Fannie Mae Getting Bubble Jitters
In a recent report to homebuilders, Fannie Mae said that the probability of housing busts has “risen sharply in certain parts of the country.” Fannie Mae, which along with Freddie Mac, helped finance 43% of all home loans in 2004, raised particular concern about lending standards and the rising tendency of buyers to use variable…
In a recent report to homebuilders, Fannie Mae said that the probability of housing busts has “risen sharply in certain parts of the country.” Fannie Mae, which along with Freddie Mac, helped finance 43% of all home loans in 2004, raised particular concern about lending standards and the rising tendency of buyers to use variable and interest-only mortgage products. Nearly 24% of sub-prime loans fell into one of those two categories last year. The report also noted that mortgage borrowings rose to an average of 91% of the home value in 2004, up 6% from 85% in 2001. Of course, the report came with the big fat disclaimer that it is impossible to know whether there is a housing “bubble” until after the fact.
Comment: So tell us something we don’t know.
Fannie Sees Higher Risk of Regional Housing Busts [WSJ]
Have you seen this before? It’s a number guessing game: http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/guessthenumber.html. I guessed 82317, and it got it right! Pretty neat.
Nevertheless, all the talk of a “bubble” intensified after his Greatness Greenspan pontificated on the subject.
Have any of these lame-brain journalists checked the prices of commodities? For example, copper is up over 50% over the past five years. Lumber is up 25%. The prices of commodities and hard assets have surged over the past 5 years, and yet, all that the journalists and Greenspan can point to are rising house prices.
I think Greenspan was a little late to the game acknowledging the potential bubble…people have been talking about it for a long time
These bubble articles are a pathetic example of how his Emperor-ship Greenspan utters some nonsense and all the shill journalists follow suit. What ever happened to creative and original thinking in the media? How come no journalist has the guts or wisdom to question the whole validity of a central planner in Washington (i.e., Greenspan) pontificating on anything and everything under the sun?
On the contrary, it’s a fascinating topic. The only dull part is that there isn’t a resolution on the topic and that the worry continues.
All these bubble articles are getting a little dull, don’t you think?