Mortgage Rates (1978-2008) @10%-@5%

I was just checking the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) housing market indicator data and its crazy how mortgage interest rates in all metropolitan areas from 1978 to 2008 has dropped steadily from around 10% to 6% ( check it out here, along with a smorgasbord of other stats and spreadsheets   http://www.fhfa.gov/default.aspx?page=66 ). Considering the recent crisis one might wonder how essential this 20 year decline in rates was for bringing so many risky borrowers into the mortgage market. Was the storm of defaults, foreclosures and bankruptcies necessitated more by this low point of interest rates or by so called subprime lending to those with the worst credit? I hope to provide a clearer picture of the role that this drop to @5% played in future posts as it was difficult to have any clear idea of  the decades old trends which led to the crisis amid the news media's shallow cacophony.

median house prices census (.>over 20 years old)

holy moly, look at these census stats. The meadian US home price was under $100,000 until the late 80s

http://www.census.gov/const/uspricemon.pdf

probably reagans fault what happens in next 20 years

South Florida Condos for Used Car prices

Most  condos under and @ $50,000 are out in who knows where, nowheresville, but the latest steals coming out of Florida  are pretty, prettay close to paradise I think, check it out:

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/real_estate/1007/gallery.condos_for_less_than_cars/index.html

VIEW THIS PIC!

Bloomberg Businees week has just put out a list of  currently cheapest housing:

"The foreclosure crisis has trampled down prices from Tampa to Riverside, Calif. And low interest rates and government incentives such as the $8,000 first-time homebuyer federal tax credit, which expires this year, are attracting new buyers previously priced out of the market. The American dream is getting more affordable. In Tampa, for example, owning was 15% more expensive than renting in the second quarter. But it was 46% more expensive than renting a year earlier."

Heres's the top ten:

1. Detroit
2. Pittsburgh
3. Rochester, N.Y.
4. Memphis, Tenn.
5. Tampa, Fla.
6. Cleveland, Tenn.
7. Dayton, Ohio
8. Columbia, S.C.
9. Orlando, Fla.
10. Dallas-Fort Worth 

For full article go to: http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/08/0820_rent_buy/12.htm?campaign_id=msn

More Steals in Florida

If your family loves beach living, you can own beach cottages or a breezy beach bungalow along the territories of Miami, Pompano and Fort Lauderdale. These places have allured so many tourists and vacationers especially on a summer to enjoy the powder-white sands and beaches of these cities. These are perfect locations to own vacation retreat homes or for generating income especially when it’s the peak season of these localities’ tourism. The foreclosed properties here may range from an average rate of $107-$182 per square foot, and more than double in the areas of Pompano where $672 is the average rate per square foot.

http://www.foreclosuredataonline.com/homes/FL/

Cheap South Florida Real Estate

More than 100,000 properties -- an average of 2,300 per month -- have been repossessed in the three big South Florida counties since the real estate crash began in 2007, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com, a real estate consultancy.
Lenders surpassed the 100,000 threshold Thursday, when 317 properties were repossessed in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the report said.
``To get a grasp of South Florida's real estate crash, consider that lenders have repossessed an average of 75 properties per day since January 2007, which is a span of more than 1,300 days,'' said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Bal Harbour-based Condo Vultures.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/24/1789474/south-florida-foreclosures-surpass.html#ixzz0xpdB4z00