Banks Repo Over 100,000 South Florida Properties Since 2007 - Posted by Michael Gerrity - According to Bal Harbour, Florida-based Condo Vultures, more than 100,000 properties - or an average of 2,300 per month - have been repossessed in the tricounty South Florida region since the real estate crash began in 2007. - Real Estate Channel

(new term: caretakers) Will Growing Rental Trends Undermine U.S. Home Sales? - Posted by Keith Jurow - ... A survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the National Apartment Association in May 2010 found that 76% of those surveyed now believe that renting is a better option than buying in the current real estate market, up from 71% in 2008.  Especially sobering was the fact that 78% of those surveyed were homeowners. - Real Estate Channel
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(take the poll, see the results) - Is owning a home a bad investment? - By CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS

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Existing Home Inventory decreases 1.9% Year-over-Year - by CalculatedRisk - Earlier the NAR released the existing home sales data for July; here are a couple more graphs ... A normal housing market usually has under 6 months of supply. The following graph shows the relationship between supply and house prices (using Case-Shiller). ... Below 6 months of supply (blue line) house prices are typically rising (black line).  Above 6 or 7 months of supply, house prices are usually falling. This isn't perfect - it is just a guideline. ... This is a key reason why I expect house prices to fall further later this year as measured by the Case-Shiller and CoreLogic repeat sales house price indexes, although I don't expect huge declines like in 2008. My expectation is further price declines of 5% to 10% on the repeat sales indexes. ...

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In Case It Wasn't Obvious That The Homebuyer Tax Credit Created A Huge Distortion - Joe Weisenthal - This morning the NAR reported that existing home sales in July plunged 27.2%.  Not surprisingly, the end of the homebuyer tax credit caused these sales to fall off a cliff. People just didn't realize how high that cliff was. - Clusterstock at Business Insider
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The Costs of Homeownership Drive First-time Buyers Away - by CHRISTINE RICCIARDI - The costs of owning a home can substantially outweigh the benefits because of issues such minimal home equity retention and an owners desire to "flip" a home on the market quickly, researchers Wenli Li and Fang Yang said in their report American Dream or American Obsession? The Economic Benefits and Costs of Homeownership, published Friday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. - HousingWire