News Cut: September 28, 2010 Archive

Home resale prices increase in Twin Cities

Posted at 8:34 AM on September 28, 2010 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Economy

The monthly survey of the resale price of a home in the Twin Cities was nothing to write home about. The price of a home increased only .8 percent in Minneapolis in July, the Case-Shiller Survey said today. The survey tracks the resale price of a home.

"Home prices may be finding a bottom," David Blitzer, who heads the Standard & Poor's survey, told CNBC. That's pretty much what he's said each month for the last year and a half.

The housing situation always comes down to the banks. "It's harder to qualify for a loan," Blitzer said. "You need better credit scores than you needed two or three years ago. There's probably some refinance activity, but I suspect it's being drowned out by the foreclosure activity."

Minneapolis has mostly been at the top of the list each month. This month's surprise, however, was that last year's basket case -- Detroit -- now has the biggest gain in home prices. It couldn't have gotten much worse.

City	Change from June
Detroit	1.6%
New York	1.3%
Washington	1.1%
Chicago	1.0%
Minneapolis	0.8%
San Diego	0.7%
Miami	0.7%
Boston	0.6%
San Francisco	0.5%
Los Angeles	0.3%
Atlanta	0.2%
Cleveland	0.0%
Seattle	-0.1%
Tampa	-0.2%
Charlotte	-0.2%
Portland	-0.3%
Dallas	-0.3%
Denver	-0.4%
Phoenix	-0.6%
Las Vegas	-0.8%
Source: Case Shiller Survey

The survey showed the fourth straight month of increased home resale price increases for Minneapolis, though July was much slower than the previous three months. That happened a year ago, too. The prices are back to where they were in November 2008.

The prices are up 6.4% from a year ago. It appears the "bottom" of the housing market here was reached in April 2009.

Timewasters: The debt clock

Posted at 3:46 PM on September 28, 2010 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Economy

The Economist has unveiled the global debt clock, a country-by-country look at which countries are tapped out. In the image above, the darkest countries are the ones most in debt.

You can manipulate the data for the last decade. Did you know, for example, China's public debt is increasing at a 15% rate for 2011? That's lower than the United States' anticipated 12.7% increase. But the U.S. debt is about $27,000 per capita. It's about $800 per capita in China.