According to the associated press in an article dated August 25, 2009: Consumer sentiment rose in august beating expectations. Is this an indication that consumers are becoming more confident in the spending and futures?
In that same article it is indicated that national home prices rose for the first time in three years.
While the indicators are still far below that of a healthy economy, there is promise of a brighter outlook.
Some economists expect a growth of about 2% in the next quarter. Hopes are for stronger consumer spending for the recovery to keep from fizzling.
Don’t forget the Home buyer tax credits end December 1, 2009, so call your Prime Real Estate Sales Associate for more information at 404-685-3774.

Fed Extends TALF, Says Credit Markets Still ‘Impaired’
FEDERAL RESERVE, FED, TALF, ECONOMY, TREASURY DEPARTMENT
CNBC.com | 17 Aug 2009 | 09:38 AM ET
The Federal Reserve said Monday it will extend its Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility another six months though it said conditions were improving in some areas.

In a joint announcement with the Treasury Department, the central bank said the TALF, as the program is known, now will run until June 2010, from its original cutoff date of December 2009.

“Conditions in financial markets have improved considerably in recent months,” the Fed and Treasury said in their statement. “Nonetheless, the markets for asset-backed securities backed by consumer and business loans and for commercial mortgage-backed securities are still impaired and seem likely to remain so for some time.”

The extension will cover newly issued commercial mortgage-backed securities but will not be expanded to cover assets not already eligible.

The program targets primarily students loans and credit cards but extends to other financing as well.

The TALF started in March and figures prominently in efforts by the Fed and the Obama administration to ease credit, stabilize the financial system and help end the recession.

Under the program, investors use the funds to buy securities backed by auto and student loans, credit cards, business equipment and loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration.

The program has the potential to generate up to $1 trillion in lending for households and businesses, according to the government. Spurring such lending is vital to turning around the economy. The Fed and Treasury said they were prepared to reconsider this decision if financial or economic developments conditions indicate that such an expansion would still be warranted. However, the government believes the financial system is beginning to stabilize after being hit last fall by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The Fed and the Treasury also extended TALF through March 31 for newly issued asset-backed securities and already-issued, or “legacy,” commercial mortgage-backed securities.

—Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

© 2009 CNBC.com
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/32446222/

By Julie Haviv

NEW YORK (Reuters) – An unusually robust rise in home prices from April to May could foreshadow a recovery in many U.S. housing markets, according to a report released on Thursday by Radar Logic, a real estate data and analytics company.

Twenty-two out of 25 metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, displayed month-over-month price increases in May, according to Radar Logic’s RPX Monthly Housing Market Report for May 2009.

The RPX 25-MSA Composite showed a month-over-month increase of 2.1 percent.

“This is in stark contrast to the same period during 2008, when a decrease in the velocity of home price depreciation gave way to the worst loss in housing value in recent history,” the report said.

Prices have fallen 33.5 percent peak-to-trough and 31 percent peak-to-current, according to the RPX 25-MSA Composite.

Radar Logic said the RPX is designed to be a daily indication of the “spot” price for residential real estate, which perhaps provides an early view of trends in the broader economy.

“We have been observing strength in the RPX since April, and it now appears that this improvement in home prices was an early indicator of some strength in the general economy,” the report said.

San Francisco ranked No. 1 in May, in terms of price gains, prices surging 7.3 percent versus April. Minneapolis and Milwaukee ranked second and third, with prices climbing 5.5 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, in May versus April, the data showed.

“Prices in most of these MSAs increased more than would be expected, given historical seasonal patterns,” the report said. “This contrasts starkly to the month-over-month price changes in May 2008, when the seasonal strength typically observable in spring and summer was largely absent.”

Radar Logic said the larger-than-average increase in home prices from April to May 2009 could indicate that seasonal price fluctuations do not fully account for the strength seen in many areas and that seasonal gains are being augmented by a more general recovery in the housing market.

“Unusually mild price declines in the coming autumn and winter would provide further evidence that some markets have started to recover,” the report said.

BIG CITY BLUES

Atlanta, Las Vegas and New York — in contrast to the price growth displayed by most of the MSAs tracked — declined on a month-over-month basis in May, dropping 0.2 percent, 0.6 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, the data showed.

Radar Logic said the price declines in New York and Las Vegas were not surprising, due to their economies’ reliance on industries that have been hit hard during the recession.

The company also said the absence of seasonal strength in Atlanta was not unusual, either, as seasonal factors do not have a particularly strong influence on the Atlanta RPX relative to the influence of seasonality on other MSAs.

The RPX 25-MSA Composite has increased 3.7 percent since March 30, when it hit its lowest point since the beginning of the housing crisis. Home prices in the western region of the United States have performed particularly well recently, increasing by 6.9 percent since hitting their low on January 22, the report said.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

By ALAN ZIBEL

The Associated Press

7:31 a.m. Thursday, August 13, 2009

WASHINGTON — The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes rose 7 percent from June to July, as the escalating foreclosure crisis continued to outpace government efforts to limit the damage.

Foreclosure filings were up 32 percent from the same month last year, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday. More than 360,000 households, or one in every 355 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice, such as a notice of default or trustee’s sale. That’s the highest monthly level since the foreclosure-listing firm began publishing the data more than four years ago.

Banks repossessed more than 87,000 homes in July, up from about 79,000 homes a month earlier.

Nevada had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for the 31st-straight month, followed by California, Arizona, Florida and Utah. Rounding out the top 10 were Idaho, Georgia, Illinois, Colorado and Oregon. Among cities, Las Vegas had the highest rate, followed by the California cities of Stockton and Modesto.

While there have been numerous recent signs that the ailing U.S. housing market is finally stabilizing after three years of plunging prices, foreclosures remain a big concern. Foreclosures are typically sold at a deep discount, hurting neighbors’ home values.

The mortgage industry has been slow to adapt to the surge in foreclosures. Many lenders have needed government prodding to get up to speed with the Obama administration’s plan to stem foreclosures.

The Treasury Department said last week that banks have extended only 400,000 offers to 2.7 million eligible borrowers who are more than two months behind on their payments. More than 235,000, or 9 percent, those borrowers have enrolledin three-month trials in which their monthly payments are reduced.

“The volume of loans that are in distress simply overwhelms” those efforts, said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president for marketing.

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August 13, 2009 07:31 AM EDT