The Carnival of Real Estate:110th Edition

September 29th, 2008 by Matt DiChiara| Posted in Weekly News Update | 4 Comments »

Well, this is our first time hosting the Carnival of Real Estate and we are very happy to be participating. Be sure to submit to the CORE next week, which will be hosted at VARbuzz.

Reading through all the posts this week was especially informative for us, since MyNewPlace focuses on homes and apartments for rent and the bulk of submissions invariably discuss the for-sale market.

Since the current credit crisis will now be addressed by Congress, (the House just defeated the bill while I was writing this post) we wanted to focus on posts that deal with the massive government intervention spearheaded by U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. Now, onto the posts.

Reactions on Federal Bailout from the Real Estate World

First, up Mr. John Lockwood from Elite Properties proposes his own plan to deal with the current economic malaise. Mr. Lockwood lays out a comprehensive plan to put the U.S. Treasury in the mortgage business; the upshot of his plan would allow the taxpayers to invest in mortgages that probably have more profit potential than all the bad loans and securities that banks would like to unload on the government.

Tim Soper at the Will Grundy Real Estate Report, a submitted a post illuminating the bankruptcy provision that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of mortgage entering into foreclosure. This post’s dialectic structure is great because although it provides unbiased and helpful information, a judgment is still proffered that should be of significant interest to the real estate market.

Moving to responses on this summer’s omnibus housing bill (H.R. 3221) Ms. Karen Goodman at St. Louis Real Estate Insights presents a closer look at the $7,500 housing tax credit, which was designed to give potential homeowners an incentive to buy homes to help cut the overwhelming housing supply.

Mr. Frank Schulte-Ladbeck from Inspected Thoughts gives us a closer look at another provision included in H.R. 3221, the almost $4 billion in block grants that were to be directed to local communities that were particularly affected by the bursting of the housing bubble. Funds would help municipalities mitigate the economic collateral damage of numerous neighborhoods of vacant homes.

Dan Green from The Mortgage Reports Blog outlines how H.R 3221′s conforming loan limits changes will go into effect starting January 1.

And finally, in the most succinct description of the current crisis, “we want to be protected from the bad, but don’t limit the good,” Toby Boyce at Sadie’s Take On Delaware Ohio conveys how main street has reacted to the uncertainty in the housing market, when both buyers and sellers both want to “wait until next year.” This post presents a great microcosm of some of the more macroeconomic issues currently adorning the nation’s headlines.

Well everyone, thanks for reading to the bottom! We have enjoyed our inaugural hosting duties and hope to participate again in the future.

Please leave us comments if you have questions or comments or contact MyNewPlace on twitter for a more interactive discussion!