Consumer prices down 0.2% in West, nationwide

Here's my latest piece as the Economy Examiner for Examiner.com:

Consumer prices fell 0.2 percent in Western states, including Colorado, from November to December. Prices in the region have risen 2.2 percent since December 2008 according to the report released Friday by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nationwide, consumer prices in December increased 2.7 percent over December 2008 and fell 0.2 percent since November 2009. Numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

...

Generalizing regional data to Colorado can be problematic. The West, as defined by the BLS, includes a large number of states with economic conditions that differ from Colorado's. Nevada and California, for example, are both included in the region yet differ significantly from Colorado in employment figures and in real estate prices. States with high unemployment and depressed real estate and more likely to see falling overall prices than states with more moderate unemployment and with more stable real estate prices.

Read the full article.

An old clipping

I recently found this old front page clipping. I never read a physical paper, so I have no idea on what page articles appear. Nevertheless, I like to get a featured story every now and then:

Below is some recent newspaper coverage of my most recent foreclosure report found here: http://dola.colorado.gov/app_uploads/docs/Monthly%20Foreclosure%20Reportseptember2009.pdf

Colorado foreclosure filings up sharply in September
Bizjournals.com - Mark Harden - ‎Oct 7, 2009‎
Foreclosure filings in Colorado's cities rose 71.9 percent in September from the same month a year earlier, but state officials said the big increase was ...

County foreclosure filings up
The Coloradoan - ‎Oct 9, 2009‎
By Coloradoan staff • October 9, 2009 Foreclosure filings in Larimer County and across the state increased in September, in part because of statutory ...

Mesa County foreclosure activity soars in September
Grand Junction Free Press - Wyatt Haupt Jr - ‎Oct 9, 2009‎
A distressed Mesa County housing market continues to suffer, as the number of completed foreclosures surged more than 216 percent last ...

Foreclosure sales drop
Denver Daily News - Gene Davis - ‎Oct 8, 2009‎
Foreclosure sales at auction in Denver last month dropped 29.3 percent compared to the same time period last year, a statistic that some experts believe is ...

Foreclosure rate more than triples in Mesa County
Grand Junction Sentinel - ‎Oct 8, 2009‎
By LE ROY STANDISH/The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel The number of completed foreclosures in Mesa County more than tripled in September of this year ...

Foreclosure filings, sales increase in Larimer, Weld in September
Northern Colorado Business Report - ‎Oct 8, 2009‎
By Staff DENVER - A report issued by the Colorado Division of Housing shows foreclosure activity in Larimer and Weld counties rising sharply in September. ...

Weld foreclosure filings, sales rise in September
Greeley Tribune - ‎Oct 8, 2009‎
Weld County foreclosure filings and sales continue a gradual rise through September, but have not completely returned to top of the state. ...

October 8 9News Interview

Here's the story that accompanied my Thursday morning interview on 9News:

Foreclosures still on the increase, but trend is slowing

KUSA - The Colorado Division of Housing has released local foreclosure statistics for September, and while the numbers continue to rise, the Division says they are improved over a year ago.
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The office said "completed foreclosures" rose by 21 percent in the state from last month, but the September numbers are down 5 percent from 2008.

According to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which regulates all national banks, foreclosures are "completed" when the ownership of the properties is transferred to the servicers or investors and the debts are extinguished.

The OCC website says the process varies by state and can take up to 15 months to finish.

The numbers show Mesa County led the state in foreclosures with a rise of 217 percent over 2008, with Denver County reporting a decrease of 29 percent since this time last year. Arapahoe County totals fell 13 percent.

Housing spokesman Ryan McMaken was on 9NEWS 7 a.m.

McMaken explained completed foreclosures were lower because borrowers are becoming more sophisticated in exploring alternatives to foreclosure.

"This is helpful in keeping down the number of foreclosures that proceed to the end of the process," McMaken said. "Also, the reach of the foreclosure hotline continues to expand and this has helped keep totals down."

As to why completed foreclosures increased since August, McMaken says the division has noticed a slow but growing trend of lenders processing foreclosures more quickly.

Overall, McMaken says there's little in the report to suggest that foreclosures are about to take off again in Colorado, but the problem will persist for a while as the economy continues a gradual recovery.

"I'd expect to see a little bit of growth from September to October in totals," according to McMaken, "but I still expect 2009's numbers to be either flat or lower than the numbers from last year."

The full foreclosure report is available on the Division of Housing blog: www.divisionofhousing.blogspot.com

New report on Colo. Metro areas from Bureau of Economic Analysis

Here are selections form the release:

ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN WIDESPREAD IN 2008

New statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show that the slowdown in U.S. economic growth was widespread: 60 percent of metropolitan areas saw economic growth slow down or reverse. Real GDP growth slowed in 220 of the nation's 366 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in 2008 with downturns in construction, manufacturing, and finance and insurance restraining growth in many metropolitan areas. Growth in real U.S. GDP

In contrast, growth accelerated in 146 metropolitan areas, most notably in areas where natural resources and mining industries are concentrated such as Casper, WY and Grand Junction, CO. Grand Junction had the fastest real GDP growth (12.3 percent) of any metropolitan area in 2008 due largely to growth in natural resources and mining. The professional and business services industry group also showed strong growth in 2008, contributing the most to real GDP growth in 112 metropolitan areas.

The statistics of GDP by metropolitan area in current and real (chained) dollars are available from the Regional Economic Accounts page of the BEA Web site at http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm.

FDIC out of money

FDIC May Tap Treasury Line to Bolster Fund, Bair Says

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is considering tapping a Treasury Department line of credit as the agency examines ways to replenish a reserve fund depleted by 92 bank failures this year, Chairman Sheila Bair said.

Unemployment rates for states

Five states are now over 12%: Michigan, Nevada, Rhode Island, Oregon, and California. Of course, these are also the "official" numbers that exclude discouraged workers and the underemployed such as former financial sector workers who now work waiting tables.

See here for all states.

Double-Dip Recession Looms

Nothing fundamental has changed in the economy since a year ago when Lehman Brothers went under. Savings rates have increased, but Americans are so deeply in debt, they are still nowhere near the level of savings necessary for actual capital accumulation to take place. Unemployment is increasing, the government is engaged in massive inflation of the money supply, and there are simply no resources that can be pulled from a hat that will get Americans investing in production or spending on consumption. So, we are left with an economy that is essentially the same as it was when the financial panic hit and when the recession started way back during the fourth quarter of 2007.

The recent uptick is only a result of inflationary money flooding the economy through the stimulus plans.

Economist William White agrees.

Freedom Communications may declare bankruptcy

CNN Money today repeated reports that Freedom Communications may declare bankruptcy. Freedom most famously owns the Orange County register, but Freedom also owns The Colorado Springs Gazette, by far the most important daily in the Colorado Springs metro area.

Here's my commentary on the Mises Institute blog.

Viva Colorado column

Viva Colorado is a Spanish-Language rack-and-stack newspaper published by the Denver Newspaper Agency. It has the highest circulation of any Spanish-language paper in Colorado. This is a piece I wrote for the paper last month. I admit that I wrote the piece in English and the Viva Colorado editors translated it for me.

The piece covers a new change in law affecting the foreclosure process.

Column in the Colorado Real Estate Journal

Here's a piece I wrote for the Colorado Real Estate Journal. The CREJ is a bi-weekly publication that serves the commercial real estate industry.

CBS4 piece on new foreclosure laws

This is based on a TV piece:

Jul 31, 2009 5:06 pm US/Mountain
New Foreclosure Law Offers Homeowners Relief
Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith
Reporting
Michelle Griego
DENVER (CBS4) ―


...Starting on August 1st, homeowners facing foreclosure will get letters in the mail informing them of a new law that could give them an extra 90-days to save their homes.

"Provides potentially a 90-day deferment, that is an additional 90-days for someone during which they can do some negotiation and some workout for their loan," said Ryan McMaken, spokesperson for the Colorado Division of Housing.

The law is designed to help those homeowners who can still make some payment on their mortgage even if it's not the full amount.

"This probably isn't going to be a program for people who have no income at all or they have such greatly diminished income that they can't make that two-thirds payment," McMaken added.

Those who get the notice that they're eligible will then be instructed to call the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline. Call agents will hook them up with housing counselors and the counselors will decide if they're qualified. The law spells out very specific qualifications to get the extra 90-days. Those include:

There are some other stipulations as well.

"What they're really looking to do is work towards a loan modification of sorts with the mortgage company so they can reduce their payments to a reasonable amount compared to their income now," said Shannon Peer, Director of Housing Counseling at Brothers Redevelopment, Inc.

Brothers Redevelopment, Inc. is one of the 27 housing agencies partnered for the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline. As calls come into the hotline, Peer has seen the foreclosure crisis change in Colorado.

"Back in November - December, early December, we started to see a lot more unemployment or under employment clients reaching out for help," Peer explained.

Call agents used to field calls from people struggling under bad mortgages, now they're taking about 2,000 calls a month from people who can no longer pay their mortgage because of the economy. This new law is another tool the housing counselors can use to help homeowners hold on to their homes...