Week in Review
Top executives of Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Inc. were accused of fraud Monday, the first federal charges since the company went bankrupt. The actions allege former Metropolitan Chairman and CEO C. Paul Sandifur Jr. and other executives falsified financial results through circular real estate deals to show profits. “It’s our own little Enron,” said Jim Clanton, who lost money with Metropolitan and sits now on a bankruptcy creditors’ committee. “We’re looking forward to the day the people who perpetrated this crime are brought to justice.”
Tuesday
While the high-flying housing market still holds risks, especially for the financially stretched, most homeowners are in a fairly good position to weather a shock if prices drop, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Monday. “The vast majority of homeowners have a sizable equity cushion with which to absorb a potential decline in house prices,” he said in remarks delivered via satellite to a banking conference in Palm Desert, Calif.
Wednesday
Consumer confidence suffered its biggest drop in 15 years in September as Hurricane Katrina made Americans anxious about the rising costs of heating their homes and filling their gas tanks. The decline raised questions about consumer spending for the rest of this year, including the holiday shopping season. Meanwhile, the government reported Tuesday that new home sales plunged in August by the largest amount in nine months, continuing a string of mixed signals about the health of the housing boom.
• For the first time, there are more than 1 million owner-occupied homes in the United States worth $1 million or more, according to a Census Bureau survey published late last month.
• People moving to upscale condominiums being constructed in downtown Spokane are giving up suburban lifestyles and yard work in favor of living close to the theater, cinemas and other attractions. They’re also giving up having to pay property taxes for 10 years.A law on Spokane’s books since April 2000 says new construction of multi-family housing downtown, and in Browne’s Addition, West Central and Peaceful Valley, is exempt from paying property taxes for 10 years. The exemption can apply to owners of apartment buildings as well as owners of individual condominium units.
Thursday
Shares of Sterling Financial Corp. fell sharply Wednesday after the savings-and-loan holding company lowered its 2005 earnings outlook, hurt by increasing loan payoffs.
The Spokane-based company’s stock closed at $22.24, down $3.35, or 13 percent, on the Nasdaq Stock Market. At one point, the stock fell as low as $21.66, breaking the 52-week low of $21.69 set May 2.