While interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have been hovering around the 4% mark for around a year — and 15-year fixed loans have dipped below 3% in recent months — nearly 7 out of 10 American homeowners are still paying at least 5% interest on their home loans. [More]
recession watch
Drop In MBA Applicants A Sign Of Economic Recovery?
By 9.17.12
“Maybe I should finally get my MBA,” is a thought that went through the heads of many an out-of-work or underemployed college graduate during the last few years. But the allure of becoming a master of business administration has faded in the last year, as the number of business school applicants has taken a nose dive. [More]
Fed: Unemployment Wouldn't Be So High If People Weren't So Darn Uncertain About Economy
By 9.17.12
When I was a tiny little lad, my coach said the only thing keeping me from being a great soccer player was confidence… and my utter inability to kick the ball in anything resembling a straight line, but also my confidence. Now some number-crunchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco say that the country’s unemployment rate would be a touch lower if we had all just been less uncertain about the economy. [More]
More Uninsured Americans Not Filling Prescriptions, Delaying Doctor's Visits, Skipping Medical Procedures
By 9.13.12
While the U.S. economy is arguably inching toward improvement, costs for health insurance continue to climb. Combined with still-high unemployment and a growing number of employers requiring employees to pay a larger share of their insurance premiums, and there are a lot of uninsured and under-insured Americans out there. And according to the Consumer Reports annual prescription drug poll, a growing number of these people are going without needed care or medication. [More]
U.S. Car Makers Post Double-Digit Sales Increases
By 9.4.12
Need some decent news to brighten up your dreary day? This may not do it, but it’s worth a shot: Chrysler, GM and Ford have released their August sales numbers and each of the automakers saw substantial year-over-year sales increases during the last month of summer vacation. [More]
If You're Going To Leave Your House Vacant, Don't Be Surprised To Find Kids Partying There
By 9.4.12
Like bloodhounds on the scent — or maybe more like pigs sniffing for truffles — industrious teens will find places to get drunk and do other things they have seen in movies. And with a large number of houses sitting vacant while awaiting sale or foreclosure, it’s a partier’s market out there. [More]
U.S. Banks Are Doing Okay, Made $34.5 Billion Profit Last Quarter
By 8.28.12
While the big banks plead hardship and whine about having their profits eroded by regulatory reform, they fail to mention that the American banking industry appears to be doing okay, with 12 straight quarters of year-over-year growth and $34.5 billion in profit in the second quarter of 2012 alone. [More]
Home Prices Increase Ever So Slightly For First Time Since 2010
By 8.28.12
We here at Consumerist are eternal optimists. Which is why we popped open the champagne this morning when the latest S&P/Case-Shiller index showed a .5% year-over-year increase in home prices for June, the first such uptick since late 2010. [More]
New Guidelines Aim To Make Short Sales Less Of A Pain In The Butt To Everyone
By 8.22.12
Short sales now account for nearly 1-in-11 home sales in the U.S., so there’s a decent chance that anyone who has been house-shopping recently has visited a for-sale property only to have the realtor say, “Now I have to warn you, it is a short sale.” At this point, many of you would go running for the hills rather than be stuck in bank-approval muck for months. But new guidelines issued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency are aimed at speeding up the process. [More]
Township Warns Good Samaritan Not To Feed Hungry Children Without Zoning Variance
By 8.15.12
A Philadelphia-area woman is learning that no good deed goes un-chastised, after being warned by local authorities that she could face steep fines if she continues to provide free meals to hungry children in her neighborhood. [More]
What's To Come Of All The Space Left Over By Shrinking Big Box Stores?
By 8.10.12
In recent years, a number of big box retailers and department store chains have begun the process of closing stores and cutting the size of some existing outlets. But since there isn’t exactly a huge rush by other retailers to snap up those spaces, are we going to inundated with empty ghost stores that stand as a reminder of the big box boom? [More]
Massachusetts City Decides To Maintain Foreclosures
By 8.1.12
We’ve written before about cities going after mortgage lenders for failing to properly maintain homes on which they have foreclosed, but one Massachusetts city has decided it’s just easier to fix up these properties, rather than have them fall into disrepair and drag neighborhood home prices down with them. [More]
Nevada Continues To Reign Supreme In Latest Unemployment Numbers
By 7.30.12
Since the bottom dropped out of the housing market a few years ago, and even as most other locales have begun to claw their way out of the pits, Nevada and California have continued to churn out huge unemployment numbers. And the latest stats from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows no real reversal in that trend. [More]
House Flipping Is Cool Again, Say Reality TV Producers With Very Short-Term Memories
By 7.25.12
When the housing market went into the toilet in 2008, all of those house-flipping shows that were hits on basic cable went down the drain too. But now that the housing bust is apparently over, reality TV producers seem to think it’s once again high time to dedicate hours of airtime to flipping. [More]
Today’s Young Adults: Home Ownership’s Lost Generation
By 7.18.12
The housing market is stalled, and the reason why is pretty simple: young adults aren’t all that interested in buying houses. It’s not hard to see why. Americans who are currently between 25 and 34 spent their formative years watching housing prices soar, then abruptly collapse, taking the entire global economy with them. Among those Millennials who haven’t already purchased and lost an underwater home…who wants to buy a starter condo after that? [More]
L.A. Sues U.S. Bank For Letting Foreclosures Fall Into Disrepair
By 7.17.12
When a lender forecloses on a home, it becomes responsible for keeping the property safe and reasonably kept-up. But officials in Los Angeles has accused U.S. Bank of ignoring hundreds of foreclosures as they fall into disrepair and/or become taken over by squatters and street gangs. [More]
Wall Street Journal Declares End To Housing Bust
By 7.11.12
If you woke up this morning feeling slightly more invigorated… or maybe your coffee tasted just a bit better… maybe you found a $5 bill in your coat pocket on your way to work. It’s no coincidence: The Wall Street Journal has declared an end to the nation’s extended housing bust. [More]
How Does Someone Lose Their House Over A $474 Water Bill?
By 7.10.12
If a homeowner has to make a choice between paying their mortgage or paying a tax or public utility bill, they might feel like the mortgage is the obvious way to go, lest they lose their house. But the fact is that you may be putting your property at risk by missing any of these payments. [More]
