Archive for the ‘housing bubble’ Category

Fix the housing crisis – eliminate interest

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

A great post by seekingalpha.com

History can give us guidance in fixing our real estate crisis.

“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…that all mortgage interest would be canceled. Thus, all mortgage payments would be credited 100% to principal.”

DHW asks: Do you think interest should be eliminated on existing mortgages?

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Posted in Housing, history, housing bubble, housing crisis, interest, julius caesar, mortgage | 1 Comment »

China trying to prevent its own housing bubble

Sunday, January 10th, 2010
China announced on Sunday that it will not allow foreign speculative investment to cause a run on home prices.
The directive calls on the central bank and banking regulators to increase oversight and “window guidance” of mortgage lending.
“Relevant departments must enhance monitoring of loans and cross-border investment to prevent illegal inflows of capital into the property market and to avoid the impact of overseas hot money on China’s real-estate market,” the government said.
Reuters reported that approx 1/6 of China’s 10 trillion yuan ($1,5 trillion) in new loans in 2009 flowed into the housing sector.
DHW asks: Do you think China’s plan will stave off a housing bubble?

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Posted in Housing, china, china housing bubble, chinese housing bubble, chinese housing market, foreign, housing bubble, housing marlet | 1 Comment »

Bernanke: low interest rates did not create housing bubble

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

From The Wall Street Journal:

“The Federal Reserve had a role in inflating the housing bubble, but it wasn’t low interest rates in the U.S. that fueled speculation in housing around the globe, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday.

Rather, it was lax supervision of toxic mortgages by the Fed and other bank regulators — along with excessive flows of capital around the globe — that inflated the bubble, setting up the world economy for what may have been the worst economic crisis in modern history, Bernanke said.”

DHW asks: Do you think low interest rates spurred the housing bubble?

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Posted in bernanke, housing bubble, interest rates, low interest rates | 1 Comment »