International Investing

Still no signs of the decline slowing. As the mortgage market grind to a halt this decline may accelerate. This is the flip-side to securitization of mortgages. Mortgage securitization allows families to gain access to credit regardless of the credit available at their local bank. By freeing the market from geographical constraints, liquidity increased and more funds became available for everyone. The downside is that when the liquidity dries up, it dries up everywhere. So even people with great credit scores can’t get a mortgage at a low rate. The national issues become local ones.:

Sales of existing homes and condos fell 8% in September to the lowest level in at least eight years, further evidence that the credit squeeze in mortgage markets is hurting home sales, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Sales of existing homes and condos fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million, the lowest since 1999, when the real estate group began tracking combined single-family and condo sales.