The other Bernanke headline: 2 million vacant homes

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

More headlines from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech today:

--At the end of 2007, there were ‘more than 2 million’ vacant, unsold homes in the United States. What are those houses doing? Bernanke says they are ‘putting further pressure on house prices and housing construction.’

--What a foreclosure costs: ‘A recent estimate based on sub-prime mortgages foreclosed in the fourth quarter of 2007 indicated that total losses exceeded 50 percent of the principal balance, with legal, sales, and maintenance expenses alone amounting to more than 10 percent of principal.’

--What’s happening to sub-prime borrowers: ‘We estimate that the interest rate on a typical subprime ARM scheduled to reset in the current quarter will increase from just above 8 percent to about 9-1/4 percent...’

--One more thing: If you’re near a radio between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., lock it in to 1070 AM -- I did a quick interview today with my favorite radio show in L.A., the KNX Business Hour with Frank Motek.

Thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: EPA via LATimes.