housing markets

Canada housing market plunges but not to collapse

People Daily (Free subscription) | yesterday

Canada's housing market is plunging significantly but a U.S.-style collapse is not expected in the future, according to a report released by the country's top economists Thursday. The Scotia Economics report said that Canada's housing market is finally tilting towards the buyers after the longest postwar housing boom for the past decade. Home prices in Canada appreciated...

Signs Of Market Improvement Seen

San Diego Blog (Free subscription) | 11/20/2008

Despite our serious economic problems, there are signs of improvement in the housing market, according to a report from Housing Predictor, a real estate research firm. The positive indicators should become apparent in the majority of housing markets in 2009. Some local housing markets are now approaching their bottom from an economic point of view, [...]...

O.C. Housing Market: Sales Are Booming, Prices Are Not

SeekingAlpha.com (Free subscription) | yesterday

The Orange County residential real estate market—which we semi-obsess over around here because it’s so close to ground zero of the real estate crunch, and because the Orange County Register helpfully publishes copious amounts of data about it—keeps bouncing back. Home sales rose by 66.6% last month from a year ago. That compares to a 62.3% rise in September, and a 18.7% rise the month before...

[It's Freezing Out There] Housing Indexes Take A Back Seat

Matrix (Free subscription) | 11 hours ago

One of my favorite online columns at the Wall Street Journal is “The Numbers Guy” - by Carl Bialik. He tackles the foggy issue of housing indexes this week, which have entered the mainstream conversation over the past few years. (My firm was nearly acquired by one of the firms in the piece [...]

Houston housing gets a vote of confidence

Houston Chronicle (Free subscription) | 10 hours ago

Home sales have fallen for more than a year. Values have dipped. And buyer confidence has deteriorated. But at least one national economist thinks the Houston-area housing market will see price appreciation of as much as 10 percent in 2009. Going into next year, he said Houston and Denver will be the top markets for growth in prices.

Housing Market Infects Industrials ETFs

ETF Trends (Free subscription) | yesterday

Heavy equipment holders are selling their products at auction for less than expected, and items such as excavators, backhoes, or heavy construction machinery are being sold due to too much idle time. Sellers said they were lightening their inventories to pull in operating capital; Buyers said they...

Slow housing market means more hours, more expenses for agents

Seattle Times (Free subscription) | yesterday

The slowdown in the Seattle-area real-estate market means brokers and agents are putting in longer hours with clients, spending more money on marketing tools, and working with sellers to achieve the perfect price and presentation to keep homes from languishing on the market.

Builder upbeat on housing market

News.com.au (Free subscription) | yesterday

HOME builder AV Jennings expects interest rate cuts and government policy intervention to boost the sluggish housing market by the first quarter of 2009.

Boris Johnson vows to 'jump-start' London housing market

The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/20/2008

Mayor of London pledges to break 'log-jam' to help Londoners in need of affordable housing and cut social housing waiting lists

The housing market needs help in the Pre-Budget Report

Times Online (Free subscription) | yesterday

The housing market is responding quickly to the mortgage drought, with homeowners in some towns feeling the squeeze more than others. This may explain why Globrix, the property search engine part-owned by News International, parent company of The Times, found that in the past week more sellers reduced the asking prices of properties in Norwich than anywhere else, with 106 homeowners cutting...

Londons £5 Billion Housing Strategy

workinproperty (Free subscription) | 11/20/2008

Mayor of London Boris Johnson has today announced a £5 billion investment plan to support the capital's housing market over the next three years. The mayor’s office will work with the new Homes and Communities Agency ( HCA) to put nearly £2billion a year into building new homes and improving the existing stock.The strategy includes a range of innovative ideas that will replace outdated...

• Mayor's housing strategy will ease housing crisis and boost development - Greater London Authority news
• Boris announces £5bn housing plan - MayorWatch

Canada's housing boom over

atHome Top Story (Free subscription) | 11/20/2008

The latest real estate report from Scotia Economics has good news for home buyers and bad news for sellers: Canada is becoming a buyer's market.

New Year U.S. Housing Market Forecast: No Gain, More Pain

Money Morning (Free subscription) | 11/20/2008

[Editor's Note: This is the sixth installment of a new series that looks at the global investing outlook for 2009.] By Don Miller Contributing Writer Money Morning The U.S. housing market is... Money Morning is here to help investors profit handsomely on this seismic shift in the global economy. Money moves markets. But Money Morning lets you move first.

David Prosser: The real housing crisis is still ahead of us

The Independent (Free subscription) | yesterday

Outlook Britain is facing a housing market crisis – but not the one you've been reading about over the past year as property prices have headed south. Believe it or not, look past the sea of unsold homes cluttering up estate agents' windows and you'll discover that this country faces an acute housing shortage.

Rise in mortgage lending provides lift for sluggish housing market... but the number of new homes built fall to record low

Daily Mail News (Free subscription) | 11/20/2008

Britain's struggling housing market got a boost last month as mortgage lending shot up by seven per cent, according to figures out today.