November 21, 2006 at 18:13:23

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HOUSING STARTS TUMBLE, FORECLOSURES SOAR / RECESSION DRAWS NEAR

By Allen L Roland (about the author)     Page 1 of 1 page(s)

opednews.com     Permalink

For OpEdNews: Allen L Roland - Writer

Home sales tumbled nationally by 12.7% in third quarter, 115,568 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure during October, the most reported in any month so far this year and an increase of 42 percent from October 2005 ~ California reports highest number of foreclosures for second straight month ~ fasten your seat belts / Recession draws near: Allen L Roland

Fasten your seat belts, It's happening folks, third quarter home sales tumbled in 38 states ~ down 12.7 % from the same period a year ago. Nationwide foreclosures have increased 42% from October of last year.

As I predicted some time ago, it's just a matter of time before the bottom falls out of the housing market ~ even in California. Remember, the Fed no longer reports E3 money supply figures ~ and it's been pumping money, like air, into a real estate balloon that is about too burst ~ with tragic consequences for millions of Americans.

Here's the low down on foreclosures from RealtyTrac Inc followed by Mike Whitney's brilliant expose of Greenspan's free money policy where mortgage-debt in 2000 was a trifling $4.8 trillion while in 2006 it has skyrocketed to a whopping $9.3 trillion.

Read these two articles carefully ~ and be forewarned.

Allen L Roland http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2006/11/21.html


FORECLOSURES HIT NEW HIGH IN OCTOBER

IRVINE
November 17, 2006 8:58am

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=3595


• Foreclosure filings increase 42 percent from 2005
• More than one million homes foreclosed this year


More homes went into foreclosure last month than in any month yet this year, according to figures compiled by RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, a foreclosure information company.

It says 115,568 properties nationwide entered some stage of foreclosure during October, the most reported in any month so far this year and an increase of 42 percent from October 2005.

The national foreclosure rate is now one new foreclosure filing for every 1,001 U.S. households, the highest monthly foreclosure rate reported so far this year.

California reports highest number of foreclosures for second straight month. More than 16,000 California properties entered some stage of foreclosure during October, the most of any state for the second straight month and an increase of more than 8 percent from the previous month.

The state's foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 759 households rose to 1.3 times the national average and was 12th highest among the states. California foreclosure activity has more than tripled from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac.

Modesto posted a foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 214 households, third highest among the nation's metropolitan areas. The metropolitan area (Stanislaus County) reported 705 properties entering some stage of foreclosure during the month.

"So far this year more than 1 million properties have entered some stage of foreclosure nationwide, up 27 percent from the same time last year," says James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "Monthly foreclosure filings hit their highest mark of the year so far in October, mirroring the trend from last year, when the most foreclosures of the year were also reported in October. Our data from the last three months shows that foreclosures are definitely trending upward, putting more pressure on an already strained housing market, and placing buyers and investors in the driver's seat when it comes to negotiating home purchases."

For the eighth consecutive month Colorado had the nation's highest state foreclosure rate -- one new foreclosure filing for every 327 households -- thanks to a 25 percent month-over-month increase in foreclosure activity. The state reported 5,592 properties entering some stage of foreclosure during the month, more than twice the number reported in October 2005.

With one new foreclosure filing for every 389 households, Nevada documented the nation's second highest state foreclosure rate for the fifth straight month as foreclosures continued to climb. The state reported 2,229 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, an increase of 16 percent from the previous month and more than six times the number reported in October 2005.

Thanks to a 33 percent month-over-month increase, Georgia's foreclosure rate -- one new foreclosure filing for every 449 households -- jumped to third highest in October after being fifth highest the previous month. The state reported 6,895 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, almost twice the number reported in October 2005.

Other states reporting foreclosure rates among the nation's 10 highest were Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, New Jersey and Utah.

With 11,413 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, Florida reported the second most foreclosure filings of any state and a foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 640 households -- 1.6 times the national average and sixth highest among the states. Florida's foreclosure activity was down almost 12 percent from the previous month but up nearly 50 percent from October 2005.

Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Colorado, New Jersey and New York rounded out the 10 states with the most new foreclosure filings in October.

For the third month in a row, Greeley, Colo., posted the highest foreclosure rate among the nation's 200-plus largest metropolitan areas. The Greeley metro area (Weld County) documented 378 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, a foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 175 households -- 5.7 times the national average.

With 4,216 properties entering some stage of foreclosure, the Detroit metropolitan area (Wayne County) registered the nation's second highest metro foreclosure rate -- one new foreclosure filing for every 196 households.


HOUSING BUBBLE SMACK-DOWN

By Mike Whitney
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15689.htm

Give me 5 minutes and I'll convince you that you should sell your house immediately and invest your life-savings in gold or a Swiss bank-account: Mike Whitney

Excerpt: " The housing bubble has nothing to do with supply and demand or with the fictional increase in workers salaries. (which have actually gone down since Bush took office) Rather, it is the predictable result of dramatically increasing the money supply while expanding personal debt via home-mortgages.

Remember, the central banks are not in the mortgage business; they are in the "money-pedaling" business. And the way you sell more money is by making it as cheap as possible. The Fed intentionally inflated the bubble with cheap money so they could keep the printing presses whirring-along. They worked in concert with the banks to lower the requirements for mortgages so they could attract an endless swarm of "unqualified" customers who wanted to join the feeding-frenzy.

Isn't that what happened?

And, didn't that make it possible for every Tom, Dick and Harry to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars on "no-down payment", "interest only", ARMs or other equally risky mortgage-packages?

Of course it did. "

Click here to read more ~
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15689.htm

 

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