Category Archives: Real estate

Unsealed Documents Reveal Former White House Officials Violated Fannie/Freddie Conservatorship Rules, Apparently to Advance Bank-Enriching “Reforms”

The Administration has refused to turn over over 12,000 documents in a lawsuit against how the government operated Fannie and Freddie in their conservatorship. The major bone of contention is that Treasury stripped them of all profits, which damaged the remaining private shareholders. But the unsealing of a small batch of government records shows why […]

Welcome to the Great Australian Scab Grab

Australia is in the grip of the greatest economic scab grab of my lifetime

Hall of Shame: HUD Finally Forces Private Equity Buyers of Distressed Mortgages to Give Real Modifications After Years of Complaints Now That HUD Chief is on Clinton VP List

HUD finally acts on a festering problem, apparently to improve the odds of HUD chief Julian Castro getting a plum Clinton Administration post.

After Distancing Herself From Bill Clinton’s Economic Policies, Hillary Wants Him as Mr. Economic Fix It

Like the Bourbons, the Clintons appear to have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.

The Unfairness of Housing Purchases Through Time

Housing has clearly become less affordable over time. What to do about it?

Housing’s “Deadly Embrace” in Financial Cycles

The IMF argues that regulating mortgages is not sufficient to prevent housing booms and busts.

Elizabeth Warren Flays Former Fed Official Who Saw No Evil on Subprime Loans, Currently Peddling Line That Regulation is Too Costly (to Banks, Natch)

Warren brutalizes a bank crony who has worn regulator’s clothes at the Fed and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. Ouch.

Bill Black Speaks to TaxCast About the Political Coalition Against Financial Regulation

This month’s TaxCast features Bill Black on the Whistleblowers United regulatory reform proposals plus why tax amnesties are a bad idea.

Yale Law Journal: “In Defense of ‘Free Houses'”

State court abuse of the principle of res judicata, out of reluctance to give borrowers “free houses,” encourages poor foreclosure practices and causes broader social harm.

Wolf Richter: Hamptons Super-Luxury Homes Whacked by Reversing “Wealth Effect”

Hamptons real estate is soft at the high end. A portent for the financial health of the super rich?

Bill Black: The Whistleblowers’ Third Lemon Award is to Fannie and FHFA

Fannie and the FHFA are fighting whistleblowers, even though Fannie is in conservatorship and cleaning up Fannie is in the public’s interest.

Your Humble Guest Writer Talks Real Estate Economics and New York City

Why simple supply and demand stories people tell about real estate don’t work.

A Modest Proposal for an Efficient Rental Market

How to make the housing market conform to mainstream economists’ ideals.

Bill Black: How Many Lies Can the WSJ Pack into a Chart on Liar’s Loans?

Bill Black is not happy about the revisionist history on liar’s loans. And separately, this piece is a useful exercise in the critical reading of narratives.

Bill Black: Lenders’ Lies about Liar’s Loans and “Rigorous Underwriting”

Believe it or not, liar’s loans may be back.