Nearly 78% of homes sold during the first quarter were affordable to those earning the national median income of $65,000, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.

The reason: Home prices nationwide are off about 36% from their peak. Median income has risen by about 10%. And mortgage rates are below 4%.

There is one catch for home buyers, however: Mortgage availability.

10 fastest growing U.S. cities

"Homes in this year’s first quarter were more affordable than they have been at any time in more than 20 years, yet many potential sales are not happening," said Barry Rutenberg, NAHB’s chairman and a homebuilder in Gainesville, Fla. He said that’s mainly due to overly tight lending conditions.

"Without this significant hurdle, the housing and economic recovery could be proceeding at a much stronger pace," he said.

Most and least affordable markets: Among large metro areas, Indianapolis was America’s most affordable housing market with 96% of all homes sold easily afforded by the typical family, according to the report.

Wages in Indianapolis are reasonably high with the median family income at $66,900, nearly $2,000 above the national median instant credit report. Meanwhile, the median price for homes sold there during the first three months of 2012 was a mere $102,000.

Other major markets that topped the most affordable list included Dayton, Ohio, where 94% of homes sold were considered comfortably affordable; Lakeland, Fla., with a 93% affordability score and Modesto, Calif. at 93%.

Decidedly unaffordable was New York, where only 31% of homes sold were affordable to median income families, who earned $69,200. The median home price in the metro area was $400,000.

Other least affordable large markets included San Francisco (40%), Honolulu (48%), and Los Angeles (50%).

Top 10 turnaround towns

In smaller markets, Cumberland, Md. topped even Indianapolis with 99% of homes sold affordable to median income families in the area. Homes sold for a median of $80,000 there, with local families typically earning about $53,000.

The least affordable small market was Ocean City, N.J., with an index rating of 46% for families earning the median income of $71,100. Other expensive housing markets in this category included Santa Cruz, Calif., San Luis Obispo, Calif., Santa Barbara, Calif. and Laredo, Texas.  

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Before boarding an early-morning flight Monday to Cancun, Joanie Jones and her fiancé, Bruce Smothers, wanted to kick off their vacation with a Bloody Mary at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

But they couldn’t get one immediately at the Chili’s restaurant near their gate because it was about 15 minutes before the 6 a.m. starting time set by Missouri law for selling liquor by the drink. That would change under a plan in the Legislature to allow booze to be sold at Lambert as early as 4.

Jones, 57, and Smothers, 58, both of Edwardsville, said they didn’t mind the current restriction. But a few feet away at the bar, Kim Perry, 48, of Collinsville, who also tried unsuccessfully to buy a Bloody Mary before 6, liked the idea of an earlier start time for Lambert travelers just beginning their day. She contrasted their demeanor to the 3 a.m. closing-time scene in Soulard and some other areas of St. Louis. State law sets a 1:30 a.m. shutdown in most of the rest of Missouri.

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“The bottom line is, I see people at bars drinking until 3 in the morning and rowdy and crazy and dangerous,” said Perry, who was waiting to fly with family members to Washington, D.C.

Darryl Jones, an official with the group that operates Lambert’s restaurants and bars, said although the bill would allow airport liquor sales as early as 4, plans now call for a start time of 5 or 5:30 if it passes.

That might change, he said, if “we get a huge rush of passengers that come in at 4:30″ because of future alterations in flight schedules.

As of now, he said, Chili’s on the recently reopened C Concourse is the only establishment with a bar at Lambert that’s open for food sales before the 6 a.m. starting time for alcoholic beverages. It opens at 4:30. If the bill passes, he said, it’s likely that two other eateries with bars would open before 6 on each of two other concourses. Bars and restaurants at Lambert typically close by 10 p.m.

Jones, who is managing partner of D&D Concessions, said his firm and its joint venture associate, HMS Host Corp., decided to seek the legislative change after getting about 15 pre-6 a.m. requests for Bloody Marys on April 2. That was the day tornado-damaged Concourse C reopened after extensive renovations.

Among other airports surveyed Monday, the start time for serving alcoholic beverages is 6 a.m. at Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Diego, Los Angeles and Phoenix and 7 a.m. at Indianapolis and Philadelphia. There are no time limits on alcohol sales at bars past security checkpoints at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports, but a city spokeswoman said few or none sell liquor 24 hours a day.

The Lambert drinking time change is included in an omnibus liquor bill measure passed Tuesday by the Senate, 27-7, and sent back to the House. The provision also is included in a different bill pending on the Senate floor.

One supporter, state Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, said the airport provision would help it cater more to international travelers on differing timetables.

The same point was made by a Concourse C passenger interviewed early Monday.

“It’s not always 4 in the morning” for every traveler, said Steve Brookshier, 28, of Enfield, Conn., a frequent traveler overseas. “They’re not always coming from the Central time zone.”

Other early-morning patrons at Chili’s gave differing views on the pre-6 a.m. liquor proposal.

Jack Hodge, 66, of Chesterfield, said he didn’t think he would order a drink that early.

“But that doesn’t mean somebody else shouldn’t have the opportunity to,” he said.

Also supportive of the change were Adam and Danielle Theurer of Macon, Mo., who were waiting to fly to Mexico on their honeymoon.

“I’m not a big fan of governments regulating things one way or the other,” said Adam Theurer, 27. “People have all different types of schedules, all different hours.”

However, Wayne Edwards, 65, of Springfield, Ill., recommended against it.

“They’re asking for trouble if they open that early; you’re just going to have a continuation of the party the night before,” he said.

Ordering a Bloody Mary just after 6 was Jeff Brewer, 45, of Palm Springs, Calif. Brewer, who sets up lighting for Broadway-type shows, was in St. Louis working at the Peabody Opera House for several days and wanted a drink before flying home after a long stretch on the job.

“I just got off work after 20 hours,” he said.

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Nearly half of them live in California, and the rest reside in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The federal extended benefits program has provided the jobless with up to 20 weeks of unemployment checks after they’ve run through their state and their federal emergency benefits, which together last up to 79 weeks.

But the extended benefits program is expiring throughout the country as the economy improves. To be eligible for these benefits, a state must show that its unemployment rate is at least 10% higher than it was in at least one of the past three years.

State unemployment rates have been falling as the jobless find new positions or exit the workforce. For instance, Nevada has the highest state unemployment rate at 12%, but it’s still below the 14% it logged in October 2010.

Best companies to work for in the Fortune 500

Already, 25 states have rolled off the extended benefits program, with 15 of them exiting last month alone. But more unemployed folks will be affected by this week’s cessation than April’s, when about 135,000 people saw their payments end.

By the beginning of September, the benefits will disappear in another seven states, leaving Alaska as the sole place to offer it.

The jobless have been able to collect up to 99 weeks of benefits for much of the Great Recession and its aftermath. But after multiple extensions, Congress in February passed a law that starts phasing out this unprecedented lifeline.

Starting later this year, the maximum number of weeks the jobless can collect unemployment benefits will be reduced to as little as 40 weeks in states with jobless rates below 6% and to as many as 73 weeks where unemployment tops 9%.

The issue of supporting the long-term unemployed, who number 5.1 million or 41% of the jobless, has split policy makers and economists. Some argue that these costly benefits need to end to spur people to find work. But others say the economy is still too weak to roll up the safety net.

"The hundreds of thousands of long-term unemployed who are being abruptly pushed off the extended benefits program are just the latest wave of jobless workers forced to survive without basic financial protections," said George Wentworth, senior staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group.

Attention Class of 2012: Did you land a job in your field or are you working a retail job? Do you have an internship or are you unemployed? We are looking to profile several brand-new grads and learn their post-commencement plans. To participate, send an email to realstories@cnnmoney.com. Please include a contact phone number. 

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]]> http://fininformer.com/boj-nominees-need-policy-vetting-by-diet-lawmaker-says-bloomberg/feed/ http://fininformer.com/oil-drops-below-98-on-us-demand-europe-votes/ http://fininformer.com/oil-drops-below-98-on-us-demand-europe-votes/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 13:08:26 +0000 Cartman http://fininformer.com/oil-drops-below-98-on-us-demand-europe-votes/ Oil slid below $98 a barrel Monday in Asia, bringing its fall over three trading days to about 7 percent, as a slowdown in U.S. hiring and election results in Europe dimmed expectations of stronger economic growth.

Benchmark oil for June delivery was down 86 cents to $97.63 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $4.05 to settle at $98.49 in New York on Friday. Brent crude for June delivery was down 73 cents at $112.45 per barrel in London.

Crude has slumped from $110 in February amid signs oil demand may be weaker than previously expected.

The Energy Department said last week that U.S. crude inventories have risen to the highest since 1990. That was followed by the Labor Department on Friday announcing the economy added 115,000 jobs in April, far fewer than the 165,000 analysts were expecting.

“Economic indicators both in the U.S. and Europe are taking on a more negative appearance,” energy trader and consultant Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report.

Investors are also concerned political upheaval in Europe could derail government austerity measures and worsen the region’s debt problems guaranteed personal loan approval.

French Socialist Francois Hollande, who promised during the presidential election campaign to boost spending, defeated President Nicolas Sarkozy. In Greece, the pro-austerity coalition parties suffered a sharp decline in support, which might undermine efforts to keep Greece in the euro currency bloc.

“Lackluster macroeconomic conditions, easing global tensions and bearish fundamentals have started to weigh on oil prices,” Morgan Stanley said in a report.

Oil traders often look to global equities as a measure of overall investor sentiment, and stock markets in Asia were down sharply Monday.

In other energy trading, heating oil was down 1.6 cents at $2.99 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 1.1 cents to $2.97 per gallon. Natural gas was up 2.8 cents at $2.31 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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The resolution submitted by the AFL-CIO attracted about 32,000 votes while 672,000 votes were cast against the idea.

The labor union’s Ken Maas says the group didn’t want Berkshire to publicly identify the 81-year-old Buffett’s successor. It just wanted an annual update on the planning.

Buffett says he doesn’t see any need to create a formal report on succession planning because he talks about it in his annual letter to shareholders and in interviews. Plus, the subject regularly comes up at the annual meetings.

Buffett says Berkshire’s board spends more time on succession planning than any other subject.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

Warren Buffett insists that he’s feeling good after his recent prostate cancer diagnosis. Based on the questions he got at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, shareholders are taking him at his word.

Despite the fact that Buffett just disclosed his cancer diagnosis last month, he didn’t face the first question about his health until well into Saturday morning’s questioning. Many of the questions at the meeting either focused in on technical aspects of Berkshire’s many businesses or dealt with general economic or political topics.

“I feel terrific. I love what I do,” he said to an audience of more than 30,000 gathered at Omaha’s downtown arena and in overflow rooms. He told shareholders that the survival rates for prostate cancer look so good that he thinks the diagnosis is a “non-event.”

It would hardly be the first time that Buffett’s assessment would be trusted. Widely known as the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett, 81, is considered the greatest celebrity in investing because of his many profitable decisions. Buffett has said his four doctors caught his cancer early, and it doesn’t represent a serious threat to his health. He plans to undergo radiation treatment in July, but the treatment should have little effect on his daily routine.

“I may have a little less energy, but that may mean I do fewer dumb things,” Buffett said jokingly.

Still, the diagnosis is forcing shareholders to confront the fact that one day Buffett will no longer be at the helm of the conglomerate, which includes an eclectic mix of companies such as Geico insurance, MidAmerican Energy, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, Shaw carpet, Helzberg Diamonds, the Nebraska Furniture Mart and Pampered Chef. Several questions dealt with related topics, such as who will replace Buffett when the time comes.

Buffett told shareholders in this year’s annual letter that the board has picked someone to succeed him as CEO if the need arises immediately, and it has two backup candidates. But Buffett hasn’t publicly identified his successor.

However, he did address a challenge that his successor may face. One of the first questions of the day was about whether Buffett’s successor will be able to make the same kind of deals he has, such as the $8 billion Berkshire invested in preferred shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and General Electric Co. during the crisis of 2008. Goldman and GE both wanted Buffett’s stamp of approval along with Berkshire’s money.

“I don’t think that every deal I have made could be makeable by a successor,” Buffett said.

But Buffett said his successor will still be able to make big deals because Berkshire has nearly $40 billion in cash on hand and is willing to invest large amounts quickly.

Buffett said deals like the ones with Goldman and GE haven’t been as important to Berkshire as investing in Coca-Cola Co. stock or buying entire businesses such as Iscar metalworking and Burlington Northern.

Shareholder John Zerngast, of Olathe, Kan., said the stock market might be uneasy about Buffett’s age and that of 88-year-old Munger, but it shouldn’t be because of how much Berkshire’s 80-odd subsidiaries and investments are worth.

“I don’t worry about Warren and Charlie because the underlying value is there,” Zerngast said.

Berkshire owns clothing, furniture, railroad, insurance, jewelry and utility businesses. It also has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola Co., IBM and Wells Fargo & Co. On Friday, Berkshire said its first-quarter profit more than doubled to $3.2 billion from last year’s $1.5 billion because this year’s results weren’t hurt by major disaster losses in Berkshire’s insurance units.

Buffett says the growth in the stock’s book value _ the company’s assets minus liabilities _ has outpaced the Standard & Poor’s 500 index in all but eight years since 1965 while delivering a compounded annual return of almost 20 percent. In recent years, Buffett has repeatedly warned investors not to expect that type of return in the future because Berkshire’s size makes it nearly impossible to keep growing at that rate.

That’s fine with George Jensen and his wife, Setara Jensen, who bought Berkshire stock as a stable option in retirement. The Jensens traveled from Hong Kong to attend the shareholder meeting and visit friends from when Jensen worked for Union Pacific railroad before retiring.

“We bought it because it’s a good value,” Jensen said. “There are certainly things that might have a higher rate of return, but at this stage, we wanted something safe and stable.”

But Buffett did tell shareholders that he was recently negotiating a $22 billion acquisition that didn’t work out. He wouldn’t disclose the details, but he used the transaction as an example of the biggest acquisition Berkshire would make right now.

He also defended Berkshire’s purchase last year of the Omaha World-Herald Co. He said even though he has highlighted the challenges newspapers face, the deal still made sense for Berkshire, which already owned the Buffalo News and a large stake in the Washington Post Co.

“I think the economics based on the prices we paid _ and we may buy more newspapers _ will work out OK,” Buffett said.

Buffett said newspapers are usually still the primary source of local information, and that’s an advantage in places where community is important.

Buffett also defended political comments he has made while supporting President Barack Obama and lobbying for higher taxes on wealthy investors like him.

“When Charlie and I took this job, we did not agree to put our citizenship in a blind trust,” Buffett said.

Buffett always plays the role of Berkshire’s chief marketing officer at the annual meeting by showcasing products made by the company that are on display in the 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall. On Saturday, he revived the newspaper tossing skills of his youth, promising anyone who can throw a folded Omaha World-Herald _ one of Berkshire’s latest acquisitions _ further than him, a Dilly bar from Dairy Queen.

As Buffett roamed the exhibit hall, shareholders mobbed him, trying to take pictures with their cellphones. He spent time singing “There is No Place Like Nebraska” with the University of Nebraska’s cheerleaders at the Justin Boots stage before checking out the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad and BYD electric car displays.

Later Saturday, Berkshire shareholders will vote on a proposal submitted by the AFL-CIO, which owns some Berkshire stock, asking whether the company should be compelled to disclose more specifics about its succession plan.

The proposal faces long odds because Berkshire’s board unanimously opposes it, and that group controls 38 percent of the voting rights. Buffett himself controls about 34 percent of vote.

Buffett has said Berkshire plans to split his chairman and CEO job into three parts with a chief executive, a chairman and several investment managers.

Buffett has said he believes his son Howard, who already serves on Berkshire’s board, would make an ideal chairman.

And Berkshire has hired two hedge fund managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, over the past two years who Buffett says eventually will be capable of running the company’s entire portfolio.

Buffett has said he remains in good health, and has no plans to retire because he enjoys running the conglomerate he built.

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