patrick.net

toothfairy says

if you knew what median price meant you'd understand how it could be falling while the market is recovering

Define RECOVERY ...

Recover to what, when, and why ?

Recover to 2005 prices where only 10-15% of SF Bay Area homeowners can afford their own home ?

Bring back teaser rates, interest only, ARM loans ?

Further declines in prices ... is the recovery!

thomas.wong1986 says

Bring back teaser rates, interest only, ARM loans ?

there was an article in TIME last week about how our Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Mr. Bernanke was glad to see that the major lenders had finally relaxed credit standards some.

JodyChunder says

there was an article in TIME last week about how our Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Mr. Bernanke was glad to see that the major lenders had finally relaxed credit standards some.

that would be 'normal lending' what some would call.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-16/bernanke-says-bank-supervisors-need-to-strike-delicate-balance-on-lending.html

Bernanke Says Bank Supervisors Need to Strike Delicate Balance on Lending

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said bank supervisors must strike a ‘delicate balance” between encouraging lending and avoiding a race to the bottom in loan standards.

Speaking on community banking in Arlington, Virginia, the Fed chairman said “supervisors must insist on high standards for lending, risk management, and governance.”

“At the same time, it is important for banks, for their communities, and for the national economy that banks lend to creditworthy borrowers,” Bernanke said today at a conference sponsored by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. “Getting that balance right is not always easy, but it is of utmost importance.”

U.S. banks face higher costs under tougher supervision including the Dodd-Frank Act. The banks have watched the gap shrink between their interest earned and interest paid out as the Fed pushed down long-term interest rates by purchasing $2.3 trillion in bonds and lengthened the average duration of the securities in its portfolio.

“Despite some recent signs of improvement, the recovery has been frustratingly slow, constraining opportunities for profitable lending,” Bernanke said.

Not normal in my book Tom. Back in the nineties, if you had an oustanding bill for a copay at a walk-in clinic it would hold up the mortgage approval process. I know because it happened to me! That was strict, but it was normal. Since the risk for these loans is all on the taxpayer there is no real reason for such strict scrutiny I guess.