20 avril 2008
Plunging prices cause pain in Spain and trap desperate Brits abroad
source: The Guardian
Repossessions loom as the once buoyant homes market goes into freefall, writes Laura Latham
With prices dropping by as much as 60 per cent in some areas and properties still not selling, Rix is seeing people who are facing repossession on a daily basis - a situation which she claims is unprecedented in Spain. 'Spanish banks aren't getting their act together on repossessions. It can take up to two years to reclaim a property. Then they don't know what to do with it, so there's currently a real backlog of homes waiting to be sold.
The Fury of the Poor
source: Der Spiegel
With too many people and not enough agricultural land, a struggle for the distribution of the best farmland is taking shape that could turn into a new North-South conflict. "These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis," wrote US economist Paul Krugman recently in his regular column in the New York Times. "But there’s another world crisis under way -- and it’s hurting a lot more people."
One UK home in 10 'to fall into negative equity'
source: Times
UK house prices are forecast to fall by 15 per cent over the next two years that would push 10 per cent of Britain's homeowners into negative equity, signalling a return to the housing crash of the early 1990s.
The long-term impact of the house price crash
source: MSN/Money
Author Fred Harrison, who was uncannily accurate in predicting that the property crash would start in 2008, reckons that property works on an 18-year cycle - four years of recession, with about 14 years of stable or rising prices.
So by Harrison's reckoning, property might be looking attractive again in say 2013, 2014? That's plenty of time to save up a nice deposit.
Minnesota's new ghost towns
source: Star Tribune
In Wright County, reckless speculation and the mortgage meltdown have turned subdivisions into virtual ghost towns.
"Based on what I see out here, we're headed for the Great Depression," said Dan Frie, a sales agent with Wright Sherburne Realty in Monticello, who has been in the business nearly 30 years.
Real Estate: Home Mortgage Crisis May Boost Divorces in U.S., Experts Say
source: Divorce360
While the Harvard housing expert said it's too soon for a definitive
study linking divorce to the country’s recent foreclosure woes, Scott Daniels, an
Ocala, Fla. Realtor®, doesn’t need a study to tell him what he already
knows -- the mortgage industry crisis is causing an increase in the
number of couples who are getting divorced.
"In the last three
months, we have accepted five listings which are divorce sales. In each
instance, it’s due to the obligation of meeting their mortgage
payments,” he wrote in a blog he posts regularly on the Internet.
Lenders lock out new borrowers amid fears over housing crash
source: The Independent
"This is all about Abbey protecting itself against negative equity," Ray Boulger from broker John Charcol, said. "Higher-value property often falls further than lower-value housing so lenders want borrowers to have more of a buffer in place."
Meanwhile, a senior manager at a rival lender, who wished to remain anonymous, said closing the door to brokers during a period of market turmoil, such as now, had advantages. "Brokers bring volume which was hugely important. However, volume isn't the name of the game now. Keeping control on who the money is going to is key."
On coupe le robinet aux courtiers de manière à avoir le contrôle du flux d'argent et on se protège de la "negative equity" en obligeant à avoir beaucoup d'apport en cash....Bref un dur cocktail pour le marché anglais....Coming soon in France !
Un plan pour le marché du crédit immobilier en Grande-Bretagne
source: Reuters
Certaines banques britanniques apparaissent mal en point. La banque Northern Rock a dû être nationalisée et la Royal Bank of Scotland s'apprêterait à annoncer une très importante augmentation de capital cette semaine - on parle de 12 milliards de livres (15 milliards d'euros) - pour couvrir des dépréciations d'actifs chiffrées en milliards.
Crise alimentaire: Ban craint des "crises en cascade" dans le monde
source: Yahoo
...si la crise actuelle n'est pas traitée correctement, elle pourrait déclencher une cascade d'autres crises multiples, ce qui déboucherait sur un problème multi-dimensionnel affectant la croissance économique,....
in Les prix du pétrole risquent encore de monter, selon le secrétaire général de l'OPE
source: AFP