In case you were wondering, Alan Greenspan is still alive and kicking-even though it’s been awhile since we last heard from our old pal.
I guess between playing bingo and chasing Andrea Mitchell around the house, he figured he better lay low for awhile. After all, helping to destroy the economy is some awfully tiring work.
But now with all of the talk of green shoots turning up everywhere, the former maestro has turned up himself again with yet another call of a housing bottom.
Of course, it’s the 3rd time he’s made the call. But who’s counting?
The first, by the way, was in October 2006 when he claimed the "worst may well be over" for housing. We all know how that one turned out.
Yet here he was again, two and half years later with the same old song and dance about how the bottom was finally here and none of it was his fault.
In a speech on Tuesday before the National Association of Realtors of all people, Greenspan said he’s starting to see "seeds of bottoming" in the housing market.
Moreover— proving he hasn’t lost so much as a molecule of his nerve—he also used the occasion to answer the critics who blame him for the easy money that created it all, by saying, "I respectfully disagree; they’re wrong."
Meanwhile, the housing bust that he swears he had nothing to do with continues to come down all around us—-literally.
Because according to recent data from RealtyTrac, foreclosures are skyrocketing once again now that one foreclosure moratorium after another expires. Foreclosure filings were reported on 342,038 U.S. properties in April, a of 32 percent increase from the prior year.
"This suggests," said James J. Saccacio, of RealtyTrac, "that many lenders and servicers are beginning foreclosure proceedings on delinquent loans that had been delayed by legislative and industry moratoria. It’s likely that we’ll see a corresponding spike in REOs as these loans move through the foreclosure process over the next few months." (Emphasis mine)
The report also shows that one in every 374 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in April, the highest monthly foreclosure rate ever posted since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in January 2005.
All of which tells me that the bottom in housing is still nowhere in sight..
By the way…..here’s the latest foreclosure map. It’s not a pretty sight.
Meanwhile, a map from July 2008 looked something like this:
Nice call Alan….now go away.
Related Articles:
Alan the Preposterous Rides Again
Greenspan: "We are on the Brink"
Greenspan Sees a Bottom, Foreclosures Soar
To learn more about Wealth Daily click here
