Stories From The Street: Good, Bad, and Ugly Deals

Gold Mine For Sale $6.2mil

2009-09-08T22:52:00Z

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Top 50 High Schools In Ilinois by ACT Score

2008-11-22T21:09:00Z

Rank	Test Score	School	District	City	County
1	27.8	Northside College Preparatory Hs	City Of Chicago Sd 299	Chicago	Cook
2	26.9	New Trier Township H S Winnetka	New Trier Twp Hsd 203	Winnetka	Cook
3	26.8	Payton College Preparatory Hs	City Of Chicago Sd 299	Chicago	Cook
4	26	Deerfield High School	Twp Hsd 113	Deerfield	Lake
5	26	Young Magnet High School	City Of Chicago Sd 299	Chicago	Cook
6	25.8	Highland Park High School	Twp Hsd 113	Highland Park	Lake
7	25.7	Adlai E Stevenson High School	Adlai E Stevenson Hsd 125	Lincolnshire	Lake
8	25.6	Lake Forest High School	Lake Forest Chsd 115	Lake Forest	Lake
9	25.5	Hinsdale Central High School	Hinsdale Twp Hsd 86	Hinsdale	Dupage
10	25.5	Glenbrook North High School	Northfield Twp Hsd 225	Northbrook	Cook
11	25.4	Naperville North High School	Naperville Cusd 203	Naperville	Dupage
12	25	Libertyville High School	Chsd 128	Libertyville	Lake
13	24.9	Naperville Central High School	Naperville Cusd 203	Naperville	Dupage
14	24.6	Prospect High School	Township Hsd 214	Mt Prospect	Cook
15	24.6	Wm Fremd High School	Township Hsd 211	Palatine	Cook
16	24.4	Maine South High School	Maine Township Hsd 207	Park Ridge	Cook
17	24.3	Barrington High School	Barrington Cusd 220	Barrington	Lake
18	24.3	Glenbrook South High School	Northfield Twp Hsd 225	Glenview	Cook
19	24.2	Dunlap High School	Dunlap Cusd 323	Dunlap	Peoria
20	24.1	Neuqua Valley High School	Indian Prairie Cusd 204	Naperville	Dupage
21	24.1	John Hersey High School	Township Hsd 214	Arlington Heights	Cook
22	24	Lyons Twp High Sch	Lyons Twp Hsd 204	La Grange	Cook
23	24	Vernon Hills High School	Chsd 128	Vernon Hills	Lake
24	23.9	Geneva Community High School	Geneva Cusd 304	Geneva	Kane
25	23.8	Wheaton North High School	Cusd 200	Wheaton	Dupage
26	23.8	Jones College Prep High School	City Of Chicago Sd 299	Chicago	Cook
27	23.7	Lake Zurich High School	Lake Zurich Cusd 95	Lake Zurich	Lake
28	23.6	Wheaton Warrenville South H S	Cusd 200	Wheaton	Dupage
29	23.5	Oak Park & River Forest High Sch	Oak Park - River Forest Sd 200	Oak Park	Cook
30	23.5	Glenbard South High School	Glenbard Twp Hsd 87	Glen Ellyn	Dupage
31	23.3	Buffalo Grove High School	Township Hsd 214	Buffalo Grove	Cook
32	23.3	Morton High School	Morton Cusd 709	Morton	Tazewell
33	23.1	Evanston Twp High School	Evanston Twp Hsd 202	Evanston	Cook
34	23	Cary-grove Community High School	Chsd 155	Cary	Mchenry
35	23	Comm H S Dist 99 - North H S	Chsd 99	Downers Grove	Dupage
36	23	Spoon River Valley Sr High Sch	Spoon River Valley Cusd 4	London Mills	Fulton
37	22.9	St Charles East High School	St Charles Cusd 303	St Charles	Kane
38	22.9	J B Conant High School	Township Hsd 211	Hoffman Estates	Cook
39	22.9	Glenbard West High School	Glenbard Twp Hsd 87	Glen Ellyn	Dupage
40	22.8	Niles North High School	Niles Twp Chsd 219	Skokie	Cook
41	22.8	Victor J Andrew High School	Cons Hsd 230	Orland Hills	Cook
42	22.8	York Comm High School	Elmhurst Sd 205	Elmhurst	Dupage
43	22.7	Lane Technical High School	City Of Chicago Sd 299	Chicago	Cook
44	22.7	Grayslake Comm H S Central	Grayslake Chsd 127	Grayslake	Lake
45	22.7	Carl Sandburg High School	Cons Hsd 230	Orland Park	Cook
46	22.6	Macomb Senior High School	Macomb Cusd 185	Macomb	Mcdonough
47	22.6	Rolling Meadows High School	Township Hsd 214	Rolling Meadows	Cook
48	22.5	Waubonsie Valley High School	Indian Prairie Cusd 204	Aurora	Dupage
49	22.5	Riverside Brookfield Twp Hs	Riverside-brookfield Twp Sd 208	Riverside	Cook

First Time Buyer Needs and Wants: Are they Realistic?

2008-08-31T18:07:00Z

This old concept

Skip the fixer-upper; today's finicky first-timers want it all at bargain prices

Mary Umberger

August 31, 2008

Remember when "This Old House" guru Bob Vila was convincing rapt television audiences how much fun it is to strip 12 layers of paint from ornate Victorian ceiling moldings?

Oh the heady Everybody Rehab days.

Even I bought so much into the "I can hang kitchen cabinets, fill an attic with fiberglass insulation, build a garage" craze, I spent an afternoon shoving two steam radiators (each weighing more than a car) from one end of my first house to the other.

My rehab adventures, as well as the one where the plumber plunged through the bathroom floor and into the apartment downstairs, came flooding back as I read a new study about first-time home buyers.

Seems those born A.V.—After Vila—don't want any part of plaster dust, AWOL construction guys and the, ahem, satisfaction of a job well done.

That's according to a report from Coldwell Banker Real Estate that suggests that a huge majority of first-timers expect their homes to be more or less move-in ready.

In a survey of its brokers, the company found just 7 percent who say they're encountering novices who are willing to look for fixer-uppers to buy at a lower price and renovate. Instead, 81 percent say their first-time buyers want their houses to be in ship shape from Day One.

This is a noticeable change from just a decade ago, the brokerage said.

"In the past, first-time home buyers were willing to purchase older, more basic houses in an effort to save money and break into home ownership," said Jim Gillespie, president and CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

He said these new buyers probably haven't roughed it before, and they're not going to start now. "Today, this group has greater home expectations because they have grown up more accustomed to their parents' lifestyles," he said.

At the same time, however, affordability is the prime concern of more than half of the buyers. The first-timers, the brokerage said, want a bigger home in good condition for a low price. Even the real estate company worried out loud that these expectations are just too high.

"It's important for first-time home buyers to remember that by considering a 'fixer-upper' for their first home purchase, they can build equity over time and move up and into their second-stage home that better reflects their expectations," Gillespie said.

Spoken like a true parent.

But I see both sides: I spent 14 years, off and on, struggling with a stubborn old house that, in hindsight, apparently didn't want to be coaxed from the 19th Century into the 20th. Ripping out old carpeting and hauling out tons of collapsing plaster ceilings took a huge amount of time, an investment I doubt I'd make again.

On the other hand—there was that nice profit when I kissed that money pit goodbye.

Some Chicago real estate agents report the trend of first-timers who presume they're going to get the best houses out there for a song.

"Their expectations are unrealistic," said Dympna Fay-Hart, an agent for Century 21 McMullen in Chicago. "They make lowball offers based on no consensus of gathered info. They're interested in coming in 10 to 20 percent under for houses that are well priced."

Or Christopher Motal, a Baird & Warner agent on the North Side: "The first-time home buyers I have worked with this year are expecting to pay a discounted price for the perfect property," he said.

"The listings that I have that are targeted to first-time buyers and in need of minor updating are being overlooked. The only offers we are receiving are 8 to 10 percent below 2003 prices."

Still, it wasn't all that hard to find recent first-time buyers who went looking for a place that needed more than a little TLC.

"I was expecting to buy something that needed a lot of work," said Chicago police officer Jay Warner, 25, who closed on his first home Monday. "I thought I could get a better price for something that could be updated."

He's generous with the term "updating."

"We'll be knocking down walls, redoing the hardwood floors, finishing the basement and redoing the bathroom and kitchen," he said. "Pretty much everything."

Likewise, Hillary and Mark Simbrowsky signed a contract this month to buy a home on the Northwest Side that hasn't seen much change since the 1950s. They, too, plan an extensive rehab.

"The houses we were looking at that were completely done, they were out of our price range," said Mark, 33. "We're kind of excited not to have somebody else's work, somebody else's interpretation of what a house should be."

But there's something to be said for moving in and unpacking—no floor sanders, no raw drywall, no windows to replace.

A month ago, Shannon Melka and Tony Grigonis, both 28, closed on a new condo in Roscoe Village.

"I don't think we were completely shut off to the idea of something that needed work, but [this unit] was pretty quick, it was pretty easy, it was very attractive," Shannon said.

The two-bedroom condo has an open floor plan and an island kitchen with high-end appliances. Tony said they felt constrained by time, money and lack of handiness.

"Shannon and I, we don't have too much experience fixing things up," he said. "We would have been open, I guess, to some superficial improvements."

So far, he said, that's a towel bar and toilet-paper holder.

The Coldwell Banker report said that though first-time buyers are cost conscious, their financial priorities have shifted.

A decade ago, their No. 1 concern was in coming up with a down payment, though now—even in this era of more stringent demands from mortgage lenders—down payments were ranked as the biggest concern of just 17 percent of the respondents.

On the other hand, good credit scores were a worry to only a passing number a decade ago; today that concern has grown to 17 percent of respondents.

Shannon Melka said she thought the couple went into the process realistically, in terms of money. The condo was priced within their budget, though they were tempted by a pricier penthouse with a deck in the same building.

"Your own worst enemy is yourself," Shannon said. "You have to stay within your means. We had to ask ourselves, do we want to be house-poor or do we want to go on that vacation next year?"

And she admits that yes, as lovely as the condo is, she might be tempted to go the renovation route later to get the home of their dreams—a house, we hope, whose radiators are already where they belong.

Hear Mary Umberger at 12:49 and 11:15 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and at 10:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday on WGN-AM 720. Write to her at Real Estate, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611 or send e-mail to housingnews@comcast.net.

What they want

and who they are

A broker survey by Coldwell Banker offers these insights into the

first-time buyer:

81% of first-time buyers want

a place that's move-in ready.

7% will settle for a fixer-upper.

71% are looking for larger homes than they were 10 years ago.

41% want a place close to their job.

35% are making a purchase as an "investment."

46% look at 5 to 10 homes before buying.

The first-timer comprises 39% of the market today, up from 36% a year ago, according to the National

Association of Realtors. Among its other findings:

75% live in apartments and

18 % with parents.

About 51% are married couples,

11% unmarried couples,

25% single women and

11% single men.

52% are age 24 to 35 and

21% are 35 to 40.

$68,000 is the average income for couples, $44,000 for single women and $52,000 for single men.

About 28% said they planned to move again within 5 years, and

8% within 2 to 3 years.

Pulbic Housing Limbo, Failed Privatization Attempts.

2008-07-06T17:45:00Z

Thousands of families displaced. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent. Years behind schedule. What went wrong with Chicago's grand experiment.

By Jason Grotto, Laurie Cohen and Sara Olkon

Chicago Tribune reporters

10:48 PM CDT, July 5, 2008

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Chicago's grand experiment to transform public housing is lagging nearly a decade after Mayor Richard Daley's administration turned to private developers to shape the future of housing for the city's poor.

Conceived amid a rising housing market, the city's Plan for Transformation used hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars and virtual giveaways of public land to reverse decades of neglect that confined the city's poorest residents to racially segregated ghettos.

Demolition of Chicago's reviled high-rises became a national symbol of change and hope, but little attention has been focused on what happened next as rhetoric collided with realities.

A Tribune investigation found that almost nine years into what was billed as a 10-year program, the city has completed only 30 percent of the plan's most ambitious element—tearing down entire housing projects and replacing them with new neighborhoods where poor, working-class and wealthier families would live side by side.

In fact, of those public housing units that have been built, nearly half went up before the plan officially started in 2000.

The Chicago Housing Authority points to its success in rehabbing thousands of traditional public housing units and apartments for seniors, and says it has completed nearly 65 percent of the work called for under the overall plan. But the agency acknowledges that it can't say exactly when it will finish replacing thousands of units it has torn down.

"This isn't a race," said Lewis Jordan, the CHA's chief executive. "We are methodically moving forward."

Hundreds of additional units are under construction, and Jordan said the current goal is to complete the plan by 2015. But some insiders concede it might take another 10 years beyond that.

Former residents may be the least surprised by the situation. From the start, many predicted they would be displaced and forgotten while developers grabbed coveted swaths of city real estate for re-development and private profit.

In pushing the plan, the Daley administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Habitat Co., the court- appointed overseer of public housing construction, placed what amounted to a high-stakes wager:

Upscale homes in the new developments would not only raise the aspirations of public housing families but also spur the construction of badly needed housing for the poor and affordable housing for working people struggling to buy a home.

Instead, the market-rate homes have proven in some cases to be an albatross.

From the beginning, construction at the new communities moved slowly, held up by bureaucracy, politics and complex financing.

Now, the downturn in the housing market threatens to bog down the plan even further because developers are struggling to sell high-priced homes amid a glut of new construction across the city.

In interviews with the Tribune, city and Habitat officials now say they need to reconsider some of their strategies. Valerie Jarrett, Habitat's chief executive, said the company will seek the advice of housing experts from across the country and also ask developers to come up with new ideas.

The sputtering effort also has translated into higher costs—with some public housing units totaling more than $300,000 to build, more than the price of a home in many Chicago neighborhoods.

And the plan has added to the growing housing crisis for the poor in Chicago, where more than 56,000 have been on a waiting list for years to get public housing. The list has been closed to new applicants since 2001.

The consequences of these failures go far beyond Chicago. The federal government also prodded dozens of cities across the country to adopt similar blueprints for fixing their public housing sites. Since then, many of those projects have stalled as well.

As the largest redevelopment of public housing ever undertaken in the country, Chicago's effort mirrors the ambition of other Daley efforts to reshape the city. It also parallels major Daley endeavors in featuring a roster of high-profile allies and friends.

At what once was Stateway Gardens, part of the most infamous wall of public housing in the world, construction is being overseen by a team that includes Allison Davis, a powerful developer with close ties to City Hall. The new Park Boulevard on South State Street sits not far from U.S. Cellular Field, home of the White Sox, on what has become prime real estate. It also stands as the most dramatic example of troubles with the city's strategy.

As of the end of March, Davis' team had managed to complete just 53 of the 439 public housing units planned—the lowest number of any CHA development. Another member of the development team has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of the national housing slump.

Amid all this, one aspect seems to be prospering: On the site's northeast corner, a Starbucks, Jimmy John's and FedEx Kinko's have moved into one of Park Boulevard's new storefronts.

Those who control the commercial strip would be familiar to anyone wise to the ways of Chicago: Davis himself and Robert Vanecko, a nephew of the mayor.

Davis declined to answer specific questions from the Tribune but did defend his work at Stateway.

"Do you know what was there before?" he said. "Did you see anyone park on the street there and walk to a Sox game?"

Rushing to demolish

Launching the Plan for Transformation in February 2000, Daley vowed to replace Chicago's public housing eyesores with 25,000 new units for the poor.

"Today is the beginning of a new chapter in the history of public housing in Chicago," Daley proclaimed at a ceremony kicking off the plan. "We will end the failed policies of the past that have led to the desperate and unacceptable conditions of public housing today."

The city had just regained control of the CHA after a federal government takeover that included the first steps toward demolition and rebuilding. By that point, no one in good faith could defend the high-rises, which had become dilapidated and dangerous.

But housing advocates worried about displacing large numbers of people—an estimated 7,000 families—so quickly and urged the city to move more deliberately.

"It cannot be sound public policy to take down high-rises willy-nilly if the displaced families must move back into segregated, impoverished neighborhoods" in other parts of the city, concluded a group long connected with Chicago public housing, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest.

The plan's independent monitor predicted precisely that result early on.

"We have been told by representatives of several housing groups and experts that . . . current vertical ghettos will be replaced with horizontal ghettos, made up overwhelmingly of African-American families at or below the poverty level," former U.S. Atty. Thomas Sullivan warned in 2002.

But the CHA quickly began emptying thousands of apartments, relocating families and demolishing dozens of high-rises across the city. The demolition and relocation started long before contracts for redevelopment were in place or construction of replacement housing had begun.

Although Daley said repeatedly that the plan would "rebuild lives," many families relocated to neighborhoods on the South and West Sides that seem to fit Sullivan's prediction.

The slow pace of construction, coupled with stringent rules on employment and background checks that block most residents from returning, now means there is little hope for many of them to return to their refurbished neighborhoods.

Most took federal housing vouchers that subsidize rent payments to private landlords.

Told they'd be back in about five years, some have moved as many as five times since the plan started.

And they still are no closer to returning.

"I don't think they want too many of us back there," said Calvin Hearns, who left Stateway eight years ago and has moved three times since. "It don't surprise me. The reason that they did it was to get us out of the area."

Even as city and Habitat officials acknowledge the slow pace of construction, they continue to depict the plan as a success. They point to burgeoning neighborhoods emerging near the old project sites that will bring new tax revenue to the city.

In response to questions from the Tribune, the mayor's office sent a prepared statement that said, in part:

"We are pleased with both the process and the progress of the Plan for Transformation. The communities formerly blighted by CHA high-rises are thriving with new homes, new residents, new schools, new businesses and jobs flocking to places that have become communities of choice."

Push for profit

By now, Stateway Gardens was supposed to be a bustling neighborhood filled with new buildings, businesses and diverse families, fueling a renaissance in the South Side area.

Instead, most of the 33-acre site is vacant, with piles of dirt and pallets of bricks sitting beside unfinished sidewalks and homes.

The city started tearing down the Stateway high-rises months before it even chose a developer.

Selected in February 2001, the development team included Mesa Development, a luxury condo builder; Kimball Hill Homes, one of the largest suburban home builders in the country; clout-heavy Walsh Construction; and a firm run by Davis—a former member of the Chicago Plan Commission appointed by the mayor. Kimball Hill filed for bankruptcy this year.

The team quickly built 27 public housing units across the street from Stateway, but it took almost five years before construction on the old site even started.

By then nearly all the 1,644 old Stateway apartments had been torn down and hundreds of families moved out.

The deal held out the prospect of staggering returns—$32 million in profits and fees according to project budgets—because it depended heavily on home sales rather than rentals.

The Daley administration, Habitat and federal housing officials approved a plan to mix public housing units with for-sale condos in the same buildings.

That meant the construction of public housing was contingent on the sale of market-rate homes in the first on-site phase.

Under the terms of its bank loan, the development team cannot lay the first brick for public or affordable housing until it has pre-sold half of the market-rate units for each building. So when the housing market took a nose dive, so did the delivery of housing for the poor.

The development team said it would deliver 439 public housing units, about a quarter of what was once there, by September 2008. The number built so far: 53.

Jarrett of Habitat said the Stateway approach would have worked had the market not collapsed.

"I don't think it's constructive to look backward and say it's a mistake," she said. "It was a very good idea that didn't come to fruition."

At the same time, Habitat recently asked Stateway's developers to come up with a new plan to reinvigorate construction, she said.

Meanwhile, Denise Campbell said she has moved three times since she left Stateway in 2000. Longing to go back to her neighborhood, she is set to make her fourth move because her temporary home in Roseland has gone into foreclosure.

Water leaks from the light fixture in the living room when it rains, mold covers the walls upstairs and standing water stinks up the basement.

"I have no idea who owns this house," she said. "We're basically squatters here."

Insiders get paid again

Mixing apartments for the poor with upscale homes was supposed to do more than create diverse neighborhoods. Those expensive homes, city officials argued, also would help pay for the public housing.

Stateway's developers have agreed to use a share of what they earn from home sales for upkeep of the public units. That amount was expected to total about $2 million for the first on-site construction phase, covering 311 public and private dwellings, according to a court filing by Habitat.

But developers are getting something as well: millions of dollars worth of public subsidies to build condos and town homes.

The CHA practically gave away 7 acres at Stateway, paid to clean up the property and picked up the tab to tear down the old high-rises. The city paid millions more for new roads, water pipes and sewers.

Developers say the cheap land—$1 per year for 99 years—and other benefits are needed so they can compete with projects that don't include public housing. Building costs are high at the new communities because of government construction requirements for subsidized properties. The public units also are expensive to build because, from the outside, they're supposed to look the same as the private homes.

Commercial space presented another way for developers at Stateway to make money.

The development team, including Allison Davis, leased that land from the CHA for 99 years in exchange for a one-time payment of about $200,000. It then built the storefronts that were later sold to a firm controlled by Davis and Vanecko, the mayor's nephew, which used money from city employee pension funds to purchase the space for $4.2 million.

The pension funds, in turn, are paying Davis and Vanecko fees to manage their investment in the property.

Besides controlling the retail space that holds the Starbucks, Davis is also an official of the property management firm at Stateway, state records show. The firm, Urban Property Advisors, or UPA, is run by Davis' son Cullen.

Shortly after the firm was created in 2001, Allison Davis, UPA and other companies connected to Davis began donating to the Democratic organization in the 17th Ward. That is the political base of Terry Peterson, then the CHA's chief executive.

By the time Peterson left the CHA five years later, Davis and the companies had donated more than $22,000. Peterson told the Tribune those contributions did not influence CHA decisions.

UPA has angered public housing residents at Stateway and the Cabrini-Green row houses on the Near North Side, where residents blame the company for the death of a 3-year-old boy who was crushed late last month when a heavy iron gate fell on him.

At Stateway, resident leader Francine Washington said she fought the selection of UPA in 2002 because the company lacked experience. But Davis and Peterson pressured her to accept the firm, she said.

Washington relented, and now she regrets it.

Public housing residents who have moved back to the new Park Boulevard development say UPA imposes heavy-handed rules that apply only to them, such as banning them from barbecuing on their balconies.

"The only thing that's wrong with Park Boulevard," Washington said at a public meeting in May, "is the management."

jgrotto@tribune.com

lcohen@tribune.com

solkon@tribune.com

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Neumann Homes Plans One Day Auction June 28th-liquidation of assests!

2008-06-22T16:24:00Z

One day auction set for Neumann Homes properties

BY BILL CUNNIFF - Sun-Times Staff Writer

June 22, 2008

Twenty-six new homes and 23 partially completed homes are slated to be sold in an upcoming auction for a bankrupt home-building company.

The auction will be at 1:30 p.m. June 28 at the Westin Hotel, 400 Park Blvd. in Itasca. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. The incomplete homes are all under roof, sheathed, and at trim stage or beyond.

The properties slated for bidding include:

•• 9 town houses at Church Street Station in Hanover Park.

••9 town houses at Lake Street Square in Grayslake.

••16 single-family homes at Summer Gate at Southbury in Oswego.

••7 town houses at Prairie Ridge in Minooka.

••2 single-family homes at the Conservancy in Gilberts.

••2 town houses at the Glen at Lakemoor Farms in Lakemoor.

••4 town houses at Chatham Grove in Aurora.

Warrenville-based Neumann Homes filed for bankruptcy in November. In better times, the firm had ranked among the Chicago area's top homebuilders in the Sun-Times annual survey. At its peak, Neumann Homes constructed more than 1,000 homes a year for several years. The company had $517 million in closing revenue in 2005.

"This is a one-day only opportunity for homebuyers, small builders and opportunistic investors to purchase these properties discounted from their original prices," said Evan Gladstone, executive managing director of NRC Realty Advisors, the auctioneer.

The properties may be reviewed at the auctioneer's Web site, www.nrc.com/807.

Properties will available for viewing from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. today.

"We strongly recommend that buyers visit every property they are interested in bidding on. We encourage bidders to bring along their contractors or decorators during the open house visits," Gladstone said.

Troubled homes industry

The nation's housing downturn is shaping up to be the worst in a generation, according to a new study.

The falloff in housing starts, new-home sales and existing home sales already rivals the worst downturns in the post World War II era. And home price declines and mortgage defaults are the worst on records that date back to the 1960s and 1970s.

"The slump in housing markets has not yet run its full course," said Nicolas P. Retsinas, the director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, which issued the report. "Mortgage rates have barely responded to the aggressive easing of the Federal Reserve, the supply of for-sale vacant units continues to grow and much tighter underwriting is locking many would-be homebuyers out of the market.

"With home prices falling in most metropolitan areas, homeowners are tightening their belts, remodeling less and staying on the sidelines," he said.

The number of homeowners paying more than half their income on housing rocketed from 6.5 million in 2001 to 8.8 million in 2006, the report said. This reflects looser lender enforcement of debt-to-income caps and the widespread use of adjustable rate mortgages that have been resetting to higher payments.

With so many homeowners' budgets stretched thin and home prices falling in many areas, foreclosures are skyrocketing. The number of homes entering foreclosure nearly doubled, from about 660,000 in 2005 to 1.3 million in 2007. The report concludes that these high levels of foreclosures will continue to exert extreme downward pressure on prices, especially in low-income and minority areas, where riskier subprime loans are most heavily concentrated.

The problems created by overheated housing markets going bust are not confined just to housing, the report said. "As losses on securities backed by subprime mortgages escalated, few investors wanted to purchase them, the market value of these securities plummeted, and the Federal Reserve had to take unprecedented steps to prevent the failure of major financial institutions," said Eric S. Belsky, the center's executive director. "This has tightened the availability of credit well beyond the confines of just the mortgage market. On top of this, declines in residential construction shaved nearly a percentage point from national economic growth in 2007."

The somber conclusion is that if the economy slips into recession or job losses keep racking up, household growth and homeownership demand could fall even more.

On the other hand, the report sounds a more optimistic note about the medium- to long-term. "At some point demand will bounce back," said Retsinas. "Historically, housing markets recover only after the economy has entered a recession and a combination of falling mortgage interest rates and house prices have improved housing affordability. It is difficult to judge how far away from these conditions we may be. It will take longer this time to rebound given the unusually high levels of foreclosures and constrained credit markets."

Barring a prolonged period of serious economic decline, however, the report concludes that the outlook for household growth is about 14.5 million over the next 10 years. The main risk to the long-run outlook, the report notes, is a dip in the level of immigration from its recent 1.2 million a year pace due to weaker labor markets

Developer Promotes Nude Pool to Stimulate Condo Sales

2008-06-20T19:15:00Z

Condo Company Unwraps Plan For Clothing-Optional Pool

By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 17, 2008

Updated: 06/17/2008 07:29 pm