US House Prices Falling Faster Than During The Great Depression

Unbelievable that 95 percent of so called "Experts" didn´t see this coming....... These are often the same that are now calling for the bottom and are declaring the recession that never was is already over......

Unfassbar das selbst im Jahr 2006/2007 95% der sogennaten Experten das Unheil nicht haben kommen sehen.... In der Regel sind das dieselben "..............." ( möchte höflich bleiben ) die den Boden gesehen haben und die nicht vorhanden gewesene Rezession als beendet erklären.....

Economist America's house prices are falling even faster than during the Great Depression

AS HOUSE prices in America continue their rapid descent, market-watchers are having to cast back ever further for gloomy comparisons. The latest S&P/Case-Shiller national house-price index, published this week, showed a slump of 14.1% in the year to the first quarter, the worst since the index began 20 years ago. Now Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale University and co-inventor of the index, has compiled a version that stretches back over a century. This shows that the latest fall in nominal prices is already much bigger than the 10.5% drop in 1932, the worst point of the Depression. And things are even worse than they look. In the deflationary 1930s house prices declined less in real terms. Today inflation is running at a brisk pace, so property prices have fallen by a staggering 18% in real terms over the past year.

Countrywide Says `Unprecedented Disruptions' May Hurt Profit

Why is anybody surprised? Just read Countrywide .... Genius At Work...... to understand that this management is almost criminal and was mainly acting only to the benefit of themselves to unload their stock options. Here is a must see example via Mish of how unethical (to put it mildly) this guy is. Needles to say that Cramer praised Countrywide just a few month ago......

Wer ist hier überrascht ? Es langt sich Countrywide .... Genius At Work...... durchzulesen um zu verstehen das bei diesem Management der Laden den Bach runtergeht. Hier wurde in erster Linie darauf geachtet das Aktienoptionen versilbert werden konnten. Hier ein Beispiel das mehr als alles andere zeigt wie kriminell speziell der CEO agiert. Es ist überflüssig zu erwähnen das Guru Cramer die Aktie noch vor ein paar Monaten als "die Aktie" im US Hypothekenmarkt gepriesen hat

Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, said it faces ``unprecedented disruptions'' that may crimp profit, suggesting a credit crunch that started with the U.S. subprime market will spread.

Countrywide won't be able to sell as many of its loans as expected because investor demand has dried up, the Calabasas, California-based company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It also said it may have difficulty obtaining financing from creditors. Shares of the company fell as much as 13 percent in after-hours trading.

``The secondary market and funding liquidity situation is rapidly evolving, and the potential impact on the company is unknown,'' Countrywide said.

Shares of Countrywide, which have lost a third of their value this year, fell to $25 in late trading from $28.66 at yesterday's close in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

``We are experiencing home price depreciation almost like never before, with the exception of the Great Depression,'' Countrywide Chief Executive Officer Angelo Mozilo said during a conference call with investors last month.

> Here are some thought on the real estate market 1929 vs 2007

> Der amerikanische Immobilienmarkt damals (1929) und heute (2007)

Countrywide's allowance for credit losses was $531.1 million as of June 30, almost double the amount on Dec. 31, it said in the filing.

More Consolidation
Countrywide again assured investors that it has enough cash to cope with a credit crunch and said it may benefit as the industry's capacity shrinks. The company said earlier this week that it had access to $186.5 billion at mid-year.

> Not a o good sign when you have to do that.....

> Kein gutes Zeichen wenn man diesen Schritt gehen muß....

Still, Countrywide said it was no longer trying to sell $1 billion of subprime mortgage loans and would instead hold them as investments ``for the foreseeable future.'' The loans now have a value of about $800 million, Countrywide said.

Now he must address an increase in missed payments for prime loans, or those granted to borrowers with good credit histories. The company set aside $292.9 million for loan losses in the second quarter, compared with $61.9 million a year earlier, as it earmarked $181 million for prime home-equity loans.

> Time to take a look at all the houses that are weighing on the Countrywide balance sheet.... If they will survive they should considering to become a REIT :-)

> Zeit sich mal die Immobilien anzusehen die momentan die Bilanz belasten......Sollte Countrywide diese Krise überstehen in Erwägung ziehen als REIT zu firmieren :-)

Thanks to Dimitris and his excellent Countrywide Foreclosures Blog

Countrywide accounts for almost a fifth of all mortgages made in the U.S. The company revised its forecast of new loans to $420 billion to $500 billion this year, from $450 billion to $550 billion predicted in April. It extended $123.1 billion in new loans during the second quarter, 15 percent more than a year earlier.

Disclosure: Short KBW Mortgage Finance Index (including Countrywide)