I'm still trying to figure out why prices at the pump are at record highs, but the price per barrel hasn't even come close to it's record high.

Double digit inflation would be one reason.

Another week, another Obamafabulous economic patient dying on the table.

Quote:Home Values See Biggest Drop Since 2008
U.S. home values fell in the first quarter at fastest rate since 2008

Published: Monday, 9 May 2011 | 8:36 AM ET By: Reuters

Zillow said its home value index fell 3 percent in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter, and was down 8.2 percent year-over-year.

The number of homeowners under water—or, those who owe more on the mortgage than their house is currently worth—amounted to 28.4 percent of single-family homeowners, representing a peak since Zillow began calculating the data.

That was up from 27 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Foreclosures also rose, following the moratoriums that had been in place in late 2010. In March, one out of every 1,000 homes was in foreclosure.

"Home value declines are currently equal to those we experienced during the darkest days of the housing recession. With accelerating declines during the first quarter, it is unreasonable to expect home values to return to stability by the end of 2011," Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said in a statement.

Almost all of the 132 markets covered by Zillow saw home value declines. Only Fort Myers in Florida, Champaign-Urbana in Illinois, and Honolulu, Hawaii, managed quarterly increases. http://www.cnbc.com/id/42955097

(05-09-2011 12:09 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Another week, another Obamafabulous economic patient dying on the table.

Quote:Home Values See Biggest Drop Since 2008
U.S. home values fell in the first quarter at fastest rate since 2008

Published: Monday, 9 May 2011 | 8:36 AM ET By: Reuters

Zillow said its home value index fell 3 percent in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter, and was down 8.2 percent year-over-year.

The number of homeowners under water—or, those who owe more on the mortgage than their house is currently worth—amounted to 28.4 percent of single-family homeowners, representing a peak since Zillow began calculating the data.

That was up from 27 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Foreclosures also rose, following the moratoriums that had been in place in late 2010. In March, one out of every 1,000 homes was in foreclosure.

"Home value declines are currently equal to those we experienced during the darkest days of the housing recession. With accelerating declines during the first quarter, it is unreasonable to expect home values to return to stability by the end of 2011," Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said in a statement.

Almost all of the 132 markets covered by Zillow saw home value declines. Only Fort Myers in Florida, Champaign-Urbana in Illinois, and Honolulu, Hawaii, managed quarterly increases. http://www.cnbc.com/id/42955097

Agreed on this one Rath (although I thought you were a free market guy). The Obama administration's response (HAMP) to the housing market has sucked. On the other hand, they have single handedly kept the mortgage interest rates at record lows for the last 3 years. And without FHA/Fannie/Freddie, there would be few if any mortgages today. So there is that.

If they had been serious about fixing the problem, they would have pushed much harder to get the bankruptcy law changed to allow principal write-downs on primary residences by BK judges. This would have done a much better job of processing the huge amounts of underwater mortgages and sharing the burden between both banks and the homeowners.

Alas, all politicians in Washington are owned by Wall Street and do their bidding.

In the past year, 55% of the homeowners who received government assistance foreclosed anyways...just delayed the drowning a little longer. Solid use of funds IMO.

Client with near perfect credit history and 10+ years of always paying their mortgage on time gets no assistance, yet people struggling get the help and default anyways...if my client got the assistance, a good portion of the money they saved would be injected into the economy...instead we have a system in place that punishes those with good behavior, but gives assistance to the troubled and guess what...over half still find themselves in trouble.

Cash for clunkers still makes me smile