cool interactive HPI calculator: More Fun With Real Estate Price to Income: Global Edition – By Paul Kedrosky – The Economist magazine has hugely facilitated making global comparisons of real estate prices to income via the following interactive chart. Check it out – Infectuous Greed Blog
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3 point plan – VIEWPOINT: HAFA Misses the Mark, But Has Potential – by GARY ACOSTA – HousingWire
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Another ‘Sneaky Pete’? – Bruce Krasting – … Basically Fannie and Freddie are going to be the new bankers for HFA (Housing Finance Agency ). Treasury is buying the debt for this, so the taxpayers are at risk. It is not that big a deal, yet. It starts out with a modest $28b. There was no discussion about this. There was no vote. … So how is a program of nearly $30b in federal subsidies not put on any budget? How is it there is no vote on this much money? This is substantially larger than California’s deficit. … – Bruce Krasting Blog
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interesting arguments – Finance Professor Says Most People Should Rent – Larry MacDonald – Seeking Alpha
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Yes, It’s Okay To Walk Away From Your Mortgage – Henry Blodget – … Importantly, the reason is not that “Wall Street deserves it” or “We’ve got to teach the banks a lesson” or any of the other bogus “retribution” logic being thrown around. The reason is that you and your lender engaged in an arms-length transaction in which you balanced your competing interests and spelled out your agreement and obligations in a clear contract. And unless that contract states that you have a “moral obligation to pay,” you don’t. … – Business Insider
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(Julius Caesar had) The PERFECT Solution for the U.S. Housing Crisis – Written by Jeff Nielson – … Faced with his own foreclosure-nightmare, Julius Caesar came up with a decisive and practical means to cure the solvency crisis which was at the heart of that real estate meltdown. Caesar decreed, according to Armstrong, that all mortgage interest would be canceled. Thus, all mortgage payments … – Bullion Bulls Canada
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unintended consequences? – Is Slashing Mortgage Principal the Answer? – By James R. Hagerty – … How would principal reductions induce more people to walk away? Let’s say your neighbor, who hasn’t made any payments on his loan for months, gets a huge reduction in his loan balance. Meanwhile, you’ve been working three jobs and dining on cat food to pay your note each month. Your reward from the bank? Zilch. So maybe you’d decide to stop paying, too, in the hope of the same deal your neighbor got. … – WSJ Blogs