’’There is tension between the hawks and doves that’s growing,’’ said Thomas Costerg, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank in New York. “Yellen was trying to get the middle road between the two.”
“But the big picture remains the same,” he added. “They want to tighten next year, but there is no rush to hike rates.”
http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/janet-yellen-federal-reserve-rate-hike-patience/2014/12/18/id/613724/?-------------------------------------------------------
Following a four-point uptick last month, builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell one point in December to a level of 57 on theNational Association of Home Builders/Wells FargoHousing Market Index.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/32334-homebuilder-confidence-falls-in-december
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Shared and taken by Norbert Metz, Cologne
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The total balance of seriously delinquent first mortgages—90 days past due or in foreclosure—was $198.8 billion in November, a decrease of more than 29.8% year-over-year and the lowest level in more than five years, the latestEquifax report said.
And the strong improvement didn’t end there, with delinquent first mortgages, those 30 days or more past due, representing 4.54% of outstanding balances in November, a decrease from 5.87% from the same time a year ago. http://www.housingwire.com/articles/32338-equifax-seriously-delinquent-first-mortgages-hit-new-low
-------------------------------------------------------Shared and taken by Xalima Miriel, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France
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Second, that will likely send global interest rates rocketing higher. The U.S. will not escape rising interest rates. In fact, our rates are now poised to move sharply higher in 2015.
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/europe-tubes-2015-68865#.VJGFpdLbOdk
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Congress on Tuesday night passed a $41 billion tax break extenders bill that deals with two key mortgage-related tax exemptions.
The U.S. Senate passed the Tax Increase Prevention Act Tuesday night 76-16 (with 8 abstentions). The law extends about 50 tax breaks, including one that allows an exemption for debt forgiven in a short sale, and another that allows borrowers to claim mortgage insurance premiums toward the mortgage interest credit.
The extension affecting short sales was intended for borrowers who were underwater on their mortgages, and was a key part of the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act.
There was some question as to whether the law would pass in time for tax season. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden chastised his fellow lawmakers, saying they turned in their “tax homework 11 months late.”
The bill only extends the tax breaks until the end of 2014. Wyden said taxpayers will be “thrown back into the dark with respect to the taxes they owe” by Jan. 1.
The bill also contained a small gift for residents of some states that may help pad incomes. In the eight states that have no income tax, residents will be allowed to claim a sales tax deduction on their federal return.
The House of Representatives passed the bill on Dec. 4. President Barack Obama still has to sign the bill into law. The no votes were split evenly among Democrats and Republicans.
Questions? Contact Neal McNamara at (425) 984-6017 or nealm@scotsmanguide.com.
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Gov. Cuomo says:
“I cannot support high volume hydraulic fracturing in the great state of New York,” said Howard Zucker, the acting commissioner of health.
That conclusion was delivered publicly during a year-end cabinet meeting called by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in Albany. It came amid increased calls by environmentalists to ban fracking, which uses water and chemicals to release natural gas trapped in deeply buried shale deposits.
The development of horizontal fracking has enabled homeowners to lease their mineral, or subsurface, rights to oil and gas companies for mountains of cash. With all of that money to be made, gas wells have become a more common occurrence in Texas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Dakota.
--Ben Lane in HousingWire http://www.housingwire.com/articles/32376-state-of-new-york-bans-fracking
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In a December 6, 2014 essay about global trends in urban and suburban growth, The Economist notes New York University geographer Shlomo Angel’s studies of metropolitan population density.
Almost every city Angel has studied is becoming less dense. Contrary to the popular perception of increasing densities, Angel’s research has determined cities become less dense as they add more population. -- Wendell Cox in Human Events http://humanevents.com/2014/12/18/suburbs-not-urban-areas-drive-cities-growth/?
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The global tumult may cause the Federal Reserve to delay raising interest rates, says David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff + Associates. Most economists expect the Fed to begin its hikes around the middle of next year.
"The Fed would like to start raising rates. Under normal circumstances, they probably would — sooner, rather than later — based on the fact that we're at zero and the labor market is firming," Rosenberg says, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. -- Dan Weil in MoneyNews http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Shilling-financial-crisis-oil/2014/12/17/id/613591/?
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