Word: creditable
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...ones. But still, according to the Oppenheimer report, "the demand side of the equation is less than impressive." Nearly a third of existing-home sales are currently to first-time homebuyers - a wildly disproportionate amount. What happens to those buyers once the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit evaporates at the end of this year? Even with home prices a steal in many parts of the country, whether demand will hold up - especially with the countervailing force of tighter credit - is a real question mark. (Read: "Home Sales Perk Up, but Expensive Houses Languish...
...Home Sales on the Upswing At last, some good news on the housing front. In June, sales of new U.S. one-family homes saw their strongest increase in more than eight years as buyers hurried to take advantage of bargain-basement prices, low interest rates and a federal tax credit for first-time homeowners. Home prices are still dropping, however, with the median June figure of $206,200 down 12% from $234,300 a year earlier. And with a huge backlog of unsold homes, analysts continue to disagree on whether the higher-than-expected increase signals a coming recovery...
...there is discomfort in her voice too. Even though the Robertses represent one of the great forces working to bring the country's housing market back to health - nearly a third of home sales are now to first-time buyers, thanks to a federal tax credit and a glut of foreclosed and other cheap properties - they are constantly being reminded of how sick the rest of the system still is. The couple rattle off houses in their new neighborhood that are for sale by desperate, underwater owners. Through the Robertses' kitchen window, they can see tall weeds in the empty...
...that return to normal is driven by a return to reasonable lending: people aren't buying more than they can afford to because banks won't let them. When the Robertses first met with mortgage planner Iva Deobald last year, she told them to go away, pay down their credit-card and student-loan debt and then come back with a better set of financials. Deobald says, "I'm back to what I used...
...ways they want to do them. They don't worry too much about breaking rules and aren't paralyzed by a fear of imperfection or even failure. Active citizenship is all about tapping into one's amateur spirit. "But hold on," you say. "I will never understand credit-default swaps or know how to determine the correct leverage ratio for banks." Me neither, and I don't want to depend on an amateur physician telling me how to manage my health. But we can trust our reality-based hunches about fishy-looking procedures and unsustainable projects and demand that...