Loan Think

What We're Hearing

Published March 25, 2009, 6:00 a.m. EDT

1 Min Read

Talk about conflicting economic signals! A new report from Deutsche Bank notes that, "household buying power has collapsed." DB calculates purchasing power by looking at a household's income and factoring in such things as mortgage payments. What DB sees isn't pretty. But over the past few days we've had such 'positive' news as the Mortgage Bankers Association predicting a 75% gain in residential originations this year (to $2.8 trillion) and an unexpected rise in new home sales. One big caveat on the new sales figure: it's in comparison to January, not a year ago. Compared to the year ago number, new home sales are still a disaster and will be for several quarters. But it would appear that the Obama and Arnold (Schwarzenegger) combined 'tax credit' totaling $18,000 for certain homebuyers may be having a positive impact. Be fore-warned: both tax credits are conditional and eventually expireâ¦

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