Housing: Its Not Just For an Investment Anymore

Today the FDIC has apparently drawn up a list of banks that it believes are moving into dangerous territory towards a potential failure. Yesterday, in fact, The Columbian Bank & Trust Company of Topeka, Kansas was shut down. The remaining assets will go into a receivership arrangement. It is the ninth bank this year that has failed. The largest, of course, is IndyMac.

It has been a tough year. We have seen the end of Bear Stearns. We may see the end of Freddie and Fannie, as we currently know them. There may be more to come.

We know why it is happening. Mortgage loans are going bad. Lots of them.

This is why I think manufactured housing has a chance to break through, right now, in redefining its image among housing policy advocates.  That involves examining the underlying motive for our interventions in housing.

But lo, I do not want to dedicate this post to asserting who is at fault for this situation. That is a good (more…)