prudential Douglas Elliman report, which covers sales of all firms in New York City, the average price of a Manhattan apartment — including co-ops and condos — dropped 12.7 percent from $1.32 million in the second quarter to $1.15 million.

In the luxury apartment market — defined as the top 10 percent of transaction prices — the number plunged 26 percent from $5.2 million to $3.8 million in the three-month period.

How to Make Newborns Cry

For all of those who do not have a trust fund to inherit. This is how they make newborns cry these days

Kiyosaki Ponders Inevitable Bust

Author of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", Robert Kiyosaki, thinks the bust in the current housing market is inevitable.

In his article, All Booms Bust: Making Myself Clear, he says
"Do I still expect a bust? The answer is "yes." In fact I am hoping for one so I can buy more real estate. "
His advice to other real-estate investors is
"Please don’t get caught in a flip that flops or use your house as an ATM machine, borrowing out the new found and inflated equity in your property."

Bankruptcy Rush

These are the news on the bankruptcy rush happening around the nation

BostonHerald.com - Business News: Bankruptcy rush blamed on change in law
"The number of people filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Massachusetts during the three-month period ending June 30 jumped dramatically to 5,256, up 25.3 percent from the same period last year, according to data released yesterday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts."

The Arizona Republic - State residents rush to file Chapter 7 before tougher law
Filings for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, which allows consumers and businesses to liquidate most debts, climbed 39.2 percent in August compared with filings in August 2004, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court District of Arizona.

ToledoBlade.com (Ohio) - Bankruptcy filings 2nd-highest ever
The 1,314 filings in August, up 48 percent from the same month a year ago, bring the year-to-date total to 9,011, enough to rank as the third highest year ever, with four months to go.

Invest in Real Estate

You can now be an investor in real estate with no money. How ingenious!!
InvestRealEstate.com Rolls Out Zero-Down Investor Loans
"Along with zero-down mortgages on second homes and investment properties, investors whose credit scores are high enough can qualify for loans with no income, asset or job verification. Charter Funding also offers 1.325% Super Cash Flow loans to investors who desire the lowest possible monthly payment."

God Provides Zero-Down Loans

Columbus Dispatch is running a story
Loophole fuels zero-down mortgages
"Homebuilders across the country, including Dominion Homes, have found a way around a federal law barring sellers from giving money directly to buyers for a down payment.

They route the money through charities such as the Nehemiah Corp. of America, a faith-based group in California."

"In 2002, HUD updated an earlier study of 2,261 Nehemiah-assisted mortgages in Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and Sacramento and Stockton, Calif. Researchers documented a 19.4 percent default rate among those loans.

Customers who bought a house without Nehemiah’s help had a default rate of half that level."