The Blog of Author Mark MacKenzie: It's The Housing Market, Stupid!

According to a bloomberg article written by David M. Levitt based on a study by Real Capital Analytics Inc., $108 billion worth of commercial real estate is now in default, bankruptcy, or foreclosure. The report cites that at the end of June there were over 5,300 properties in distress.  This is ...

OK, Jim, we agree on this, "Obama Hurting The Economy". That was the title of one of Cramer's most recent blog posts on CNBC.com Cramer writes, "Businesses won't start hiring until we get two of three economic imperatives, Cramer said: people need to feel their jobs are stable, their home prices ...

Despite the fact that Congress never actually approved Geithner's plan to use TARP money to subsidize the PPIP, and despite the reality that the PPIP will do little to actually stimulate the credit markets, (the banks will only ratchet up their lending once the housing market and economy stabiliz...

According to the American Bankers Association, delinquencies of consumer card debt surged from 5.52% in the fourth quarter to 6.6% in the first quarter.  This is nearly a 20% jump in one quarter. Additionally, the mortgage bankers association recently announced that a record 12.07% of all mortgag...

Despite the 30-year fixed rate mortgage remaining unchanged at 5.34%, the seasonally adjusted mortgage purchase application index jumped 6.7% to 285.6 for the week ending July 3rd. This is the highest the index has been since the week of April 3rd when it rose to 297.7 and the 30-year fixed was a...

According to Jack Healy in an article he wrote in The New York Times, based on a survey conducted by the National Association of Counties, "76 percent of large counties said that falling property tax revenue was significantly affecting their budgets". This doesn't surprise me at all.  In fact I h...

In the latest sign that the housing market continues to deteriorate, according to Reuters, Standard & Poors recently raised loss expectations for Alt-A, and subprime loans. The reason this downgrade by S&P of mortgage securities is relevant is because home values are driven by demand and supply, ...

"Stocks are the single-best barometer of our nation's future economic health". What? This is what CNBC's Larry Kudlow recently wrote on his blog when discussing the June jobs report which saw 467,000 jobs shed. Larry, the stock market is no longer an economic indicator.  It hasn't been for over a...

Let me be the first to admit that I wish every American could own a home if they chose to, homeownership is a good thing for families and communities.  Pride of ownership, tax deductions, and home equity are just a couple of the major benefits of owning a home.  Unfortunately, for multiple reason...

Agree or disagree with the politics of Joe Biden, the one thing that most people, including myself, like about Biden is that he doesn't pull any punches. And that was certainly the case when he said this week that, "We misread how bad the economy was". Indeed, Washington has swallowed their econo...