Archive for February, 2011
China's statistics agency said it will stop publishing the country's much-watched official index of national property prices, scrapping a set of data whose accuracy was widely questioned but which also had become a rallying point for public anger over rapidly rising housing prices.
The announcement Wednesday, part of a broader revision of property-price data by the National Bureau of Statistics, fueled already widespread frustration and skepticism about the quality and transparency of economic data in the world's second largest economy. It came just a day after the statistics bureau published a lower-than-expected inflation reading based on a revised formula for the consumer-price index that economists criticized as lacking transparency.
Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings increased for the fifth consecutive year in 2010, and accounted for the second largest sector of bankruptcy filings.
Filings increased 8% to 438,913 from almost 407,000 a year prior, according to U.S. Court System data. The 9th Judicial District, also one of the hardest hit regions during the housing crisis, posted the highest number of Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings at 87,760 for the whole year. This district encompasses California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Alaska, Idaho, Montana Oregon and Washington.
A Chapter 13 allows individuals to undergo a financial restructuring supervised by a federal bankruptcy court. If a borrower is foreclosed on, a Chapter 13 may allow them to stay in their house until their finances are organized.
In the three months ended Dec. 31, a little more than 109,000 Chapter 13s were filed across the U.S.
Chapter 13s were beat out in terms of volume only by Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings, which focus on liquidation. There were 257,668 filed in the fourth quarter and 1.1 million filed during all 2010.
Bankruptcy filings have been on the rise since 2006, when filings totaled 617,660 across all sectors. This also marked the first full 12-month period after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Prevention Act of 2005 was enacted.
Write to Christine Ricciardi.
Follow her on Twitter @HWnewbieCR.
U.S. home sales totaled 3.6 million in 2010, a 12% drop from the year before that pulled prices down with it, according to data provider CoreLogic (CLGX: 14.56 +0.62%).
In November, the latest month of data available from CoreLogic, home prices dropped 5.1% for the fourth straight month of decline. Decreases in home prices have spread to 45 states from 18 just six months before.
"The downturn in home prices is clearly being driven by weak sales, an excess supply of unsold homes and larger impact from distressed sales," CoreLogic said in its report.
The number of homes sold in 2010 was at its lowest point since the housing market collapsed. Sales were more than 50% below the level seen before the crisis in 2005 and 33% below the level measured in 2000.
The CoreLogic data clashes with a report from the National Association of Realtors, which reported home sales dropped just 5% to 4.9 million and that home sales in 2009 actually increased from the year before. According to CoreLogic, home sales did not improve in 2009. There has been a steady decline since the peak in 2005. (See the chart below.)
CoreLogic said there are several reasons for the difference between its numbers and NAR's.
"There are several reasons for the divergence, including benchmarking drift, more sales going through MLS systems due to consolidation and a lower share of 'for sale by owners' home sales. Net, NAR’s existing home sales data are overstated by about 15% to 20%," CoreLogic said.
There was a 16-month supply of homes on the market that has not been sold as of November, the highest level since February 2009 when prices were falling about 20% on a year-over-year basis. A typical market has a six- or seven-month supply.
Going forward, CoreLogic said the housing market faces headwinds as it corrects its pricing and underwriting standards.
"Moreover, there will be increased headwinds on borrowers’ abilities to obtain financing because loans will become more expensive as the market normalizes and begins to more appropriately price for risk," CoreLogic said in its report.
Write to Jon Prior.
Follow him on Twitter: @JonAPrior
