In May 2009 the first annual report (code section 40.07.353) on Workforce Housing, and it's "success", was prepared by the New Castle County Department of Land Use.
Here are a very few of the business and news reports about the housing industry, etc, in the year thereafter:
Here are a very few of the business and news reports about the housing industry, etc, in the year thereafter:
Washington Post, 5/28/09 Number of Home Sales Rises, But Prices Keep Plummeting
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/27/AR2009052701350_pf.html
"Despite the rise from March to April, a glut of foreclosed homes on the market is pushing down prices, and the housing market remains weak, analysts said. Distressed properties make up 45 percent of the market, and that will get worse as rising unemployment pushes more borrowers into foreclosure, the analysts said.
"Despite the rise from March to April, a glut of foreclosed homes on the market is pushing down prices, and the housing market remains weak, analysts said. Distressed properties make up 45 percent of the market, and that will get worse as rising unemployment pushes more borrowers into foreclosure, the analysts said.
There were already too many homes on the market, and the inventory increased nearly 9 percent last month. At the current pace, it would take 10.2 months to sell all of them, according to the industry data.
"These figures just go to show that anyone expecting a drastic rebound in sales, or an imminent rebound in home prices, is going to be disappointed," said Mike Larson, a housing analyst at Weiss Research. "We still have a large mountain of inventory we need to chisel away at. It won't happen quickly."The excess inventory is also putting pressure on median home prices, which fell to $170,200, down 15.4 percent in April compared with the same period a year earlier. That was the second-largest price decline.."
or 5/28/10, Wall Street Journal, Number of Home Sales Rises, But Prices Keep Plummetinghttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB124351361133562355.html
"New homes are now sitting on the market for a median 10.9 months before selling, and completed homes still comprise an extraordinarily high share of total homes for sale.Even with some normalization of unsold inventory of newly constructed homes, it’s unlikely that the real estate market can support any significant pick-up in homebuilding activity in the foreseeable future. That’s because foreclosure activity is still increasing and these properties are flooding the market." –David Greenlaw, Morgan Stanley
or the 7/9/09 quote from Warren Buffett to CNBChttp://www.cnbc.com/id/31836625/
BUFFETT: " There is no silver bullet. I mean, the original cause of this was the housing bubble. Now a lot of things were contributing to it and flowed out of it and all of that. We built a couple million housing units a year. We formed a million, three-hundred thousand households a year, surprise, we had too many houses at a point. You can't work that off in a day, or a week, or a month. The best thing we can do is not to be building a lot of new houses now. I mean, we will work off the excess inventory faster. If you want to end the recession as soon as possible, you do nothing to encourage new housing construction. Very tough on the home builders but that is the prescription for getting supply and demand back into balance."
or CNBC 8/20/09 : What Recovery? New-Home Market Remains in Deep Slumphttp://www.cnbc.com/id/32489037
"By virtually every measure, the new single-family home market remains in a fairly deep slump:
Sales of new homes are down 72 percent from their 2005 peak, while existing ones are off 24 percent from their peak a year later.
As a percentage of total sales, new homes are well off their historical average of roughly of 12.5 percent and the 16-percent average share of the 2005-2006 boom period. In 2008, market share was down to 10 percent and is running under 8 percent so far this year.
Inventory, which peaked at 14-3-months of supply in January, is down to 7.9 percent, but still far from the 5.9-percent level of December 2006, right as the market was turning lower.
Housing starts overall are down 71-percent from 2005 "....
or the Wall Street Journal, 9/24/09 Housing Recovery Obstacle: So Many Houses http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12537455...realestate
"More important, there are still too many houses on the market -- 9.4 months' worth of existing homes for sale in July, according to NAR data. The backlog is usually closer to six.
Nearly seven million housing units will eventually enter foreclosure, mortgage-backed-securities strategists at Amherst Securities Group, a brokerage firm that deals in MBS, estimated on Wednesday. That could add 1.35 years' worth of inventory to the market."..
or CNBC 10/8/09 , Don't Know What Your House Is Worth? You're Not Alone
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33214414
..'A new survey from real estate website Trulia.com finds that 25.6 percent of homes currently on the market in the United States, as of Oct. 1, 2009, have experienced at least one price cut. That's for the fourth straight month. The total amount of presumed home equity slashed is $28.4 billion, or almost a billion dollar increase from June. .."
or New York Times, 10/8/09 : Roubini Says Housing Market Hasn't Bottomedhttp://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/08/business/business-us-usa-housing-roubini.html?scp=3&sq=Roubini&st=cse
"U.S. housing prices may still fall more than 10 percent, killing an incipient recovery, as demand from first-time home buyers fades, leading economist Nouriel Roubini said on Thursday.
Roubini, one of the few economists who accurately predicted the magnitude of the financial crisis, said massive losses in commercial real estate loans will add to the problem, forcing banks to raise more capital.
"The stress is moving from residential mortgages that are still in deep trouble, to commercial real estate, where they are just starting to recognize that they're going to have massive, massive losses," ....
or the New York Times 11/10/09, Median Home Prices Fell Nationwide in 3Qhttp://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/10/business/AP-US-Metro-Home-Prices.html
"A real estate group says home prices fell in eight out of every 10 U.S. cities in the third quarter of this year as heavily discounted distressed sales made up 30 percent of all deals."...
The national median price clocked in at $177,900, or 11 percent below the third quarter last year."...
or Barrons , 11/19/09 : Housing Recovery Built on Sandhttp://online.barrons.com/article/SB125858375944554495.html?mod=BOL_hpp_dc
or the New York Times, 11/24/09 : Home Prices May Be Nearing a New Dip http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25home.html?_r=1&hp
or the LATimes, 12/22/09 , More prime mortgages default in 3rd quarter
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fo...9044.story
or CNBC, 1/19/10 : Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners , hedgefund and author of More Mortgage Meltdown http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1390506165&play=1
"no need for any new homes for years"
5/27/09 interview on Bloomberg News he carried an identical message: More housing price deline can be expected;
prime mortgages ane starting to default; "If I were the housing Czar I would mandate no new housing construction for 2-4 years so we could get back to a normal housing inventory level."
or the Washington Post, 1/26/10 , Existing-home sales take a big fall in December
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...02164.html
....For all of 2009, the median existing-home prices fell to $173,500, down 12.4 percent from $198,100 in 2008.
or Marketwatch 2/10/10 : Reversal of fortune
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/early-s...2010-02-10
"One in five housing markets entered a second leg of home price declines in late 2009, after showing price increases for nearly half of last year, according to a report released Wednesday by Zillow.com, a real-estate Web site."...
The next few months will likely show more declines in home values in most markets, Humphries said. But he expects that, on a national basis, home prices should still hit bottom by the middle of the year.
"Thereafter," he said, "home values are likely to bounce along the bottom with real appreciation remaining negligible for some time." ...
or the Washington Post, 3/12/10, New round of foreclosures threatens housing market
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...id=topnews
" About 5 million to 7 million properties are potentially eligible for foreclosure but have not yet been repossessed and put up for sale. Some economists project it could take nearly three years before all these homes have been put on the market and purchased by new owners. And the number of pending foreclosures could grow much bigger over the coming year as more distressed borrowers become delinquent and then, if they can't obtain mortgage relief, wade through the foreclosure process, which often takes more than a year to complete.
As these foreclosed properties add to the supply of homes for sale, they could undercut housing prices,..."
or Marketwatch 3/23/10, Housing's dead-cat bounce is deflated
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing...2010-03-23
.."Sales of existing homes fell in February, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday, marking a string of three straight declines since the tax credit got its second life. Just as vexing: The inventory of homes for sale climbed quite a bit, and median prices continued to decline, although at a slowing pace..."
or the News Journal , 4/11/10,[b] Recovering lost home equity may take yearsttp://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100411/BUSINESS/4110347/1003/BUSINESS/Recovering-lost-home-equity-may-take-years
... The issue is simply supply and demand. Housing prices won't rebound -- and reclaim lost equity -- until real estate inventory decreases. More homes on the market give buyers more options, which depresses prices....or Forbes, 4/9/10, How High Can Housing Go in 2010?
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/09/price-r...newsletter
Spencer: We're seeing a lot of markets experiencing a "double dip" already, where they had recovered but are now declining again. The second dip won't be nearly as bad as the first dip (which was more like a free-fall than a dip), but it will be a dip nonetheless...
or Marketwatch, 4/15/10, Foreclosures up in 1st quarter; real-estate owned at record
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-fore...beforebell
.."U.S. properties subject to foreclosure action in the first quarter rose 16% from the year-earlier quarter and 7% from fourth-quarter 2009, consultant RealtyTrac reported Thursday. .."
------------------------------------------
We have now reached the month of April, 2010 in this chronology, when the second annual report on Workforce Housing was prepared by the New Castle County Department of Land Use for County Council.
On April 1, 2010, in preparation for a quarterly meeting with County Executive Chris Coons the following request was electronically submitted:
"To: Nicole Majeski,
From Southern New Castle County Alliance:
Regarding UDC section 40.07.353, we are seeking the report(s) mandated therein, as well as all " factors ... contributing to the success or failure of the ordinance", including identification of all referenced / consulted real estate data, such as the Case- Shiller index, foreclosure counts from the New Castle County Sheriff, and data on existing homes, including those within incorporated areas of New Castle County. We are also requesting whether this data was compared to the "Recital's" pages,( #1 &2) of Ordinance 07-150 for current accuracy, as well as "shadow (foreclosure) inventory" compiled by banks and mortgage companies after the severe financial turmoil witnessed in the timeline this ordinance was adopted and thereafter.
Below in the code section copied from both the hard copy of the ordinance 07-150, as well as the County website: [/i]
Sec. 40.07.353. Annual reporting.The Department shall provide County Council with an annual report on the use and effectiveness of this program which shall be discussed at a Council Committee Meeting open to the public. The first report shall be due twelve (12) months following the effective date of adoption of this Ordinance. The annual report will also recommend amendments to this Division and Chapter 40 of the New Castle County Code based upon a performance standard of twenty (20) percent of new housing units being produced as workforce. The report should include details about how well the ordinance is providing diverse housing options, how well the workforce dwelling units are being distributed throughout the County, and what factors are contributing to the success or failure of the ordinance. The recommendation report may include suggestions such as increasing the incentives, decreasing the incentives, reducing additional restrictions or imposing additional requirements. Subsequent reports shall be provided to Council every year thereafter.
(Ord. No. 07-150, § 1, 2-26-2008)
On April 21, 2010 the meeting took place with Mr. Coons, accompanied by Council President Paul Clark, Chief Administrative Officer Rick Gregory, and Land Use assistant manager George Haggerty. No one from the county side of the table had any idea about what I requested, even though (2) reports should have already been compiled under the wording of the ordinance. Paul Clark even volunteered to contact the council members with the Land Use committee to inquire about the report. In the days thereafter,as I continued to press for the mandated report, it was revealed through council member Penrose Hollins that the report had been distributed to Council (16) days prior to the above described meeting with the Executive. With continued questioning about the report, a copy was furnished through yet another council member. Here is a synopsis of the report prepared by David M. Culver, Land Use General Manager, dated April 5, 2010, and addressed to Paul Clark, with copied to Chris Coons and Rick Gregory:
"prepared pursuant to 40.07.353" (page 1)
" (17) development applications" (totaling 4551 units) (page 2 and 4)
" The legislation was an immediate success within the development community....many residents became wary that property values would suffer due to the number of units proposed in such a difficult real estate economy..." ( Page 3)" during calendar year 2009 (4) of the plans ( 1,014 lots ) expired.." (Page 3)
" In summary, Council has successfully adopted and revised a residential program intended to provide an adequate and diverse supply of housing opportunities to local residents who desire to live and work in New Castle County. During its first year in existence the Workforce Housing Program generated a great interest and significant amount of development activity...received (17) plans...."
"No new workforce housing proposals have been received...following minor revisions to the program." (page 4)
Given the written concerns " many residents became wary that property values would suffer due to the number of units proposed in such a difficult real estate economy..."
did New Castle County heed any outside data, housing count, price drops, foreclosure increases, or proceed with business as usual since the conclusion" immediate success within the development community ".???
(15) days after the April 5, 2010 report was dated, Bayberry North was approved by the Department of Land Use with extra density for Workforce Housing, with a new total of (951) lots, including (39) WFH units.
So what was in the business/ housing news therafter?
CNBC, 5/10/10 Home Values Continue To Fall, More Owners 'Underwater'
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37020439
.."Home prices nationally fell 3.8 percent in the first quarter from a year ago and 1 percent from the previous quarter, according to a new report from Zillow.com. That marks the 13th consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines...".
Nuwireinvestor, 5/26/10, Report Estimates That Foreclosure Pipeline Includes 8 Million Homes http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/r...55267.aspx
.."The shadow inventory of homes with delinquent mortgages yet to move through the foreclosure process would take 47 months to clear at the current sales rate in the market, according to a newly-published housing finance report from Morgan Stanley .."
NYTimes, 6/9/10, Bernanke Warns of ‘Unsustainable’ Debt
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/busine...f=business
...'but also cautioned that “underlying housing activity appears to have firmed only a little since mid-2009, with activity being weighed down, in part, by a large inventory of distressed or vacant existing houses and by the difficulties of many builders in obtaining credit.”
Forbes, 7/7/10, Housing Double Dip Appears To Be Underway
http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/07/housing...newsletter
.."But a review of the best preliminary data available indicates that the recovery in home values that began in early 2009 has stalled. A second dip is clearly under way in some places, if not across the entire U.S...
In a report released last month analysts at investment bank Goldman Sachs said their own review of housing data available at the time showed 2009's recovery in values had stalled. U.S. housing values will fall 3% in the coming year, ...
"I'm not sure you can even call this a double-dip, because I'm not sure we ever got out of the first dip," says Radar Logic Chief Executive Michael Feder. "Last year I think buyers moved in because prices were so low, but we've seen such a massive inflow of supply because of foreclosures and the big inventory of foreclosures to come.
CNBC, 7/14/10 Home Sellers Slashing Prices, While Banks Mow the Lawn
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38244093
"As of July 1st, 24 percent of sellers on the market had cut their asking prices at least once, according to Trulia.com.
That's up 9 percent from the previous month and represents about $27 billion worth of vanished national home equity (or home equity hopes)....
New foreclosure notices need to drop, not just bump around at their near-record highs. And frankly the bank repossession number is a much bigger deal, because that is going to translate into immediate inventory on the market.,,
Wall Street Journal, 8/3/10, Glut of Houses Holds Back Housing Market, Economy
blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/08/03/glut-of-houses-holds-back-housing-market-economy/
"Tuesday’s pending home sales reportis the latest indicator that the U.S. housing market is bogged down by an inventory problem: Too many houses, not enough buyers..."
Federal Reserve Beige Book report, 7/28/10
http://www.federalreserve.gov/fomc/beige...efault.htm
"The Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Kansas City Districts reported that home sales are expected to weaken going forward....."
News Journal, 8/11/10, July home sales lag across Delaware
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20...s+Delaware
" Compared to 2009, July sales of new and existing homes were off ...39.3 percent in New Castle County.".
CNBC, 8/12/10 Foreclosure Math: Shadow Inventory Adds Up
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38680807
CNBC, 9/15/10 Home Price Double Dip Begins
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39192979
CNBC 9/16/10 Foreclosures Rise; Repossessions Set Record
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39192246
CNBC 9/17/10 New Housing Worries
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39233680
CNBC 9/20/10 Foreclosures Hit Home Builders Hard
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39270272
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So with the data on housing inventory, ignored in the first (2) annual reports on Workforce Housing, continuing to mount weekly, did the County operation realize any point, other than .." The legislation was an immediate success within the development community.?
Was there a hint of consideration for the now documented concerns of County residents..
...."many residents became wary that property values would suffer due to the number of units proposed in such a difficult real estate economy" ??
On October 21, 2010 another Workforce Housing Plan was aproved by the New Castle County Department of Land Use, namely Goldsborough Farm on Fieldsboro Road, Townsend, for 144 new lots, including (13) WFH units, an area far, far from any employment ( see 40.07.310C), and without any mass transit.
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Now for more news about "need" for additional housing units, data excluded from any reports prepared within New Castle County government...
WallStreetJournal, 10/30/10 Number of the Week: 107 Months to Clear Banks’ Housing Backlog
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/10/3...g-backlog/
CNBC, 11/8/10 Three F's in Housing Spell Trouble
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40074628
CNBC 11/22/10 As Shadow Inventory Grows, Time for More Subsidy?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40319531
NYTimes 11/23/10 U.S. Home Sales Fell Sharply in October
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/busine...f=business
Bloomberg 12/9/10 Home Values to Drop by $1.7 Trillion This Year, Zillow Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-09...-says.html
Housingwire/ Morgan Stanley 5/25/10 Shadow Inventory Could Take Four Years to Clear: Morgan Stanley ( this report located on 12/10/10)
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/05/25/sh...an-stanley
Marketwatch 12/13/10 More foreclosures, home-price drops on tap in 2011
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-fo...2010-12-13
"High volume of foreclosures in the pipeline means a rough year ahead..."
----------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The items noted herein are but a fraction of the publicly available reports on the housing industry, and expert, financial comments. In a brief search of New Castle County campaign donations, none of the expert names were located. The names of the developers related to the approved and submitted plans, however, were located, repeatedly.
and the latest news item on the new County leadership:
News Journal, 12/13/10 Harry Themal : 'Best-prepared' Clark placing his own stamp on NCCo government
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20...government
..."whether more land shouldn't be zoned to allow greater-density homes and whether that would create more affordable housing..."
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As noted in prior posts to this website, Southen New Castle County Alliance officers have worked with State legislators to achieve a level; of transparency for any "new" buyers who may consider a home purchase in "affordable housing" projects. Thusfar no legislation has been adopted that provides prospective buyers with all the myriad details within the New Castle County law which encourages new homes for everyone. That such a mentality brought the world to the financial abyss we all see around us ( too many items on that conclusion to include in this post), we believe that buyers have a right to know about "regression", as defined in all the real estate assessment books, and "Non-Uniform maintenance fees", as allowed under county code section 40.07.345.
"These figures just go to show that anyone expecting a drastic rebound in sales, or an imminent rebound in home prices, is going to be disappointed," said Mike Larson, a housing analyst at Weiss Research. "We still have a large mountain of inventory we need to chisel away at. It won't happen quickly."The excess inventory is also putting pressure on median home prices, which fell to $170,200, down 15.4 percent in April compared with the same period a year earlier. That was the second-largest price decline.."
or 5/28/10, Wall Street Journal, Number of Home Sales Rises, But Prices Keep Plummetinghttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB124351361133562355.html
"New homes are now sitting on the market for a median 10.9 months before selling, and completed homes still comprise an extraordinarily high share of total homes for sale.Even with some normalization of unsold inventory of newly constructed homes, it’s unlikely that the real estate market can support any significant pick-up in homebuilding activity in the foreseeable future. That’s because foreclosure activity is still increasing and these properties are flooding the market." –David Greenlaw, Morgan Stanley
or the 7/9/09 quote from Warren Buffett to CNBChttp://www.cnbc.com/id/31836625/
BUFFETT: " There is no silver bullet. I mean, the original cause of this was the housing bubble. Now a lot of things were contributing to it and flowed out of it and all of that. We built a couple million housing units a year. We formed a million, three-hundred thousand households a year, surprise, we had too many houses at a point. You can't work that off in a day, or a week, or a month. The best thing we can do is not to be building a lot of new houses now. I mean, we will work off the excess inventory faster. If you want to end the recession as soon as possible, you do nothing to encourage new housing construction. Very tough on the home builders but that is the prescription for getting supply and demand back into balance."
or CNBC 8/20/09 : What Recovery? New-Home Market Remains in Deep Slumphttp://www.cnbc.com/id/32489037
"By virtually every measure, the new single-family home market remains in a fairly deep slump:
Sales of new homes are down 72 percent from their 2005 peak, while existing ones are off 24 percent from their peak a year later.
As a percentage of total sales, new homes are well off their historical average of roughly of 12.5 percent and the 16-percent average share of the 2005-2006 boom period. In 2008, market share was down to 10 percent and is running under 8 percent so far this year.
Inventory, which peaked at 14-3-months of supply in January, is down to 7.9 percent, but still far from the 5.9-percent level of December 2006, right as the market was turning lower.
Housing starts overall are down 71-percent from 2005 "....
or the Wall Street Journal, 9/24/09 Housing Recovery Obstacle: So Many Houses http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12537455...realestate
"More important, there are still too many houses on the market -- 9.4 months' worth of existing homes for sale in July, according to NAR data. The backlog is usually closer to six.
Nearly seven million housing units will eventually enter foreclosure, mortgage-backed-securities strategists at Amherst Securities Group, a brokerage firm that deals in MBS, estimated on Wednesday. That could add 1.35 years' worth of inventory to the market."..
or CNBC 10/8/09 , Don't Know What Your House Is Worth? You're Not Alone
http://www.cnbc.com/id/33214414
..'A new survey from real estate website Trulia.com finds that 25.6 percent of homes currently on the market in the United States, as of Oct. 1, 2009, have experienced at least one price cut. That's for the fourth straight month. The total amount of presumed home equity slashed is $28.4 billion, or almost a billion dollar increase from June. .."
or New York Times, 10/8/09 : Roubini Says Housing Market Hasn't Bottomedhttp://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/08/business/business-us-usa-housing-roubini.html?scp=3&sq=Roubini&st=cse
"U.S. housing prices may still fall more than 10 percent, killing an incipient recovery, as demand from first-time home buyers fades, leading economist Nouriel Roubini said on Thursday.
Roubini, one of the few economists who accurately predicted the magnitude of the financial crisis, said massive losses in commercial real estate loans will add to the problem, forcing banks to raise more capital.
"The stress is moving from residential mortgages that are still in deep trouble, to commercial real estate, where they are just starting to recognize that they're going to have massive, massive losses," ....
or the New York Times 11/10/09, Median Home Prices Fell Nationwide in 3Qhttp://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/10/business/AP-US-Metro-Home-Prices.html
"A real estate group says home prices fell in eight out of every 10 U.S. cities in the third quarter of this year as heavily discounted distressed sales made up 30 percent of all deals."...
The national median price clocked in at $177,900, or 11 percent below the third quarter last year."...
or Barrons , 11/19/09 : Housing Recovery Built on Sandhttp://online.barrons.com/article/SB125858375944554495.html?mod=BOL_hpp_dc
or the New York Times, 11/24/09 : Home Prices May Be Nearing a New Dip http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/business/economy/25home.html?_r=1&hp
or the LATimes, 12/22/09 , More prime mortgages default in 3rd quarter
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fo...9044.story
or CNBC, 1/19/10 : Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners , hedgefund and author of More Mortgage Meltdown http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1390506165&play=1
"no need for any new homes for years"
5/27/09 interview on Bloomberg News he carried an identical message: More housing price deline can be expected;
prime mortgages ane starting to default; "If I were the housing Czar I would mandate no new housing construction for 2-4 years so we could get back to a normal housing inventory level."
or the Washington Post, 1/26/10 , Existing-home sales take a big fall in December
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...02164.html
....For all of 2009, the median existing-home prices fell to $173,500, down 12.4 percent from $198,100 in 2008.
or Marketwatch 2/10/10 : Reversal of fortune
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/early-s...2010-02-10
"One in five housing markets entered a second leg of home price declines in late 2009, after showing price increases for nearly half of last year, according to a report released Wednesday by Zillow.com, a real-estate Web site."...
The next few months will likely show more declines in home values in most markets, Humphries said. But he expects that, on a national basis, home prices should still hit bottom by the middle of the year.
"Thereafter," he said, "home values are likely to bounce along the bottom with real appreciation remaining negligible for some time." ...
or the Washington Post, 3/12/10, New round of foreclosures threatens housing market
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...id=topnews
" About 5 million to 7 million properties are potentially eligible for foreclosure but have not yet been repossessed and put up for sale. Some economists project it could take nearly three years before all these homes have been put on the market and purchased by new owners. And the number of pending foreclosures could grow much bigger over the coming year as more distressed borrowers become delinquent and then, if they can't obtain mortgage relief, wade through the foreclosure process, which often takes more than a year to complete.
As these foreclosed properties add to the supply of homes for sale, they could undercut housing prices,..."
or Marketwatch 3/23/10, Housing's dead-cat bounce is deflated
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing...2010-03-23
.."Sales of existing homes fell in February, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday, marking a string of three straight declines since the tax credit got its second life. Just as vexing: The inventory of homes for sale climbed quite a bit, and median prices continued to decline, although at a slowing pace..."
or the News Journal , 4/11/10,[b] Recovering lost home equity may take yearsttp://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100411/BUSINESS/4110347/1003/BUSINESS/Recovering-lost-home-equity-may-take-years
... The issue is simply supply and demand. Housing prices won't rebound -- and reclaim lost equity -- until real estate inventory decreases. More homes on the market give buyers more options, which depresses prices....or Forbes, 4/9/10, How High Can Housing Go in 2010?
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/09/price-r...newsletter
Spencer: We're seeing a lot of markets experiencing a "double dip" already, where they had recovered but are now declining again. The second dip won't be nearly as bad as the first dip (which was more like a free-fall than a dip), but it will be a dip nonetheless...
or Marketwatch, 4/15/10, Foreclosures up in 1st quarter; real-estate owned at record
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-fore...beforebell
.."U.S. properties subject to foreclosure action in the first quarter rose 16% from the year-earlier quarter and 7% from fourth-quarter 2009, consultant RealtyTrac reported Thursday. .."
------------------------------------------
We have now reached the month of April, 2010 in this chronology, when the second annual report on Workforce Housing was prepared by the New Castle County Department of Land Use for County Council.
On April 1, 2010, in preparation for a quarterly meeting with County Executive Chris Coons the following request was electronically submitted:
"To: Nicole Majeski,
From Southern New Castle County Alliance:
Regarding UDC section 40.07.353, we are seeking the report(s) mandated therein, as well as all " factors ... contributing to the success or failure of the ordinance", including identification of all referenced / consulted real estate data, such as the Case- Shiller index, foreclosure counts from the New Castle County Sheriff, and data on existing homes, including those within incorporated areas of New Castle County. We are also requesting whether this data was compared to the "Recital's" pages,( #1 &2) of Ordinance 07-150 for current accuracy, as well as "shadow (foreclosure) inventory" compiled by banks and mortgage companies after the severe financial turmoil witnessed in the timeline this ordinance was adopted and thereafter.
Below in the code section copied from both the hard copy of the ordinance 07-150, as well as the County website: [/i]
Sec. 40.07.353. Annual reporting.The Department shall provide County Council with an annual report on the use and effectiveness of this program which shall be discussed at a Council Committee Meeting open to the public. The first report shall be due twelve (12) months following the effective date of adoption of this Ordinance. The annual report will also recommend amendments to this Division and Chapter 40 of the New Castle County Code based upon a performance standard of twenty (20) percent of new housing units being produced as workforce. The report should include details about how well the ordinance is providing diverse housing options, how well the workforce dwelling units are being distributed throughout the County, and what factors are contributing to the success or failure of the ordinance. The recommendation report may include suggestions such as increasing the incentives, decreasing the incentives, reducing additional restrictions or imposing additional requirements. Subsequent reports shall be provided to Council every year thereafter.
(Ord. No. 07-150, § 1, 2-26-2008)
On April 21, 2010 the meeting took place with Mr. Coons, accompanied by Council President Paul Clark, Chief Administrative Officer Rick Gregory, and Land Use assistant manager George Haggerty. No one from the county side of the table had any idea about what I requested, even though (2) reports should have already been compiled under the wording of the ordinance. Paul Clark even volunteered to contact the council members with the Land Use committee to inquire about the report. In the days thereafter,as I continued to press for the mandated report, it was revealed through council member Penrose Hollins that the report had been distributed to Council (16) days prior to the above described meeting with the Executive. With continued questioning about the report, a copy was furnished through yet another council member. Here is a synopsis of the report prepared by David M. Culver, Land Use General Manager, dated April 5, 2010, and addressed to Paul Clark, with copied to Chris Coons and Rick Gregory:
"prepared pursuant to 40.07.353" (page 1)
" (17) development applications" (totaling 4551 units) (page 2 and 4)
" The legislation was an immediate success within the development community....many residents became wary that property values would suffer due to the number of units proposed in such a difficult real estate economy..." ( Page 3)" during calendar year 2009 (4) of the plans ( 1,014 lots ) expired.." (Page 3)
" In summary, Council has successfully adopted and revised a residential program intended to provide an adequate and diverse supply of housing opportunities to local residents who desire to live and work in New Castle County. During its first year in existence the Workforce Housing Program generated a great interest and significant amount of development activity...received (17) plans...."
"No new workforce housing proposals have been received...following minor revisions to the program." (page 4)
Given the written concerns " many residents became wary that property values would suffer due to the number of units proposed in such a difficult real estate economy..."
did New Castle County heed any outside data, housing count, price drops, foreclosure increases, or proceed with business as usual since the conclusion" immediate success within the development community ".???
(15) days after the April 5, 2010 report was dated, Bayberry North was approved by the Department of Land Use with extra density for Workforce Housing, with a new total of (951) lots, including (39) WFH units.
So what was in the business/ housing news therafter?
CNBC, 5/10/10 Home Values Continue To Fall, More Owners 'Underwater'
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37020439
.."Home prices nationally fell 3.8 percent in the first quarter from a year ago and 1 percent from the previous quarter, according to a new report from Zillow.com. That marks the 13th consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines...".
Nuwireinvestor, 5/26/10, Report Estimates That Foreclosure Pipeline Includes 8 Million Homes http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/r...55267.aspx
.."The shadow inventory of homes with delinquent mortgages yet to move through the foreclosure process would take 47 months to clear at the current sales rate in the market, according to a newly-published housing finance report from Morgan Stanley .."
NYTimes, 6/9/10, Bernanke Warns of ‘Unsustainable’ Debt
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/busine...f=business
...'but also cautioned that “underlying housing activity appears to have firmed only a little since mid-2009, with activity being weighed down, in part, by a large inventory of distressed or vacant existing houses and by the difficulties of many builders in obtaining credit.”
Forbes, 7/7/10, Housing Double Dip Appears To Be Underway
http://www.forbes.com/2010/07/07/housing...newsletter
.."But a review of the best preliminary data available indicates that the recovery in home values that began in early 2009 has stalled. A second dip is clearly under way in some places, if not across the entire U.S...
In a report released last month analysts at investment bank Goldman Sachs said their own review of housing data available at the time showed 2009's recovery in values had stalled. U.S. housing values will fall 3% in the coming year, ...
"I'm not sure you can even call this a double-dip, because I'm not sure we ever got out of the first dip," says Radar Logic Chief Executive Michael Feder. "Last year I think buyers moved in because prices were so low, but we've seen such a massive inflow of supply because of foreclosures and the big inventory of foreclosures to come.
CNBC, 7/14/10 Home Sellers Slashing Prices, While Banks Mow the Lawn
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38244093
"As of July 1st, 24 percent of sellers on the market had cut their asking prices at least once, according to Trulia.com.
That's up 9 percent from the previous month and represents about $27 billion worth of vanished national home equity (or home equity hopes)....
New foreclosure notices need to drop, not just bump around at their near-record highs. And frankly the bank repossession number is a much bigger deal, because that is going to translate into immediate inventory on the market.,,
Wall Street Journal, 8/3/10, Glut of Houses Holds Back Housing Market, Economy
blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/08/03/glut-of-houses-holds-back-housing-market-economy/
"Tuesday’s pending home sales reportis the latest indicator that the U.S. housing market is bogged down by an inventory problem: Too many houses, not enough buyers..."
Federal Reserve Beige Book report, 7/28/10
http://www.federalreserve.gov/fomc/beige...efault.htm
"The Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Kansas City Districts reported that home sales are expected to weaken going forward....."
News Journal, 8/11/10, July home sales lag across Delaware
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20...s+Delaware
" Compared to 2009, July sales of new and existing homes were off ...39.3 percent in New Castle County.".
CNBC, 8/12/10 Foreclosure Math: Shadow Inventory Adds Up
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38680807
CNBC, 9/15/10 Home Price Double Dip Begins
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39192979
CNBC 9/16/10 Foreclosures Rise; Repossessions Set Record
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39192246
CNBC 9/17/10 New Housing Worries
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39233680
CNBC 9/20/10 Foreclosures Hit Home Builders Hard
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39270272
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So with the data on housing inventory, ignored in the first (2) annual reports on Workforce Housing, continuing to mount weekly, did the County operation realize any point, other than .." The legislation was an immediate success within the development community.?
Was there a hint of consideration for the now documented concerns of County residents..
...."many residents became wary that property values would suffer due to the number of units proposed in such a difficult real estate economy" ??
On October 21, 2010 another Workforce Housing Plan was aproved by the New Castle County Department of Land Use, namely Goldsborough Farm on Fieldsboro Road, Townsend, for 144 new lots, including (13) WFH units, an area far, far from any employment ( see 40.07.310C), and without any mass transit.
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Now for more news about "need" for additional housing units, data excluded from any reports prepared within New Castle County government...
WallStreetJournal, 10/30/10 Number of the Week: 107 Months to Clear Banks’ Housing Backlog
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/10/3...g-backlog/
CNBC, 11/8/10 Three F's in Housing Spell Trouble
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40074628
CNBC 11/22/10 As Shadow Inventory Grows, Time for More Subsidy?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40319531
NYTimes 11/23/10 U.S. Home Sales Fell Sharply in October
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/busine...f=business
Bloomberg 12/9/10 Home Values to Drop by $1.7 Trillion This Year, Zillow Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-09...-says.html
Housingwire/ Morgan Stanley 5/25/10 Shadow Inventory Could Take Four Years to Clear: Morgan Stanley ( this report located on 12/10/10)
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/05/25/sh...an-stanley
Marketwatch 12/13/10 More foreclosures, home-price drops on tap in 2011
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-fo...2010-12-13
"High volume of foreclosures in the pipeline means a rough year ahead..."
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Note: The items noted herein are but a fraction of the publicly available reports on the housing industry, and expert, financial comments. In a brief search of New Castle County campaign donations, none of the expert names were located. The names of the developers related to the approved and submitted plans, however, were located, repeatedly.
and the latest news item on the new County leadership:
News Journal, 12/13/10 Harry Themal : 'Best-prepared' Clark placing his own stamp on NCCo government
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20...government
..."whether more land shouldn't be zoned to allow greater-density homes and whether that would create more affordable housing..."
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As noted in prior posts to this website, Southen New Castle County Alliance officers have worked with State legislators to achieve a level; of transparency for any "new" buyers who may consider a home purchase in "affordable housing" projects. Thusfar no legislation has been adopted that provides prospective buyers with all the myriad details within the New Castle County law which encourages new homes for everyone. That such a mentality brought the world to the financial abyss we all see around us ( too many items on that conclusion to include in this post), we believe that buyers have a right to know about "regression", as defined in all the real estate assessment books, and "Non-Uniform maintenance fees", as allowed under county code section 40.07.345.
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And for a comment from a long time advocate of housing ,
Boston Globe 10/12/10 , Frank, Bielat clash over economy
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/brookline...r_economy/
"The hourlong face-off, broadcast by Boston radio station WRKO, featured a lively exchange over Frank’s alleged role in the collapse of the housing market, which has made the veteran legislator a national target of conservatives.
Bielat, a former Marine officer from Brookline, said Frank had contributed to the downfall and subsequent recession by supporting lenient lending standards for prospective home buyers.
“He has long been an advocate for extending homeownership, even to those who couldn’t afford it, regardless of the cost to the American people,’’ said Bielat, 35.
Frank, a leading liberal who has represented the state’s Fourth Congressional District for nearly 30 years and became chairman of the House Financial Services Committee in 2007, said he and other Democrats fought to curb predatory lending practices before the recession but were thwarted by Republicans. He said he had supported efforts to help low-income families rent homes, rather than buy them.
“Low-income home ownership has been a mistake, and I have been a consistent critic of it,’’said Frank, 70. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any comment , please contact Chuck Mulholland at cemulholland@gmail.com
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