Federal Reserve Board Bank Wants to Help Homeowners in Distress

It was announced in the Union Tribune in an article yesterday that the Federal Board’s San Francisco Bank is gathering together the industry troops to see if there might be some solutions to the sub-prime loan crisis and in hopes of helping to  prevent some forclosures.

This is the third such meeting and 3 more are planned. Melody Nev, the Banks Southern California community development manager says” I ask that it is not about blame, not about pointing fingers”.

Seems there have been a lot of finger pointing out there lately. You recall what the advise is about pointing fingers. One points out and  the others point back at the pointer. But hey, if these good folks really can do something we should all listen and learn. This crisis isn’t going away by itself so any good solutions are welcome. Read the rest of this entry »

Market Slowdown Forces Sale of...

Once coveted parcels of land purchased for new homes and subdivisions are being sold off at record pace. Home Builders under contract to purchase land are passing on deals already made and are often forfeiting the huge deposits in the millions of dollars on many of them.

The Home Builders are not only are walking away from options to purchase the lots but are also seeking delays in closing the sales on the land already underway. Publicly traded Home Builders are writing off huge options that were purchased for future development.

Softening demand for some residential land is not surprising given what's happening in the housing market slowdown. Today, home builders are focused on slashing their inventories of homes and land, certainly not purchasing more land.

In some areas of the country land is very scarce and the land holders there are hanging on awaiting stabilization of the housing markets to catch the next upward tide.