At a Glance After nose-diving in May, the National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales took a modest drop in June.
When to Wake the Giants, cont. Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner said yesterday that “dramatic reforms” will be needed in restructuring Fannie and Freddie without bringing down the whole housing market.
Notice to Educate Whatever you think of the mortgage giant, Fannie Mae is no fan of foreclosures. To help homeowners avoid them (and prevent further losses for the company) Fannie has launched an educational website, www.knowyouroptions.com, to help borrowers “before it’s too late.”
Franken-cities How do you bring an urban center back from the grave? City parks have helped stitch things back together in St. Louis, according to the Washington Post.
Home Connections Richard Florida features a factoid on how household internet connectivity is becoming one of the clearest upshots of community development globally: “Internet access is clearly a function of economic development; as recent trends in China demonstrate, demand for electronics and online services grows as living standards rise along with disposable income levels.”
How Do We Compete With That? To reduce traffic congestion, China could end up building ginormous buses that cars can drive underneath.
Image: via engadget.com