News That Doesn't Depress You: Housing Prices Rise In 18 Out Of 20 Markets

Every month, Wellesley economics professor Karl Case and Yale economics professor Robert Shiller, put together a housing price index based on the home prices in 20 metropolitan areas, with a two month lag. The June numbers for the Case-Shiller home price index were just released, revealing that prices improved in 18 of 20 markets!


Some highlights:

• San Francisco - Up 3.8%
  
  
• Boston - Up 2.6%
  
  
• Cleveland - Up 4.2%
  
  
• Phoenix - Up 1.1%

"A Big, Big Deal"

In the Spring economists expected housing prices to drop another 10%, resulting in more foreclosures, toxic assets, bank failures, etc. That's been averted.

The result, according to Dr Case, is that "banks will stabilize their balance sheets more quickly. The toxic paper will get written off more quickly. That’s a big, big deal."

Read More At The New York Times

Chinese Drywall May Affect 100,000 Homes

If you haven't heard about the problems with Chinese drywall, you will. It's a mess.

It costs around $100,000 to fix a home with bad drywall and there's 100,000 to fix. Do the math. That's a $10 billion problem for the housing industry.

Often, the first sign there's a problem is when the evaporator coil fails. Manufacturers have been pretty good about honoring warranties, but how long can they keep it up? After all, it's not like their products are deficient.

Read more about the problem from the Wall Street Journal.