Quoted:
Thursday, January 21st, 2010, 3:08 pm

National housing prices dropped 32% from the peak in Q206 to trough in Q109 and rebounded 6.3% by the end of 2009, according to a Standard & Poor’s (S&P)/Case-Shiller home price index annual report.

Quoted: The combined vacancy rate for the Pioneer Square, Financial District, Denny Regrade, Lake Union and Queen Anne office submarkets soared to 18.9 percent, marking seven straight quarters of increasing vacancy since early 2008.

HUD will allow buyers using government-backed FHA loans to begin buying bank-owned, foreclosed properties (REO) soon. I think they are doing this because there are way too many homes in that segment of the market that that FHA borrowers can't get financing for. REO homes tend to attract vandals, so having someone in the home is good for the banks, too.

Quoted: The waiver will take effect on February 1, 2010 and remain available for one year. It will be subject to extension or withdrawal by the ...

Quoted: A Greenwood man is trying to keep a peat bog from consuming his home. The City of Seattle is trying to prevent further damage from the settling of ground all over town.

Perhaps the money the US Treasury lent out wasn't such a bad investment after-all.

Quoted: The US Treasury Department expects profits of at least $19bn from bank investment programs under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), according to market commentary Wednesday by the American Bankers Association (ABA). Originally projected to cost $76bn according to the ABA, the outlook for TARP bank programs was updated in December in anticipation of actual profits. ABA noted the government already earned a “significant” average 14% on TARP investments that have been repaid so far. The Treasury has earned $15bn – $10.9bn in interest in dividends on $247bn of investments in 700 banks, plus $4bn from warrant repurchases and auctions – and expects profits of at least $19bn over the long term.

Quoted: Economic activity remains low, but continued modest improvements are more geographically widespread, the 12 Federal Reserve Districts report in the first Beige Book of 2010.

Quoted: Closed sales more than doubled year over year in five of the 29 areas into which the listing service divides King County. Three were on the Eastside: Kirkland, Redmond and West Bellevue/Medina. The Eastside's surge actually began in the fall, after a summer in which sales there stayed relatively flat compared with 2008 while sales began climbing in more affordable South King County and Seattle.

Although demand is still high for a good deal, like many short sales are, there is still not enough staff or good industry-standard policies in place to handle them efficiently.

Quoted: "There is a lot going on all at one time," said E. Robert Levy, the executive director of the New Jersey Mortgage Bankers Association. "It’s a very, very difficult problem no matter how you deal with it." Nationwide, the number of short sales increased by 22.4 percent to 30,766 in the third quarter of 2009, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

An artificial bolstering of the housing market via homebuyer credits, along with the very negative outlook of the options ARM mortgage market (the bulk of which will reset later this year and in 2011) are what make me most uncertain about a quick and smooth recovery.

Quoted: After an October surge in first-time homebuyers trying to finalize deals before the original deadline for the $8,000 tax credit, the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) index of pending home sales dropped 16% in November.