Well, actually, you have to read the fine print. They are up 57% from one year ago. But March’s figures were up 5% from February, so no matter how you slice it, things are getting bad. And I predict they will get worse.

According to a Reuters story today, the 4 top states for foreclosure are….extra points for guessing right….Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada (and not in that order). So what do these states all have in common? Sunny? yes, but wrong answer. Southern? Yeah, you could say that, too, but it’s stretching it a tad with Nevada and California. And that’s not what we are going for. The answer?? That’s right - all of these days had the largest appreciation in prices during the real estate mania days.

I have to admit, I was guilty of doing a little speculation out here in the Phoenix area. I actually purchased 2 brand new homes on the same day and no one questioned me about it at all, certainly not the lenders who were just as much in a feeding frenzy as the Realtors and speculators. Do you remember those times when idiots went around spouting phrases like “home prices won’t go down, things will just level out.” Based on what are you making this statement, genius? I wanted to ask.

I closed on both of these loans within 3 months of each other and NO ONE asked me why I had other mortgage loans showing on my credit report. Oh and did I mention that I received 100% financing on both of them?

It’s just one disaster story after another. The Wall Street Journal (my favorite gossip rag on the planet) is reporting today that Mary E. Pugh, who has been fiercely criticized by some shareholders of the struggling thrift, has resigned from the board. (WaMu is where I just got my brand new equity line.)

I am just going to do a prediction here that the housing market in Phoenix will bottom out by next summer. Last time this craziness in the real estate market happened in the Phoenix area, it took 3 years (1988 - 1991) for the market to bottom out. That’s the data I’m using here. Once it bottoms out, it will be level for a year then slowly appreciate.

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