Filed under: Economy , Investing The percentage of Americans owning homes that are underwater is falling, according to Zillow’s third-quarter Real Estate Market Reports, which focus on 156 metropolitan areas. The other good news is that home values were relatively flat between the second and third quarters, so the price declines may be over for most homeowners. Zillow found that 21% of homeowners with single-family homes were underwater on their mortgages at the end of the third quarter, down from 23% in the previous quarter. Two factors play into the drop. One is that many underwater homeowners have already lost their homes to foreclosure. The second is that home values have stabilized in some areas of country and have even started going back up in other areas. Continue reading Fewer home mortgages are underwater as values stabilize Fewer home mortgages are underwater as values stabilize originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Fewer home mortgages are underwater as values stabilize

Filed under: Company News , Technology , Green After announcing some impressive plans to develop electric cars earlier this year, Chrysler has provided few details lately, and now we know why: the company has disbanded its crash program to produce vehicles running on electrons. Chrysler has also backed off a bold January 2009 pledge to manufacture 500,000 conventional and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles by 2013. Reuters reported the sad news late Friday in an interview with Fiat CEO Serigo Marchionne . Fiat, reportedly aghast at the horrific condition of its newly acquired U.S. subsidiary, decided to pull the plug on the speculative but exciting effort to add some green to Detroit’s also-ran brand. The move is another step in Marchionne’s efforts to shake up personnel and organizational structure at Chrysler. Marchionne declared U.S. car sales “a disaster” in September, according to the Daily News in New York. Continue reading Fiat pulls the plug on Chrysler’s electric car program Fiat pulls the plug on Chrysler’s electric car program originally appeared on DailyFinance on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Fiat pulls the plug on Chrysler’s electric car program

Filed under: Energy , Technology , Columns The former president dropped this wisdom at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas yesterday, according to the Earth2Tech green blog. His logic? The “Cash for Clunkers” program worked so well that perhaps we should be spending our money on a more revolutionary solution, namely, the wholesale conversion of America to an electric car ecosystem. It would be a bold move, no doubt, but a far smarter and more effective way to secure our energy future and to boost the development and scale of this still fledgling part of the U.S. economy. Besides, many automotive industry analysts believed cash for clunkers was really a waste of money , giving billions in cash to people who would probably have bought new or used replacements cars for their aged chariots anyway. Continue reading Bill Clinton says “Cash for Electric Vehicles”: He’s right. Bill Clinton says “Cash for Electric Vehicles”: He’s right. originally appeared on DailyFinance on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Bill Clinton says "Cash for Electric Vehicles": He’s right.