“Cracks Are Emerging’ In The Housing Bubble
From Newsday in New York. “As housing boomed, real estate agents, furniture sellers, mortgage bankers, construction workers and a host of others reaped the rewards. Now cracks are emerging in those key sectors of the region’s economy. Data and anecdotes alike are signaling the potential for job losses, closed offices and fewer new real estate licenses.”
“‘Real estate is about a third of the economy,’ when accounting for related industries, said Martin Cantor, chief economist for Sustainable Long Island. ‘It’s going to ripple all the way through.’”
“Huntington real estate broker Katy Anastasio has already cut one administrative staffer. Of the 14 licensed agents on her staff now, she plans to cut six before year’s end. ‘I decided to clean up the house,’ said Anastasio, who had 17 agents at the market’s height. ‘I don’t need people who are not producing.’”
“Brokers like Richard Dallow in Levittown, whose business is down 10 percent from a year ago, are readying themselves to trim agents who aren’t producing. Dallow estimates that 20 percent of his 120 licenses ’should not be licensed with us any longer,’ because they are either inactive or unproductive.”
“‘Some of the things that we just let go because the market was going off the wall, we pay more attention to now,’ said Dorothy Herman, who heads Prudential Douglas Elliman, which has offices throughout the region. ‘You’re judged by your weakest link.’”
“It’s not just real estate companies that are impacted. Construction and mortgage companies are already making job cuts, too, experts said. And retailers may not be far behind. ‘There’s been a lot of contraction and a lot of layoffs,’ said Hauppauge mortgage banker Jonathan Pinard, who heads the Empire State Mortgage Bankers Association. ‘Most people are finding it very difficult.’”
“Garden City home builder Alec Ornstein is trying to ride out the slowdown by offering incentives to lure buyers. His subcontractors, however, are already making cuts. ‘The effects of the softening of the market are going to be tremendous, and potentially recessionary in that field,’ Ornstein said.”
The Boston Herald. “It’s hard times for Hub business tycoons and sports stars trying to unload multimillion-dollar mansions and condos. Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has dropped the price of his Brookline mansion - again - this time to $15.7 million. He put it on the market for a whopping $22 million nearly three years ago, and previously dropped it to about $18 million.”
“Some brokers warn of a newly emerging tycoon shortage as some of the Boston area’s top companies move out or are acquired by out-of-state competitors. ‘It has narrowed the pool of tycoons, which is decreasing the demand for these palatial mansions in such areas as Brookline,’ said top Boston residential real estate executive John Ford.”
“Convicted Tyco looter Dennis Kozlowski appears to have missed the memo about the market downturn. Kozlowski tried unsuccessfuly to spark a bidding war for his Nantucket mansion in hopes of scoring a $23 million deal.”
“Instead, Kozlowski, now serving time in federal prison, recently missed a court deadline to pay $167 million in fines and restitution. Lawyers blamed his inability to sell several homes.”
From New Jersey. “Buyers have been scarce lately as the once-booming shore real estate market has cooled, so sellers are resorting to some interesting tactics. Offering a Ford Mustang with a new condo or a furniture allowance are a few tactics being employed, but another seemingly new one is actually a very old one: It’s the good old-fashioned shore home auction.”
“One is set for this Sunday, where 13 Wildwood Crest properties will be auctioned. Doug Clemens, the chairman and CEO of Traiman Auction, said auction interest rises when properties aren’t moving.”
“‘They just have an overbuilt situation that has to be corrected in the next couple years. Sellers are looking for alternatives. A tremendous amount of real estate has come on the market and a number of auctions are coming,’ Clemens said.”
“Builders are complaining about a lack of buyers right now. It could be from too much new construction, but some also argue shore real estate is overpriced.”
“(Agent) Douglas Jewell said the market had slowed considerably. The slow-down, Jewell noted, is cutting into profit margins, but he doesn’t see buyers getting huge savings, because the cost of construction materials such as copper, plywood and petroleum-based building materials are up.”
“‘People think a $550,000 condo will be $350,000 if they wait long enough. Not on your life. Construction costs are too high,’ Jewell said. Those with construction loans continue to build to satisfy their commitments, but those building with cash are ’sitting and waiting,’ Jewell said.”
“Cape May County Tax Administrator George Brown III said property transfers are down 10 to 15 percent in the county over the past year. Brown is not yet sure whether a reduction in sales volume will result in a decline in property values. Foreclosures have gone from an average of about one per month to about eight, Brown said.”
The Star Ledger in New Jersey. “When (realtor) Ken Baris logged onto his computer yesterday morning, he found him self on the receiving end of an e- mail blast from Beazer Homes, a developer building 96 new condominium units in Passaic County. The message to brokers and agents was crystal clear: Sell a condo and you can pocket a meaty 4 percent commission, instead of the standard 3.”
“It’s a theme that is playing out across the country. Home builders, who have more wiggle room than private homeowners when it comes to reducing their prices, are offering prospective buyers a lot of sweeteners to stimulate the lethargic housing market.”
“Richard Yamarone, the chief economist at Argus Research, is one of a handful of contrarians on Wall Street who be lieve the main culprit behind the housing market’s malaise is the media.”
“‘No doubt about it, there is some softening in the housing market. You can’t break records forever,’ he said. ‘But I really believe this has been fed by the left-wing press looking for a good story right before the elections.’”
From Rhode Island:
‘The owners of The 903 Residences say the project’s recent sales strength is a success in the face of a softening housing market. So far this year, they have sold 47 of their 330 units.’
‘O’Marah noted that downtown Providence is absorbing a little more than 400 units, with the three high-rise projects coming online. In contrast, communities such as South Florida will be absorbing thousands of condominiums in a much smaller time frame. ‘The market isn’t overbuilt, so therefore, we are meeting a large demand that is latent,’ O’Marah said.’
The good ol’ ‘we’re not as bad as Florida’ routine. Almost as lame as the ‘construction costs will save us.’
‘But I really believe this has been fed by the left-wing press looking for a good story right before the elections.’”
So, Ben, time to fess-up. You’re really part of the left-wing plot to unseat this administration…….
I just left a message on Richard Yamarone’s voice mail. The “left wing” comment really chapped my hide.
I asked him how such an idiot made it to chief economist.
Is that the same left wing press that caused us to lose the war in Iraq? If it weren’t for that darn press then Representative Mark Foley could have continued to molest boy pages unmolested, as it were. When they blame the press, you know the bubble has burst!
I think the Democrats secretely planted super-irresistably-cute boys as his pages! Don’t blame Foley! Besides, all he has to do is say “boo hoo hoo I’m sorry” and all will be well.
“Richard Yamarone, the chief economist at Argus Research, is one of a handful of contrarians on Wall Street who be lieve the main culprit behind the housing market’s malaise is the media.”
“‘No doubt about it, there is some softening in the housing market. You can’t break records forever,’ he said. ‘But I really believe this has been fed by the left-wing press looking for a good story right before the elections.’”
Is this guy really that stupid? Or could it be he just’s a pathetic whiner who just lost a bundle of cash speculating in Real Estate? And this guy is the chief economist of a reasearch organization? If this guy is representative of the type of fool that works on Wall Street, my fears of a major economic catastrophe has just increased significantly.
A left wing press? Where in the hell is that one?? Left wing press? That’s why we are knee deep in Iraq with torture looking palatial and no answer to 9-11 or vindication for the families. Yeah, it’s a freaking left wing press deal alright. Where in the hell is the left wing press so I can send them some subscription money?? Give me a fecking break alright.
America, Land of the Fabulous Excuse Makers or It’s Somebody Else’s Fecking Fault that I Fecked up!!
“(Agent) Douglas Jewell…doesn’t see buyers getting huge savings, because the cost of construction materials such as copper, plywood and petroleum-based building materials are up.”
I guess Agent Jewell missed the news report two weeks ago saying that lumber and OSB costs are down 50% per board foot since last year.
Exactly. As the demand for new homes and remodeling falls, so will the demand for the materials that go into them. Lower demand equals lower prices. Except on the Jersey Shore. Where your beach home is only usable 4 months of the year, so prices can only go up.
even if costs are higher, who says you pass those costs through to buyers? US automakers have been in the high cost/low price bind for a long time.
Maybe they’re using the LIFO method of Accounting. RE agents have very little credibility in my book; they will say anything legally permitted to gain the maximum amount of commission on the sale.
“‘People think a $550,000 condo will be $350,000 if they wait long enough. Not on your life. Construction costs are too high,’
Correction. Construction costs were too high when you built it.
You should try renting it out to cover costs. Oh wait….
$350,000 if I wait long enough? not on your life. it’ll drop below $300,000.
Construction costs are too high,’ Jewell said…
Land prices in Sacramento CA have dropped 50% in the last 12 months. Lumber is down 20% in the last 2 months. My contractor says the local lumber sales reps are following him around like “puppy dogs” begging him to start a new home and buy a lumber package from them.
Yes Jewell you are absolutely right, lumber costs ARE TOO HIGH. That is why they are coming DOWN.
This guys comments (the “agent”) shocked me. He definately has missed that land, lumber, and copper are dropping in price.
And they’ll be cheaper in a year too.
Its attitudes like this that make the downturn slow. However, we don’t have the cash reserves (as a group) that we used to. So this will start slow and as soon as the suicide loans dry up…
Yep…
Neil
I sent him an email with lumber, oil, and copper yoy price quotes. Feel free to jump in.
info@jewellrealestateagency.com
- Comrade (Agent) Douglas Jewell is actually KGB. This is proof that it is hard to translate into the english language.
“But I really believe this has been fed by the left-wing press looking for a good story right before the elections.”
_____________________________________________________________
What a joke. I consider this blog to be in the middle. Only concerned with the exposing the truth of inflated asset prices and NOT about some polical mumbo-jumbo.
So the right-wing fed this on the way up? NO it was greedy people.
It’s a really stupid statement. What a whack job. I’m sure Argus Research, whoever they are, has a gold-plated client list.
The guy must be watching too many hours of FOX (FAUX) News.
As opposed to CNN - the Communist News Network?
I thought it was the Clinton News Network
They are all fecked up, if you ask me. They will never be able to pay the karma they owe to families in this country who’ve lost loved ones in the war on terra-ism that the Bush-monkey was spouting.
posted “As opposed to CNN - the Communist News Network? ”
Hey your boy has been at the helm the last 6 years…. What say you?
What guys like this don’t understand is that O’Reilly, Hannity and Cavuto are class traitors — they make millions shoveling propaganda, and realize rich is better than poor.
So when doofuses are listening to right wing news in the morning while getting their black coffee and buttered hard roll, understand the people who deliver that tripe are living limosine liberal lifestyles.
One of the things I find really refreshing about this blog is the lack of politics. I’m pretty sure that we all are not on the same side of the political fence here but at least we can all agree on some things.
Definately.
Lots of other housing blogs with some very polarised opinions, so when I want a rant I can go to them.
That’s why I like Ben’s Blog so much - less politics and more housing stories.
People always get so opinionated about politics and religion, so I prefer not to read or discuss stuff like that online, it always leads to flame wars, which detracts from gloating at FB’s…
As one who works in Rep politics in DC, this blog is a refreshing neutral refuge. I agree that politics will eventually be very affected by this housing collapse, but there are many other blogs and Websites where one can vent about political topics.
What would be interesting for Ben to open to discussion is how much the RE market will affect the 08 election cycle. FB tend not to re-elect the politicians whom they blame for this mess.
This has been kinda discussed before. I still say that it’s a perfect opening for Pat Buchanan. He is laying low now but will very likely run independent and he could win. Picture him 3-way vs. Hillary (or Biden, Kerry, Edwards, Gore) and McCain (Frist, Allen, etc.). He’s a populist, anti-Iraq war, anti-immigration, pro-”little-man,” xenophobic, etc. He could take most of “flyover country” including the upper Midwest plus some potentially divided and disgruntled states, such as a Florida.
I’d vote for him, if I were American and allowed to vote and lived in the US.
My favorite newsanchor though is Keith Olbermann; go figure.
“But I really believe this has been fed by the left-wing press looking for a good story right before the elections.”
This guy must be using clear plastic wrap instead of tin foil.
Wacky left-wingers like flatffplan and gekko?
Anybody who thinks we have a liberal media, and by that I mean the major newspapers, broadcast networks and cable news channels (not MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central) needs to have their fucking head examined.
Doug Jewell has his head wedged tightly in his ass if he believes what he’s saying. Does he think it cost $350,000 in materials and labor to build those condos? What a douchebag.
Do you offer free exams?
* I’ll drop it.
Brooklynite, I appreciate your anger. It is easy to be pi$$ed off while swimming in the sea of stupidity that surrounds us. I have also found that stupidity does not discriminate. It infects left and right, white and black, red and yellow, male and female. For every ounce of common sense there is on this planet, you can find a ton of stupid.
And lately for every bucket of money there’s a box of stupid.
““‘People think a $550,000 condo will be $350,000 if they wait long enough. Not on your life. Construction costs are too high,’ Jewell said. Those with construction loans continue to build to satisfy their commitments, but those building with cash are ’sitting and waiting,’ Jewell said.”
It happened in NYC/NJ last time I bought a home in NJ (1993). Wait till 2010 and those $550K condos will sell for less than $300K.
You are right. I remember the early 90s too and we’re holding out for a vacation property that’s “priced right”. We looked at Jersey Shore properties in January ‘06 and decided to wait because everything was ridiculously high and we knew prices couldn’t continue to double. We started in Avalon (an affluent beach town) and saw condos that had sold in May ‘05 for $550,000 almost immediately flipped back on the market for $999,000 by July ‘05. Even talked to one owner hoping to buy before he listed with a realtor. He was firm in his conviction that his two-bedroom, parking lot view oceanblock condo (tired building) was worth $950,000 (with no realtor commission). Needless to say it’s still listed with a realtor for $940,000.
If I had enough disposable income to actually afford a million-dollar vacation home, the Jersey Shore is most definitely not where I’d be buying.
Quotes like, “I decided to clean up the house” and “readying themselves to trim agents who aren’t producing” really get me mad.
Why can’t these managers simply tell their employees, ‘hey, sorry but the market turned on us; we overestimated demand for our services and are simply overstaffed for this environment?’ Why do they have to insult their employees’ dignity with all this productivity BS?
Agreed
- ‘The effects of the softening of the market are going to be tremendous, and potentially recessionary in that field,’ Ornstein said.”
The Fed reports that there is INCREASED GROWTH in the
‘Service Sector.’ Boy, thats good news for these soon to unemployed folks. New jobs at Target, Costco, JC Pennys, Taco Bell, Car Washes etc.
I think an interesting side effect will be the end of the 6%, or even 4 or 5%, commission. There are going to be a lot of licensed, out of work RE agents, just at a time when competitively priced start-ups, regulators and others are trying to kill the NAR monopoly. How much persuasion is it going to take get one of these expendable agents to go work for the new guys at a fixed salary?
They should just say, “those of you willing to deceive your clients the most will be kept on staff.” That’s the point. They will keep the biggest scumbags. Anybody with any honesty will be shown the door.
“Said Marilyn Urso, the co-broker-owner of Long Island Village Realty in Syosset: “Now’s not a time to cut back on anything. Now’s a time to continue doing what you are doing and doing it even better.”
Using the Wile E Coyote image again, How do you fall off a cliff “even better”?
It’s the classic ramp-up to a recession, dont cut back but add more.
A Tycon shortage??!!!
Now this is serious!
Uh, tycoon.
No, he had it right.
Ty-Con
Tycon is right: an amalgamation of “Tyco” and “Con”
Actually, Yamarone is the Americanized name that was foisted on Richard’s family at Ellis Island. In the original it was “Ya Maroon!” including the exclamation point.
A little googling shows, no surprise, he’s a typical right-wing dickwad Bush supporter.
Gee, I was having a good day, until I read about the Tycoon shortage in Massachusetts. I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight. I guess it’s good luck that these agents listed a warning, as that’s not the kind of thing you want to be surprised by. Perhaps they should post, instead of an Amber alert, a Tycoon shortage alert along the highways of Mass.
Ah, a tycoon shortage. Now that makes a lot of sense. Silly me, I had thought it was just a giant glut of way overpriced homes.
Don’t worry I’m on it. I am applying to be a tycoon now so as to help relieve the shortage.
…so sellers are resorting to some interesting tactics. Offering a Ford Mustang with a new condo or a furniture allowance are a few tactics being employed
Okay, I hereby call for an end to all meida refering to car givaways, furniture allowances, 6 months of HOA dues, trips to Hawaii etc, etc, as “new” and “unusual”. It ain’t a gimmick anymore when just about everyone is doing it.
“‘No doubt about it, there is some softening in the housing market. You can’t break records forever,’ he said. ‘But I really believe this has been fed by the left-wing press looking for a good story right before the elections.’”
I love this. Blame it on the media or on the Fed for raising rates. When they are talking to buyers they say, “rates are at historical lows”. When the potential buyers smile in their face and say, “we’ll wait” it is because interest rates are too high.
This too has a historical equivalent. It is called the “stab in the back” theory. It is the reason the Germans lost World War I. It was all because people back home were thinking bad thoughts. It had nothing to do with the hundreds of thousands of young German boys that had died or been maimed in the trenches.
This disaster was also created in the trenches. Armies of appraisers, real estate agents, mortgage dealers, flippers and greey regular Joes caused this one. It had nothing to do with any “stab in the back”. This was a slicing of the wrists.
Pulling up to the Mc homes window, Yeah, I’ll take the mustang, Home minus 150K, all wavier’s and throw in a few of those out of work RE agents.
No, I don’t want granite counters at this time.
you can’t do all that?
Ok, I’m not feeling homeless yet, I’ll go down the road to Home King and see what they have on the menu.
“People think a $550,000 condo will be $350,000 if they wait long enough. Not on your life. Construction costs are too high,” Jewell said.
loss:
Function: noun
4 b : an amount by which the cost of something exceeds its selling price
Does anyone out here have a Barrons subscrption? They have a story titled Housing Hangover on this weekends edition.
yeah. I read it….talks about builders mostly and how their book values are inflated by options that will will probably expire worthless. Nothing new really.
Thanks!!
“‘Real estate is about a third of the economy,’ when accounting for related industries, said Martin Cantor, chief economist for Sustainable Long Island. ‘It’s going to ripple all the way through.’”
As the bubble deflates, pundits seem to declare it an ever-and-ever larger portion of the US economy. Wasn’t it 10% last year? Then 20%? Now it’s one-third?????!!!!???? This sounds like rhetorical inflation as a run-up to a demand for a bail-out.
“The housing sector and related industries constitute 127% of the American economy,” David Lereah said. “If the government doesn’t make good the losses of real estate developers and sub-prime lenders, everyone in the U.S., Canada and the European Union will be unemployed. Plus which, every man woman and child in the US will begin to suffer from flaky skin and dry, lifeless hair.”
More Harvard cheering, you can smell the new build dirt on this article:
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_82_5032488,00.html
Sent this e-mail to the columnist. Will post any response:
Mr. Reutman,
You greatly underestimate the proliferation of toxic loans taken on by people who cannot afford them.
You offer no statistics to back your arguments, and clearly haven’t looked out the window lately. Were you not aware of the dangerously high foreclosure rate in Colorado? Would that not indicate a divergence from fundamentals?
Your rhetoric betrays your readers. We are simply behind the coasts in terms of trends - one of which is uninformed prognostications ultimately proven absurd. Precipitous decline is what you will see.
You might have made the right call instead of an ambivalent one if you knew what to look for (or even made the effort for that matter).
-
Guess what NFL player hasn’t sold his house yet?
http://www.prufoxroach.com/view.cfm?propid=b6edadd5-3c6f-4ce4-9c9e-e74a7fb83948&mailLink=Y
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/15239354.htm
Oh my god, the brokers are saying he’s going to take a $1.4 million haircut on that piece of heaven — in Philadelphia.
-
or more.
Type: Single Family/Detached
Style: 2 Story - Contemporary
Bedrooms: 5 Garage: 3-Car Garage with Garage Door Opener
Bathrooms: 7 full
1 partial
That “1 partial” bathroom really turned me off.
Good! After his possible/denied/BS suicide attempt, his publicist says he has 25mil reasons to live.
I guess after this haircut, he may only have 23+mil reasons. What a joke he is.
Go Pats
-
As if Koz didn’t have enough worries -
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/kozlowskimug1.html
Don’t know if this was posted already. From the LA Times.
Flat Home Prices Predicted
UCLA group backs away from its dire projections last year but says things could worsen based on recent data.
http://tinyurl.com/nl36q
My prediction
“Now that home prices have finished going through the roof for eight straight years at an unprecedented rate of real price inflation, they will flatten out for several years going forward, as they have achieved a permanently high plateau.”
Definitely could happen if rates stay the same.
The more this bubble busting goes on I’m beginning to think that there really isn’t very many end user buyers out there . I think it’s going to go into a real dead market no matter what the sellers do.
If move up buyers can’t sell their house than the upscale market suffers because usually the person buying the 800k house just sold a 500 k house . The only potential market for a long time will be the first time buyer market, but the builders have not been building houses catering to those buyers . Second home buyers are going to back off,as well as flipper/speculators .The demand factor is wacked for absorbing the inventory and it will only get worst .
Maybe our boy Lansner won’t be around to watch the downturn unfold…
Register offers staff severance packages to cut costs as ad sales fall
http://tinyurl.com/negyp
You may have touched something here. Imagine a day when newspaper RE sections are once again relegated to classified section only?
“The left wing press…….” Mmmm. So can we can attribute the ridiculous run up prices to the, “Right wing press.” As usual, when the sh*t hits the fan in these boom and bust scenarios, the whiners start to appear. “I was cheated,” or “The mortgage broker told me it wasn’t a problem.” This is going to be happy hunting ground for litigation lawyers. This guy needs to read Schiller. Schiller commented many, many times that booms become busts in line with mass psychology but people are GREEDY so they wouldn’t listen anyway. Schiller was right about the tech boom and bust bubble and he’s right about this boom and bust bubble. Unfortunately, this bubble is much larger and even though there was a lot of fraud in the tech boom, there is FAR more in this property bubble. We are already reading articles about the massive mortgage fraud and crooked appraisals which have contributed to this growing and fast moving mess. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that a buyer who was making $50,000 a year, cannot afford a house costing $550,000 unless the carpet bagger mortgage broker (which flooded the market) stuck in “2″ in front of the “50″. Just a matter of time…..
The day the average Amerikan realizes he is not part of the ruling elites controlling banking and war and everything in between is the day we end up with a viable 3rd party or we overthrow the feckers. Amerikans across all parties will be or are getting fecked by this bullcrap housing bubble. Most are standing around looking for someone to blame while they still have the real jerks stuck up their old arses without lube.
“‘People think a $550,000 condo will be $350,000 if they wait long enough. Not on your life. Construction costs are too high,’ Jewell said. Those with construction loans continue to build to satisfy their commitments, but those building with cash are ’sitting and waiting,’ Jewell
Spoken like someone that is desperately betting his life on it. Your real estate industry gang of lowlife cuttroats are deeply wounded, treading water and bleeding with man eating sharks closing in and no help in sight.
Pass the Popcorn and massage my dorsal fin Dear, we may have some action shortly !
If you lower your home price, then you are emboldening the terrorists.
posted ” If you lower your home price, then you are emboldening the terrorists.”
No you are a reailist.
he doesn’t see buyers getting huge savings, because the cost of construction materials such as copper, plywood and petroleum-based building materials are up.”
“‘People think a $550,000 condo will be $350,000 if they wait long enough. Not on your life. Construction costs are too high,’ Jewell said. ”
———————————————————————-
the problem with this logic: once a builder has used copper, plywood, etc. to build a house, it is now USED copper, plywood, etc., just like your car is a collection of used parts. Oh and I should also mention that commodity prices are falling.
“‘Real estate is about a third of the economy,’ when accounting for related industries, said Martin Cantor, chief economist for Sustainable Long Island. ‘It’s going to ripple all the way through.’”
I hope he is wrong about his estimate that real estate is a third of the economy, as if this is true, there is a potential depression waiting at the bottom of the hard landing currently underway. So far, only the R word is whispered in reputable media outlets…
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7971153
“‘No doubt about it, there is some softening in the housing market. You can’t break records forever,’ he said. ‘But I really believe this has been fed by the left-wing press looking for a good story right before the elections.’”
Records are likely to be broken on the way down this time as well, IMO. It just feels that way.
America’s love affair with the NAR Industry’s ” 6% House Matchmaker” is coming to an end !
“‘People think a $550,000 condo will be $350,000 if they wait long enough. Not on your life. Construction costs are too high,’ Jewell said …
What a BS!
There was development 0.5m from where i live.
In 2003 they had price in high 200k and
in 2005 exactly the same house had price
in mid 400 !
This jump wasn’t because of the construction
cost as all of us know.
And if we wait we gonna see how the train will
go back.
He said: ““(Agent) Douglas Jewell said the market had slowed considerably. The slow-down, Jewell noted, is cutting into profit margins, but he doesn’t see buyers getting huge savings, because the cost of construction materials such as copper, plywood and petroleum-based building materials are up.”
Don’t let them get away with that crap, there was an article the other day about lumber mills having timber piled up, laying people off, or shutting down, because builder aren’t buying their products. And that means, their prices will be falling too; supply and demand…
Lumber, copper, plywood and petroleum based building material will achieve a permanently high price plateau…
According to Dictionary.com Mephistophelian means, “showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical of a devil; “devilish schemes”; “the cold calculation and diabolic art of some statesmen….”
I think the marketwatch reporter was spot on to use this word; it describes the nature of some of the lenders out there.
How in the world did that post here? Sorry; wrong thread.