Tag archives for housing crash

IMF Economists: Stricter Regulation on Lending Could Have Prevented the Housing Crisis

According to a study by economists at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), stricter regulation of lending by non-bank mortgage originators could have prevented the housing bust. The authors of the study, Jihad Dagher and Ning Fu, both analysts for the fund, say that their studies show that “independent, non-bank lending increased in nearly all counties across the United States during Read full article »

TARP Money for Homeowners Likely to Go Toward National Debt Instead

Around $30 billion allocated in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to help struggling homeowners will likely be paid on the national debt instead, reports ProPublica, a self-proclaimed “independent, non-profit newsroom” dedicated to “exploring the abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust by government, business and other institutions”. The report indicates that while about $2 billion of that Read full article »

Department of Justice’s Fair Lending Unit Could Create a New Housing Mess

The U.S. Treasury Department is stepping in where the current housing crisis left off with a new “fair lending unit” that demands that once again, banks make loans not based on credit scores or worthiness, but based on race and ethnicity. “The foreclosure crisis…disproportionately touches communities of color,” explains Thomas Perez, head of the department’s civil rights division. He explains Read full article »

217 Registered Projects Canceled in Dubai

As Dubai continues to struggle with its real estate woes, the latest sign that things are not yet quite set to improve comes with the report that Dubai’s real estate watchdog organization has canceled around 217 registered property projects since 2009. The group, called the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), reviewed about 450 projects in the emirate and may have Read full article »

The Politics of Real Estate

Few industries are as profoundly impacted by the political machinations in Washington as the real estate industry. Whether it's old legislation like Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act or Barack Obama's massive mortgage bailouts, the U.S. political machine has a huge impact (usually bad) on the business of real estate.

Ideally, we could ignore politics. But here at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter, we insist on seeing the world with clarity - including the reality of Washington's aggressive involvement in every facet of our business, from mortgage lending to real estate sales license; from loan modification regulations to appraisal requirements... every piece of our business is profoundly impacted by politics. So rather than stick our heads in the sand and ignore reality, readers of the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter choose to be informed and prepared.

About Bryan Ellis

Bryan Ellis is an Atlanta-based real estate analyst and publisher of the widely read newsletter "The Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter". With over 200,000 subscribers - including real estate investors, agents, brokers, appraisers and other real estate professionals - the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter is among America's largest sources of unbiased coverage of politics and public policy for the real estate industry.

Bryan Ellis serves as editor in chief for the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter and is assisted by an extraordinary staff of writers, researchers and editors who are each real estate experts in their own right and who assure that the news we report is well researched, factual, and highly relevant to today's real estate industry.

Bryan is very happily married and has two wonderful daughters. He makes his home in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. You can contact the team at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter here.