Tim Iacono submits:

Despite the optimism generated by some of the recent real estate market data on home sales and home prices, here comes yet another forecast to dampen that enthusiasm.

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Mr. Crawford, who moved out of the home two years ago, has found three buyers for the property in an effort to get out from under the problem. Each time, Bank of America has blocked the sale, refusing to accept less than it is owed — a short sale, as such deals are known. The first buyer offered $620,000 before walking away early last year. The latest offer is for $465,000.

They can keep this up as long as the government provides a “prop” for them to keep the loans booked at full value. Then the game is about preventing value realization, and racking up fees.

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“California foreclosures are up, and desperate homeowners call entities that advertise with brightly colored placards on light poles at freeway off-ramps. Is it a recipe for disaster in the making?”

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It looks like it going to be a busy year for do-it-yourselfers. A new poll from Consumer Reports reveals that 54 percent of homeowners participating in the poll plan some type of remodeling project during the next 12 months. Sixty-five percent of them plan to do the work themselves.

Now, remodeling is not unknown among homeowners, even during boom times. The recent economic downturn, however, has forced 67 percent of homeowners to rethink their plans. The biggest changes to remodeling plans include:

• Doing the work themselves – 42 percent
• Fixing or sprucing up what they already have – 39 percent
• Remodeling in phases – 36 percent

According to the Consumer Reports poll, the most popular types of work include painting (56 percent), designing (39 percent) and flooring (34 percent). The most popular remodeling projects are kitchens (19 percent) and bathrooms (17 percent).

“Whether homeowners are venturing into a project themselves or plan to hire a professional, you need to lay out a budget, decide what you want most at the end of the project — and decide what you can live without,” advises Bob Markovich, senior home editor at Consumer Reports. “The more homeowners know what they’re getting into, the more money they’ll save.”

Remodeling funds come from a variety of places. Most homeowners, 66 percent, support their projects with their savings. Others, 29 percent, plan to cut back on travel and entertainment while another 21 percent are using a home equity or other loan.

The biggest reason consumers are cutting back on remodeling is that they simply do not have the money, according to 42 percent of respondents. Many homeowners, right now, are focused on paying, modifying or refinancing their mortgage rather than remodeling. There are homebuyers out there, like http://www.times-gazette.com/news/article/4609738 Chad and Brittany Johnson in Ohio, who purchase a foreclosure home for far less than market price and immediately remodel it.

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She had seen the advertisements for the new government program offering relief. She had heard President Obama promise that help was on the way for homeowners like her, people who had lost jobs and could no longer make their mortgage payments.

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Twenty-four percent of homeowners do not have any savings to cover their living expenses in the event they lose their job, according to the latest quarterly survey from Wells Fargo and Company. Although only 23 percent of survey respondents have managed to increase their savings during the past year, 60 percent indicate they want to increase their savings, up from 53 percent during the fourth quarter of 2008.

The survey results reveal a marked increase in homeowners’ desire to manage their debt and credit better rising to 40 percent from the previous survey level of 33 percent. Perhaps surprisingly, given that 30 percent say they are learning to manage their budgets  better, only 4 percent of those surveyed have sought professional help to improve their household budgets during the last year.

Even without professional advice and guidance, many people are drastically reducing their expenses. More than one-third of those surveyed have had family or friends move in with them since last year. Many have also adjusted their spending, with 42 percent reporting they are spending less on their children. Some (39 percent) are budgeting more and others (41 percent) are purchasing only what they need.

According to the survey results, homeowners are waiting for the economy to improve before making major purchases. When they do decide to buy, purchases related to home improvement will be the first choice of 30 percent of respondents, while 18 percent will buy a vehicle and 13 percent will go on vacation.

Putting off vacations is a popular tactic among those trying to save money. It is also popular among those worried about their job security, which 29 percent of those surveyed report as being their top concern. An improvement in their personal situation is the top indicator that would boost their confidence in the economy according to one of every four of the respondents.

The survey of U.S. homeowners was conducted by Ipsos Marketing on behalf of Wells Fargo and completed in March 2009.

“The results of the survey clearly indicate that customers need – and want – more help making smart financial decisions, and not just more help managing their financial accounts,” explains Ron Shevlin, senior analyst at Aite Group, a leading independent research and advisory firm focusing on the business, regulatory and technology issues impacting the financial services industry.

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Jeff Nielson submits:

Three months after the Obama regime came up with its plan to “rescue” the U.S. housing market, it is doing more to get people out of their homes than to keep them in them.

The much-hyped “mortgage rescue” initiative has postponed foreclosure for only 55,000 U.S. homeowners. It would have to double that number just to qualify as “pathetic”. Additionally, with previous “mortgage rescues”, the vast majority of those “rescued” still lose their homes in less than a year. There is nothing about the current “rescue” which suggests this trend will change.

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Say something often enough, and apparently three out of four people will believe it:  [Thanks L!]

Three out of four U.S. homeowners think the worst is over in the housing market.

And half of the homeowners in Southern states – including Texas – say home prices will stabilize in their areas in the next six months, according to a new survey by Zillow.com.

Researchers for the Internet real estate marketing company quizzed almost 1,400 homeowners around the country in early April about where they thought the housing market was headed.

What does Zillow make of this optimism?

"While homeowners are now more realistic when looking backward, they are still pretty starry-eyed when looking forward, with three out of four homeowners believing that their own homes’ prices will increase or be flat over the next six months," Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s vice president of data and analytics, said in the report. "Unfortunately, there are few markets we expect to perform this well."

The NAR and many analysts been trumpeting increased sales in a number of areas as well as falling inventories as signs we are nearing a bottom.  Why is Humphries less optimistic?

More than 30 percent of homeowners said they would be likely to put their houses up for sale at the first sign of a market rebound. That’s bad news for prices.

"With almost a third of homeowners poised to jump into the market at the first sign of stabilization, this could create a steady stream of new inventory adding to already record-high inventory levels, thus keeping downward pressure on home prices," Humphries said.

This is an astounding figure.  Add in the shadow inventory out there, and you have to believe that the worst is yet to come.

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Jeff Nielson submits:

I regret the need to continue to repeat myself regarding the horrific collapse in the U.S. housing market, the worst real-estate meltdown in human history – which naturally follows the largest housing “bubble” in all of history. However, not only is the U.S. propaganda machine proclaiming on a daily basis that this market is close to a “bottom”, but their propaganda becomes more and more outrageous (and detached from reality) every day.

The latest numbers which have been released indicate that more than 20% of U.S. “homeowners” have “negative equity”. What is never mentioned by the U.S. propaganda machine is that people with “negative equity” own nothing – by definition. All these people are doing is paying money to the bank which owns this property.

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Owe more than your home is worth?  You’ve got a lot of company: [Thanks L!]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Home values in the United States extended their fall in the first quarter, with more than one in five homeowners now owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, real estate website Zillow.com said on Wednesday.

U.S. home values posted a year-over-year decline of 14.2 percent to a Zillow Home Value Index of $182,378, resulting in a total 21.8 percent drop since the market peaked in 2006, according to Zillow’s first-quarter Real Estate Market Reports, which encompass 161 metropolitan areas and cover the value changes in all homes, not just homes that have recently sold.

U.S. homes lost $704 billion in value during the first quarter and have depreciated $3.8 trillion in the past 12 months, according to analysis of the reports.

Declining home values left 21.9 percent of all American homeowners with negative equity by the end of the first quarter, Zillow said.

Since negative equity is considered by many to be the leading cause of default

, this does not bode well for stabilization in the housing market.

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