 |
|
|
 Puerto Vallarta Real Estate | August 2007 
U.S. Housing Starts Hit 10-Year Low
 UPI
go to original
| | Houses for sale in various states of completion are seen in Golden, Colorado, June 25, 2007. U.S. homeowners continued to pile out of adjustable-rate mortgages taken out during the housing boom in a bid to escape interest-rate volatility plaguing markets, according to Freddie Mac data. (Rick Wilking/Reuters) |
Washington - Home construction starts fell to their lowest rate in 10 years in July as sales keep falling and credit tightens.
Housing starts decreased by 6.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 1.381 million annual rate, after rising 2.1 percent in June to 1.470 million, the U.S. Commerce Department said.
July starts were lower than stock market investors had predicted, the Wall Street Journal said. The median forecast of 22 economists surveyed was a 4.6 percent drop to a 1.400 million annual rate. It was the lowest level of starts since 1.355 million in January 1997.
This week, the National Association of Home Builders said its August survey found members' confidence at the lowest since 1991.
Builders are discouraged by falling demand for new homes, bloated inventories and tight credit.
Top Mortgage Lender Faces Credit Crunch
UPI
go to original
Los Angeles - The mortgage lender calling itself No. 1 in the United States is reported facing widespread credit worries and maybe even bankruptcy.
Angelo Mozilo, chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., which made 1 of every 6 U.S. home loans in the U.S. in the first half of this year, says the company became a top mortgage lender by being smarter than the competition.
Mozilo denounced those he said shoveled out too many loans, too easily, to too many people with bad credit, heavy debt and skimpy income, the Los Angeles Times said. Never happened to him in 53 years, he boasted.
But, Countrywide now is battling not just its own growing defaults but also a widening credit crunch stemming from the nationwide sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
A report Wednesday said the company was having trouble borrowing money on a short-term basis and securities analysts discussed the possibility of a Countrywide bankruptcy.
The firm’s stock price tumbled 13 percent, bringing its loss for the year to 50 percent.
Countrywide employs 61,500 people. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us