Power Tools on the Housing Market

According to the Wall Street Journal Online, home builders are offering smaller homes due to the problems in the housing market. "Financing has tightened down so much that many people aren't able to qualify for the larger houses," said Kathryn Boyce, an account executive in Northern California for Boston-based real-estate research firm Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. "Throughout the U.S. people can't afford what they previously did. Floor plans are going to get smaller." Many homebuilders are scaling down the size of their McMansions due to affordability.

Posted on September 25 at 02:47 PM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)

Many businesses are affected by the downturn in the housing market. Boat sales are down, and requests for help from United Way are up, according to MSNBC. In Cape Coral, Florida, jobs have been lost, salaries cut, new home permits are slowing down and the unemployment rate is up. These problems are reflected across the country. Consumer spending is down and job growth is slowing.

Posted on September 17 at 10:59 AM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)

Lots of foreclosures, that is. "The Inland Empire's combined Riverside and San Bernardino counties reported the fourth highest number of foreclosure filings of any of the nation's 229 largest metro areas in July, behind Atlanta, Los Angeles and Detroit, according to market tracker RealtyTrac." The abandoned and empty homes are a blight in the neighborhoods and are bringing down property values also. In Corona, California, the impact has been great. Flippers and scammers invested in houses using 100% financing programs, creating a party atmosphere and logging many police calls to the formerly quiet neighborhood.

Posted on September 4 at 01:53 PM | Permanent Link | Add a Comment (0)