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/

August 14, 2009

Atlanta Business Chronicle – by Maria Saporta Contributing Writer
Joann VItelli
72 Marietta Street: AJC’s current home is “a critical piece of real estate,” says Central Atlanta Progress’ A.J. Robinson.
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The possible move of Atlanta’s largest daily newspaper out of downtown concerns civic leaders and one of the city’s most accomplished journalists.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been laying the groundwork to move from its current downtown home to a location that likely will be outside the city limits. Atlanta Business Chronicle first reported the possible move Aug. 12.

“It would be a very sad day for the community, after so many generations, to physically lose such an important part of the fabric of Atlanta,” said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress, a downtown business group.

Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said major daily newspapers have played a vital role in helping create the civic, business and cultural life of cities.

“We have seen other major metro newspapers suffer so this is nothing new,” Williams said. “But it strikes to the heart of Atlanta because reporting on the public sector on a daily basis, especially investigative reporting, is crucial to good government.”

The AJC’s roots downtown date back more than a century. Throughout its history, the Atlanta Journal and the Atlanta Constitution have produced some of the city’s leading citizens, beginning with editor Henry Grady’s vision for the New South in the late 1880s to “Gone With The Wind” author Margaret Mitchell to editor Ralph McGill and columnists Celestine Sibley and Lewis Grizzard.

As a testament to his role in the city, Grady’s statue stands proudly in the middle of Marietta Street just a block away from the newspaper’s building.

If the AJC does move out of the city, “I can see Henry Grady holding a handkerchief to his eyes,” said George Goodwin, 92, who won the Atlanta Journal’s first Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for exposing voter fraud in Telfair County.

AJC executives have been letting community leaders and employees know about the possible move, telling them that decision should be announced later this month. The AJC’s new publisher, Michael Joseph, informed employees in an Aug. 3 e-mail about a possible relocation.

“We have been exploring all the options to lower our cost structure, including real estate,” said Jennifer Morrow, the AJC’s external communications manager. “We are looking at a lot of options related to real estate opportunities.”

She added that a decision likely will be announced within a couple of weeks.

The AJC’s parent, Cox Enterprises Inc., made a similar move in Dayton, Ohio, in 2007, when it moved the headquarters of the Dayton Daily News out of downtown Dayton.

That decision was met with disappointment from Dayton economic development groups, including the Downtown Dayton Partnership.

Cox’s Doug Franklin, who until recently was publisher of the AJC, was formerly publisher of Cox Ohio Publishing, where he was involved in the 2006 decision to move the Dayton Daily News outside of downtown Dayton.

Even though the problems of the newspaper industry are well-known, CAP’s Robinson wondered how moving the AJC from the city would put it in a better position to cover Atlanta, especially “when the major institutions and the leaders who create or shape the news are in the central city.”

But Robinson said that although it would be a great disappointment, the AJC moving would “not be a death knell” for downtown. “It’s not the end of the world for us,” Robinson said. “We will go on about our business of building a great downtown.”

Actually, Robinson said the AJC’s current home at 72 Marietta St. is “a critical piece of real estate.” It is a strategic site for the redevelopment of Marietta Street and the railroad gulch that is part of the proposed “green line” project and a new multimodal train station.

Retired journalist Goodwin remembered the 20 years that he worked for the Atlanta Journal right after World War II.

“I have difficulty imagining our major newspaper being anywhere else but the heart of Atlanta,” said Goodwin, who after leaving the Atlanta Journal became the dean of the city’s public relations professionals. “Atlanta is a particularly large circle. And if you are a circular city, you’ve got to be located in the middle.”

CAP’s Robinson said he knows newspapers are in transition and that the industry is struggling. “When faced with questions of survival, institutions make radical decisions,” said Robinson, who hopes the Atlanta community will try to get the AJC to reconsider its plans before a final decision is announced.

Goodwin still has a hard time believing the AJC could leave the central city. “It’s a very negative thing. Somebody in civic Atlanta needs to say … ‘You can’t do this.’ ”

Reach Saporta at (404) 736-3612 or maria@saporta.biz.

http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/08/17/story2.html?b=1250481600^1932931

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.

___

August 13, 2009 07:31 AM EDT

By Michelle E. Shaw

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

9:32 p.m. Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The median sale price of a single-family home in metro Atlanta rose from the first quarter to second quarter of the year but remained well below year-ago levels, the National Association of Realtors says.

The median price was $121,400 in the three months that ended June 30, up 5 percent from $115,600 in the three months ended March 31. The current median price is 23 percent lower than it was this time last year, $158,300, according to figures released Wednesday by the association.

The median is the mid-point for all sales; half of homes sold were priced higher, and half were priced lower. A rise in foreclosures and other distress sales, coupled with a slow market for mid- and upper-price sales, depresses the median.

Though the price is still down year-over-year, quarterly improvement is progress in the right direction, housing analysts say.

“The real key will be year-over-year increases, but the quarterly movement shows things are moderating,” said Steve Palm, president of the Marietta real estate research firm SmartNumbers. “The numbers have been edging up since February, and quarterly progress is good to see.”

Nationally, 129 out of 155 metropolitan statistical areas saw second-quarter declines in median existing single-family home prices, compared to same period the year before. Twenty-six areas had price gains.

Median sale prices are lower than typical home valuations in many parts of the metro area because of market conditions.

“Recently sold homes are concentrated in lower price ranges,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors’ association. “The median price may not be representative of overall values in a given area because many middle priced homes are not on the market.”

Foreclosures and sales for less than the loan value accounted for 36 percent of transactions across the country in the second quarter, according to the association. The national median existing single-family price was $174,100, down 16 percent from the second quarter of 2008, the release said.

Sales volume, declined 4 percent in Georgia in the second quarter from the first, and 5 percent year over year, according to the report. But 39 states had sales increases from the first quarter, and nine had year-over-year improvements, the association said.

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There are a lot of INCREDIBLE deals out there right now for buyers and investors in the foreclosure market.  Many are taking advantage of nearly 50% discounts on these great properties.  Prime Real Estate is a foreclosure selling specialist and your best ally in getting the right property.  Contact your Prime Real Estate sales associate to get directed toward the right homes in Atlanta that are incredible deals for investors, homeowners and all other buyers alike.

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Statistics are now showing that both the real estate and stock markets appear to have hit bottom.  This is indicated by two months of upticks in indicators after many months of down-ticks in both arenas.  This is great news for Atlanta real estate buyers and sellers.  Interest rates are at all time lows making purchase power very strong.  

For Seller, inventories have dropped, so competition has lessened.  Your buyers are now able to purchase more home at a lower cost.  The market season now in spring is headed into the best time to be out there for buyers.  In short, there has never been a better time to have a PRIME agent list your home.  Contact a specialist today to get out there at just the right time.  Now that tax season is over and we are entering the ’school’s out’ summer selling season, more buyers will be out looking to make that move.  Selling your home while inventories are low makes sure that your home has the best opportunity to be seen and purchased. 

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Today, April 27th, 2008 is the last day to see the nearly 700 homes up for auction in Atlanta.  The auction will be on May 4, 5 & 6th at The Georgia World Congress Center.   You can pick up information on the properties at the PRIME REAL ESTATE office located in Ponce Spring Lofts at 620 Glen Iris Drive, Suite 102, Atlanta, GA 30308.  Or contact a PRIME REAL ESTATE sales specialist to get the information.

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The end is approaching on the opportunity to  an end soon.  The final open houses will be this weekend April 26 & 27, 2008.  Over 600 homes are for sale startig at $1000.  Be sure you also have a PRIME agent to help you with your contract.  we are familiar with the process and it is at no cost to you.  Contact a PRIME agent today to get an information book and register. 

Some examples of homes for sale are:

1330 Nash Street, Atlanta, GA 30314 – a 3 Bedroom 2.5 Bath Home with approximately 1776 square feet which was previously valued at $213,000: the starting bid is $1000!

3777 Peachtree Road #1013, Atlanta, GA 30319 – 1 Bedroom 1 Bath Condo with approximately 903 square feet which was previously valued at $192,300: the starting bid is $49,000.

1536 Westwood Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30310 – 3 Bedroom 2.5 Bath home with approximately 2200 square feet which was previously valued at $320,000: the starting bid is ONLY $1000!

6269 Southland Drive Ridge, Stone Mountain, GA 30087 – 4 Bedroom 4 Bath with approximately 3900 square feet which was previously valued at $317,000: the starting bid is $99,000.

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The Auction will be held May 4,5,6 & 10 at The Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.  Liquidation deals are here!!!

Not really affected by the national slowdown of real estate, Midtown Atlanta still remains a force to be reckoned with in real estate.  While much of the country has seen strong downturns in real estate prices and sales, the undervalued Atlanta market has remained a decent place to be.  While the past few years have seen astronomical price increases and subsequent decreases as demand has slowed, the Atlanta market is a great exception to the rule.

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