Daily Ticker Writes: “The Party Is Over” for Housing — and Bank Earnings:

Market watchers are increasingly concerned about recent weakness in the financial sector.

In a related development, technical analyst J.C. Parets of All-Star Charts has expressed concern about a potential topping pattern in JPMorgan while blogger ChessNWine identified a bearish pattern in Goldman Sachs “with potentially devastating ramifications to financials.”

“The party is over” for refinancing activity while a weak job market and flat consumer incomes are preventing a pickup in purchase activity, Whalen says. “Structural reasons, apart from rates [mean] you’re going to see a real tail-off in demand” for mortgages.

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Those following the Real Estate market should be very concerned with the data coming out. It is showing that the top is very near or has already been set. If you actively participate in the real estate market this is an important issue to watch. Let’s look at some bullet points.

Refinancing is down substantially.
Banks are shutting down/moving their mortgage operations and firing tens of thousands of people. They expect a substantially lower volume going forward.
Interest rates are much higher from a year ago and are likely to rise further.
Rapid speculation in various markets. Las Vegas and So.Cal.
Banks are lowering their earnings due to much lower volumes.
Bearish technical patters are starting to develop in real estate and financial stocks.
Both the US Economy and the stock market are facing severe declines.
Please see other factors in my previous posts CLICK HERE

These are just a few, but it gives us enough information to paint a clear picture. Real estate is toast. The rebound that we have experienced over the last 2-3 years is now over (or nearly over). While various local markets might top at different times, the overall real estate market is topping right now and should start its decline shortly.

Therefore, I feel confident enough to call for a real estate market top right here and now. I am going on the record here. Even if I am a few months early I believe it is a good call.

“I never buy at the bottom and I always sell too soon.” – Baron Rothschild

If you are in, now is a good time to get out.

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Reuters Writes: Citigroup to cut 1,000 mortgage jobs, mostly in Las Vegas

(Reuters) – Citigroup Inc (NYS:C) said it is eliminating about 1,000 jobs in its U.S. home mortgage business, making it the latest bank to lay off staff as higher interest rates cut into demand for new loans and refinancing.

The bank is cutting about 8 percent of the 13,000 jobs in its mortgage division, with most of the cuts – about 760 – taking place in Las Vegas.

With mortgage rates having risen to their highest in two years, applications to refinance home loans plunged in early September to their lowest in nearly four years.

Roughly 800 of the jobs being eliminated are in sales, underwriting and fulfillment and reflect reduced demand for loans. Another 200 jobs are being cut because the company has less work to do on defaults because of higher house prices and fewer delinquencies, a person familiar with the matter said.

The 100% increase in interest rates over the last 12 month is having its effect. We are beginning to see cracks in the real estate market develop all over the place. Citigroup eliminating about 1,000 jobs in its mortgage division is a clear sign of that.

So, is the plunge in September loan applications for refinancing an indication that the real estate market has topped and is starting to roll over?

It’s too soon to tell at this stage. Plus, the real estate market is highly local. As I have mentioned before there is no doubt that the real estate market will go down hard. However, the timing of any such decline is a little bit more complicated. There are too many crosscurrents in the market to identify the exact top for the Nationwide market.

However, if you are involved in transactional real estate, right now would be a good time to start unwinding all of your position.

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