S&P Case-Shiller: Prices Fall Sharply in Q4 2007

clipped from calculatedrisk.blogspot.com S&P Case-Shiller reported that house prices fell sharply in Q4 2007. The first graph shows the Case-Shiller index since 1987. The index fell to 170.64 in Q4, from 180.31 in Q3. A decline of 5.3%, or over 20% at an annual rate. This is the lowest level for the index since Q1 2005. The second graph shows the year-over-year change in the Case-Shiller index. Prices fell 8.9% in 2007 according to Case-Shiller. The index is off 10.2% from the peak.

Exiting Home Sales "Slipped" 23.4%

clipped from bigpicture.typepad.com Existing-Homes sales "slipped" some in January, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The problem, the Realtors point out, is simply that some potential buyers are waiting on sidelines. Delve beneath the national average into the details, and you find all manner of ugliness. -Median existing-home price was $201,100 in January, down 4.6% from a year ago (National average) -Total housing inventory rose 5.5% -At the end of January, existing homes available for sale were  4.19 million, a 10.3-month supply at the current sales pace (up from a 9.7-month supply in December).  -Single-family home sold at an annual rate of 4.34 million in January. This is 22.4% below January 2007.  -The median existing single-family home price was $198,700 in January, down 5.1% from a year ago. -Existing condominium and co-op sales dropped 6.5%, and are 30.2% below the year ago levels. The median existing condo price ($220,400) is only 1.0% lower than January 2007.

Foreclosures

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Alan Blinder and Lawrence Summers both wrote about the problems the economy faces from foreclosures and the possible solutions Blinder looks at the possibility of reviving the New Deal-era Home Owners’ Loan Corporation. “The HOLC was established in June 1933 to help distressed families avert foreclosures by replacing mortgages that were in or near default with new ones that homeowners could afford. It did so by buying old mortgages from banks — most of which were delighted to trade them in for safe government bonds — and then issuing new loans to homeowners. in the Financial Times Summers proposes bankruptcy overhauls and more voluntary restructurings “Bankruptcy reform alone could, on some estimates, avert 500,000 foreclosures Proper support for voluntary restructurings involving interests in future appreciation should realize still greater benefits.”

The Technology Tech Leaders Fear the Most

clipped from blogs.wsj.com You know that cool Web site you found or the device that makes you more productive? Better not bring it to the office: The majority of corporate tech leaders say that these tools don’t belong in the workplace. That’s according to CIO Magazine, which found that 54% of the 311 tech leaders it surveyed said that technology designed for consumers was inappropriate for corporate use. Here are the top nine Voice-over-the-Internet software Online productivity software. This surprised us, but software like Google Apps and Zoho Digital cameras Remote storage Smartphones Social-networking Web sites. Ten percent of tech leaders are frightened by sites like MySpace and Facebook. Instant Messaging. Online chat is a large enough security threat that 11% of tech leaders said it was their biggest fear. Web-based email accounts. Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail topped the list Portable storage devices. A runaway winner, devices like USB drives were the biggest fear for 43% of tech leaders.

'We are the ones we have been waiting for'

clipped from my.barackobama.com Here's the speech Barack delivered tonight in the great city of Chicago...