FBR Issues California Home Price Warning

Home prices in California are falling faster than in the last housing downturn (1990-1993) and faster than home price reports indicate, according to a Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. report. "Most national housing price indices are lagging the actual price declines in this pocket by a wide margin, and it will take another six months before anyone will have any insight into the depth of the crisis," the FBR research report warns. The FBR report on two California thrifts points out that falling prices are making it harder to modify loans, and cure rates on delinquent loans are declining, too. "Additionally, the severity of loan losses has been on the rise, as housing inventory is forcing banks to sell the properties at even further discounted prices," the report says.