Think all the housing-market scams went away after the market went bust in 2008? Wrong. The scammers have merely adjusted to the times.

Our favorite scam (in terms of intricate ingenuity) is the “credit enhancement” trick, in which “credit enhancement” companies effectively set up bogus bank accounts for people, making their balances look bigger and impressing potential lenders in the process.

One investigation found that scammers put on their loan application that they were trying to buy 935 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington D.C. — the headquarters of the FBI. No one said the scammers weren’t bold. They almost sound like Russian mobsters.

Anyway, read the article. They’re all over the foreclosure industry, needless to say.

File under: The more things change, the more they stay the same

A new study on real estate price was conducted by MIT and CBRE Econometric Advisors. It addresses the question whether or not the current market is actually a “buy” market. A big “booooo” because Boston is missing from the detailed data! In any event, the answer is basically if you take the post 2002 bubble years out of the equation, much of the housing market is still overpriced. If you factor those years in … it’s not so bad. The report is short, if you want to look yourself, here it is.

Boston real estate outlook

The Boston Business Journal interviewed economist Karl ’Chip’ Case on a range of issues.  The following excerpts are Karl Case’s thoughts on the U.S. housing market:

‘I’m not real optimistic’

It’s nearly impossible to meet with Case and not somehow discuss the housing market. The subject of wine is a close second, in terms of his order of interests, but house talk truly gets his blood pumping. It’s what he knows best.

In July, lounging in a pair of athletic shorts and a “Wicked Sox Fan” T-shirt, Case said he was less than thrilled with what he was seeing. That outlook hasn’t changed in the months since. “I’m not real optimistic,” he said, noting that the market’s three most relevant measuring sticks — vacancy rates, household formations and new-home building — remain at distressing levels. He waved a hand at the monthly pricing and sales-volume reports that grab most of the headlines.

Case said Shiller deserves much of the credit for calling the housing bubble and its subsequent deflation. He avoids making forecasts whenever possible. “That’s what people are always looking for and I suppose I’m as qualified as anyone to offer one. But it doesn’t mean anything’s bound to turn out the way I’ve predicted.”

Read more: The Housing Oracle | Boston Business Journal

Meredith Whitney, who a few years ago was the first to accuse the financial emperor of having no clothes, still maintains there’s going to be a double-dip price drop in housing, though she said it will probably be a “light” double dip.

She blames the shadow inventory of homes and a broken bank model for the continuing woes. According to Whitney, the broken bank model boils down to this: The banking system doesn’t know how to make large numbers of affordable mortgages available without securitization of mortgages — and the only institution now making large mortgage-securities purchases is the Fed, she says.

The Fed wants out of the mortgage-securities business, but it may have to backtrack on its stated policy, Whitney argues.

She makes some interesting arguments. What do you think?

With experts spending January analyzing Obama’s performance during his first year in office and of course last night’s election, Zillow decided to study how the value of the White House is holding up.

Zillow first gave the White House a Zestimate in January 2009 as the Obama family was preparing to take residence. At that time, Zilow estimated it was worth $308 million, based on the home’s physical attributes (132 rooms! 55,000 square feet!), historical value and housing performance in the local Washington, DC market.

Today, as President Obama prepares to mark his first anniversary in office, Zillow estimates put White House at a bit less: $292.5 million, a drop of $15.6 million, or 5.1 percent from last January. Hmm…5% loss in value, I wonder if we can blame this on Martha Coakley?

A few of the White House’s attributes: It has 132 rooms, 55,000 square feet, 18 acres, 16 family-guest rooms, an underground bunker, three kitchens, three elevators and 28 fireplaces. See more details on the White House on Zillows blog post, “What is the White House Worth?”