Orders and sales for new homes fell and cancellations rose at upscale U.S. home builder Enterprises Inc (HOV.N) during the company's fiscal fourth quarter. The company said on Tuesday that the October sales pace in most of its markets "significantly deteriorated" when compared with recent months and that set by its September promotional sale. problems reflect the U.S. housing industry's protracted decline, as it was the first major builder to include October results in its preliminary accounts. Shares were off nearly 4 percent in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange touching a new intraday low of $9.70.
said preliminary results for the fiscal fourth-quarter ended October 31, showed that excluding unconsolidated joint ventures, net contracts fell 10 percent to 2,781 homes, while sales slid 19 percent to 3,969 homes. Would-be buyers canceled contracts at a rate of 40 percent, as many found themselves unable to qualify for mortgages. The cancellation rate rose from 35 percent in the prior quarter as well as the year-earlier quarter. Other home builders, such as Homes USA Inc (BZH.N), also blamed high cancellation rates on tighter mortgage requirements as a result of themortgage market meltdown. A glut of homes for sale and buyer concern about economic weakness have home builders scrambling to strengthen their balance sheets to weather the market decline, which began more than 18 months ago.
source: updatere.com
Thursday, January 10, 2008
IndyMac loss dwarfs own forecast
ne of the largest independent U.S. mortgage lenders, posted a quarterly loss on Tuesday that was more than five times larger than it had projected, hurt by mounting delinquencies and a collapse in demand to buy its home loans. The parent of IndyMac Bank, one of the largest U.S. savings and loans, halved its dividend and said another cut is possible if it loses more money. It also quadrupled its reserves for bad loans. "It's going to be a tough year, year and a half," Chief Executive Michael Perry said on a conference call.
The third-quarter net loss for Pasadena, California-based IndyMac totaled $202.7 million, or $2.77 per share. It was the first quarterly loss since the fourth quarter of 1998. Profit a year earlier was $86.2 million, or $1.19 per share. Excluding items, the loss was $2.74 per share -- six times the average analyst forecast, according to Reuters Estimates, of a loss of 46 cents. IndyMac had on September 7 forecast a loss of nil to 50 cents per share. "Conditions in mortgage markets are deteriorating so rapidly that management guidance often becomes obsolete nearly as soon as they publish or report it," wrote Lehman Brothers Inc. analyst Bruce Harting. "IndyMac demonstrates the point."
source: updatere.com
The third-quarter net loss for Pasadena, California-based IndyMac totaled $202.7 million, or $2.77 per share. It was the first quarterly loss since the fourth quarter of 1998. Profit a year earlier was $86.2 million, or $1.19 per share. Excluding items, the loss was $2.74 per share -- six times the average analyst forecast, according to Reuters Estimates, of a loss of 46 cents. IndyMac had on September 7 forecast a loss of nil to 50 cents per share. "Conditions in mortgage markets are deteriorating so rapidly that management guidance often becomes obsolete nearly as soon as they publish or report it," wrote Lehman Brothers Inc. analyst Bruce Harting. "IndyMac demonstrates the point."
source: updatere.com
Hedge funds set to talk to Northern Rock: paper
The British Treasury has given two U.S. hedge funds permission to start takeover talks with stricken British mortgage lender Northern Rock Plc (NRK.L), the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported. The Treasury was not immediately available for comment.
The paper said JC Flowers and Cerberus met John Kingman, head of the Treasury's enterprise and growth unit, last week to discuss their separate proposals. The government has effective control of Northern Rock because of emergency funding being supplied by the Bank of England.
source: updatere.com
The paper said JC Flowers and Cerberus met John Kingman, head of the Treasury's enterprise and growth unit, last week to discuss their separate proposals. The government has effective control of Northern Rock because of emergency funding being supplied by the Bank of England.
source: updatere.com
Real estate writer Robert Bruss dies
Robert Bruss, a nationally syndicated real estate columnist, author and investment adviser, has died at his Silicon Valley home. He was 67. Bruss known by peers as the "Dear Abby of Real Estate" had intestinal surgery earlier this year and died of cancer, said Brad Inman, founder and publisher of Inman News.
For 23 years, Bruss wrote seven columns a week for Inman, an Emeryville-based independent news service focusing on real estate. After a brief hiatus earlier this year, he resumed his busy schedule until his death Wednesday in Burlingame, said Jessica Swesey, Inman News editorial and content director. "Over the years, he helped so many people sort out their various buying and selling questions and was an amazing resource of independent information," Swesey said. "He was the most prolific writer I've ever known, and the entire Inman News team will miss him dearly." Bruss' articles including the popular "Real Estate Mailbag" question-and-answer column were syndicated in hundreds of newspapers nationwide, including the Times, and on numerous Web sites. "Bob had a lot of fans and a strong readership. We're really going to miss his contribution to the page. His death is a loss to everyone who followed his wisdom in the real estate pages. He'll be sadly missed," said Kevin Keane, executive editor for Bay Area News Group-East Bay.
source: updatere.com
For 23 years, Bruss wrote seven columns a week for Inman, an Emeryville-based independent news service focusing on real estate. After a brief hiatus earlier this year, he resumed his busy schedule until his death Wednesday in Burlingame, said Jessica Swesey, Inman News editorial and content director. "Over the years, he helped so many people sort out their various buying and selling questions and was an amazing resource of independent information," Swesey said. "He was the most prolific writer I've ever known, and the entire Inman News team will miss him dearly." Bruss' articles including the popular "Real Estate Mailbag" question-and-answer column were syndicated in hundreds of newspapers nationwide, including the Times, and on numerous Web sites. "Bob had a lot of fans and a strong readership. We're really going to miss his contribution to the page. His death is a loss to everyone who followed his wisdom in the real estate pages. He'll be sadly missed," said Kevin Keane, executive editor for Bay Area News Group-East Bay.
source: updatere.com
Real estate site has all kinds of info
A real estate Web site that aims to be all things to all home shoppers will join the burgeoning ranks of online housing marketers today.he brainchild of a near-child, will go live with its real estate "dashboard," where users can create a personal page from for-sale listings, valuation tools, maps, photos, crime statistics, weather and neighborhood cafes, banks and airports. Whereas other sites usually provide a few of those resources, says its hub aggregates all the information a home shopper needs -- from a place to peruse four-bedroom colonials to where to find a baby crib. "Real estate is more than just listings, and that's the point," said , chief executive of whose teenage son developed the prototype for the site. "We're going to rise above (the field) by providing a much better, more-complete solution."
With 80 percent of home buyers and sellers turning to the Web, according to the National Association of Realtors, the potential is huge. But it is also increasingly crowded, with sites such as Yahoo, , Google and Realtor.com competing for attention. Not to mention that most real estate brokerages have their own sites with listings and local statistics. the popular home-valuation site, added demographics information, community-contributed photos and bulletin boards for local events to its site last week. However, Steve Murray, editor of Real Trends, a 20-year-old magazine that tracks the real estate industry, says has the advantage of providing more information from an even wider range of data sources. "You can go to or a local (Multiple Listing Service) site or but there's always a sneaking suspicion that you're not getting everything," he said. "I don't know of another Web site right now where I can look at five, six, seven or eight real estate sites and have the listings update immediately based on my parameters. And I can also find out where the golf course, restaurants and hospitals are."
source: updatere.com
With 80 percent of home buyers and sellers turning to the Web, according to the National Association of Realtors, the potential is huge. But it is also increasingly crowded, with sites such as Yahoo, , Google and Realtor.com competing for attention. Not to mention that most real estate brokerages have their own sites with listings and local statistics. the popular home-valuation site, added demographics information, community-contributed photos and bulletin boards for local events to its site last week. However, Steve Murray, editor of Real Trends, a 20-year-old magazine that tracks the real estate industry, says has the advantage of providing more information from an even wider range of data sources. "You can go to or a local (Multiple Listing Service) site or but there's always a sneaking suspicion that you're not getting everything," he said. "I don't know of another Web site right now where I can look at five, six, seven or eight real estate sites and have the listings update immediately based on my parameters. And I can also find out where the golf course, restaurants and hospitals are."
source: updatere.com
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