Entries from Chemicals & The Economy tagged with 'US house prices'
US home prices hit new post-crisis lows in Q1
The blog is changing its regular presentation of US house price movements, to mirror that used for auto sales. This should help to identify month-by-month changes. It also means there is no need to use seasonally adjustmed numbers. These are...
US foreclosure period doubles, as house prices fall
The US foreclosure process used to take around 36 weeks, once the homeowner stopped making payments. But as the chart shows, based on information provided by LPS Applied Analytics, this period has doubled since the housing crisis began in 2008....
US housing markets could weaken further
US housing was the prime cause of the current financial crisis. US banks spent most of the 2000-7 period lending at low 'teaser' rates to borrowers who had no prospect of repaying the loan. And by syndicating the loans to...
US house prices continue to fall
Q4 was never going to be good for US housing markets. The financial crash of September/October not only terrified potential buyers, but also meant they found it increasingly difficult to secure loans. As the chart shows, this lethal combination hit...
Californian house sales jump, as prices fall
We now have an possible indication of how far house prices may have to fall in some parts of the USA, in order to attract buyers. Last month, Southern California saw a 65% rise in property sales versus September 2007....
US car sales plummet, house prices fall again
September was another difficult month for the cornerstones of US chemical demand, autos and housing: • GM cut prices dramatically via its 'Employee discount for everyone' programme. But even so, sales fell 16% versus last year (blue column) • Toyota...
The $5 trillion bailout
The US government has finally decided to nationalise the two home loan giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Readers will remember I forecast this would be necessary a year ago, in a letter to the Financial Times. I argued then...
US house prices keep on falling
US house prices, according to today's S&P/Case-Shiller Index, are still falling quite sharply. As shown in the chart, they are now down 17% versus last year. The key influence, according to S&P, is that 'the markets that were the...
High inflation, or global downturn?
Central bankers had it easy over the past decade. Now they are going to have to earn their money. Inflation is rising rapidly, and growth rates are falling. But unfortunately, as I first noted back in March, they still seem...
US house prices carry on falling
Every month, it seems, the US housing market gets worse. Spring should have provided some respite, as it is the peak time for sales. But instead, as the chart shows, the benchmark S&P/Case-Shiller house price index fell again to...
Budgeting for a downturn
The ‘consensus forecast’ for 2008 is very optimistic, as I commented in my post-EPCA note. It says oil will remain at $70/bbl, that debt market problems will be contained, and that petchem margins will remain at 2007 levels. This is...
Thursday’s child has far to go
The past two Thursdays have seen extraordinary things happen in financial markets. Last Thursday, BNP Paribas suspended redemptions on 3 of its funds, forcing the ECB to inject €95bn of liquidity into the financial system. Yesterday, the largest US mortgage...
Every mania has its illusion
All the world’s media are now carrying accounts of the ‘liar loans’ and fraud that has accompanied the growth in US mortgage lending in recent years. How did this come about? All manias gain their strength from a widely believed...
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