‘The Sky Is Not As High As It Used To Be’ In S. California
A blogger sent in this LA Daily News report. “Two reports out last week - one from DataQuick Information Systems and the other from the Southland Regional Association of Realtors in Van Nuys, came to the same conclusion: Sales are well off the year-ago pace. On a month-to-month basis, prices have been flat in most areas. In other words, the sky is not falling, but it’s not as high as it used to be, either.”
“In their 2006 market forecasts, analysts and industry executives predicted that sales would be off from 2005. But the big dips in January and February are somewhat surprising. So what’s the residential real estate market going to look like this time next year?”
“San Diego County probably offers the best example, since it is farther along in its cycle than either Los Angeles County or the San Fernando Valley. According to DataQuick, sales in San Diego County fell an annual 16.8 percent last month. The expectation is that we’re going to look a lot like San Diego, one of these months down the road.”
“Dan Blake, director of the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University, Northridge, saw some of the directional signs in February’s numbers, most notably the one that had inventory soaring 77 percent to a five-month-plus supply in the Valley.”
“‘What typically happens in real estate markets is the quantity leads the price,’ Blake said. As inventory moves up, prices move down.”
“A couple of months ago Alice Chan and her husband put their home in West Hills on the market for more than $700,000 and waited for the buyers to arrive. And waited, and waited and waited.”
“Now the for sale sign is also dressed up with a ‘Price Reduced’ banner. Alice Chan is not happy, either. ‘Our agent told us to reduce the price but I don’t think so. This is a nice area,’ Chan said one day last week.”
“The 1,602-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home is now priced at $663,000 and it’s the second reduction, too, said Realtor Josephine Chan. ‘We do have an offer on the house, but the seller thinks the market is going to go up so they aren’t going to sell,’ said Josephine Chan.”
“The Chans can afford to wait. They just want to move to Northridge, but are comfortable where they are. Whether they are comfortable with this new market in a couple of months remains to be seen. Their agent recognizes the fact that a significant chill has settled over what was once a hot market.”
“In June 1990, the median price of a single-family home was $240,800, down from $245,000, then a record, a year earlier. Prices then went on a protracted slide. Inventory swelled to more than a two-year supply because people losing jobs could not afford to hang onto their homes. Now as this market is turning the economy is on sound footing. That could keep prices from collapsing or the so-called bubble from bursting.”
“Of course, back in June 1990 no one could see a price collapse heading down the road. But on the upside it did create one heck of a buying opportunity.”
I just love these spin doctors. Can anyone pick up on the subliminal messages?
Subliminal messages like “It will all bounce back in 2007″?
Getting tired of hearing words such as :slightly, warm,soft,aprreciation, still there, not as much…lets all be nice and calm, remeber no running to the exit. It’s time to be brutally honest, the market has tanked and people need to prepare for it. I dont belive this will be a 5 year process, lets try 2-3 years.
The bigger the bubble, the harsher the pop.
The NASDAQ shed over 70% of its value in less than 3 years (2000 to 2003).
2-3 years? I subscribe to the school that this thing will unravel so fast, so friggen hardcore that a world of pain will be upon us by Thanksgiving.
I do agree that the touchy-feelie language in all of these articles is frustrating and belies a story so frightening that even our tabloid media can’t admit it exists.
I believe the market flatlined in January. At this point it’s just a matter of specuvestors and home debtors burning through remaining cash on hand and hitting credit card limits. This can’t be any longer than the summer, and then a wave of foreclosures will force the eyes wide open.
Agree totally . I think its going to be fast , brutal , and shocking .
I sincerely hope you guys are right. Brutal, yes. Quick? I’m not so sure. I’m afraid this is going to be like watching paint dry.
I’m betting YoY declines will show up in Q3 in most bubble markets. The decline will be drawn out as the YoY drop will screw the lid down on mortgage funding, which will in turn slow the market further and the FB’s properties will revert to lenders graduallyover the next 2-3 years. Panic will be replaced by desperation and then resignation. That’s when the deals will be their best, for those with patience and a lot of cash/marketable securities.
It probably won’t be fast. After all, the monthly payment is still only 4 digits. It’ll take some time for the pain of carrying this mortgage load to sink in. Only then, will people resign themselves to the need to reduce prices.
The only significant price drops will be from those facing foreclosures. I don’t expect too many to be in that position this year. Perhaps in 2007 we’ll see more fire-sales.
I agree. Couple this with the lastest figures on personal savings and there’s not much reserve there for many people to dig into.
“In June 1990, the median price of a single-family home was $240,800, down from $245,000, then a record, a year earlier. Prices then went on a protracted slide. Inventory swelled to more than a two-year supply because people losing jobs could not afford to hang onto their homes. Now as this market is turning the economy is on sound footing. That could keep prices from collapsing or the so-called bubble from bursting.”
I know there is the argument that Calif. RE crashed in the early 90’s due to the huge layoffs associated with Defense cut backs, I think So Cal lost 700,000 jobs. Here’s something to consider. The current housing market is priced as if all of those high paying aerospace jobs came back, but they never did. Many of those jobs were replaced by lower paying service sector jobs. The RE market of the 80’s at least had a foundation of high paying jobs that this last boom does not. So in essence the market could and probably will correct to the same degree it did in the 90’s based on the fact that it is priced almost the same as Silicon Valley on an upswing (which is basically overpriced right now). Simply put, So Cal doesn’t have the same incomes as it did in the 80’s (Real dollars). RE related jobs are going to take a hit and that has been the primary engine of job growth this decade.
well said. the machine has been driving itself.
Headline for the 2020 Housing bubble:
Prices wont tank in 2020 because we have not lost RE jobs like they did back in 2006! We have a strong call center economy servicing the great citizens of China, who happen to own the US!
Have you seen V for Vendetta yet–things could be much, much worse.
The movie is a saccharine sweetening of the book — can’t have the plebes thinking anarchism — still a movie worth seeing.
Not only do we not have the same incomes, but the recent buyers are much weaker than the buyers from the last crash. Back then, most people had 30-yr FRMs with 10% to 20% down and approx 30% DTI ratios on VERIFIED incomes. This time, the local cocktail waitress owes $600,000 on a neg-am loan.
Not to mention (like Deb has said so often) the low starting point with interest rates this time around. Really not much relief available from lowering rates (they had more room to lower them during the last crash, which cushioned the fall).
Oh yeah, and the fact that prices and **monthly payments** are at record highs — without any wage inflation to soften the blow.
Gonna be U-G-L-Y this time around, unless the Fed hyperinflates our way out.
Don’t count out the Feds. They have done stupid things in the past……
Here’s the West Hills listing mentioned in the article.
http://crisnet.web4re.com/210071906/www/searchlistings.htm
Just enter MLS #R2001833 in the “Search by MLS numbers” field.
Considering they bought the place in ‘94 for $177K, I think selling at $663K (+375% return) would have been a godsend they should have jumped at. Really, is axing the sale over another $37K really sensible??? Makes me absolutely sick to my stomach how greedy these LA sellers are even with all the writing on the wall. All fundamental rationality completely tossed out the window…..
LOL when you break the numbers down like that it does make it look really really sad. Greed has been the undoing of many many folk
Not just greedy. Greedy stupid. Like the kid who won’t let go of the fist full of cookies to get his hand out of the jar. Let’s hope they take out a big HELOC and invest it in Phoenix.
Actually, I think you guys are being unfair to Alice Chan. Seems like she can wait and only want that price so that she can buy another place. It’s not so much greed than the overall market. If her place goes down in price so will the new place she’s trying to move to… Greed would be if she was trying to cash out and rent. Greed or good financial sense.
No, good financial sense would be cashing out right now at the market price and renting. You have it wrong.
The classic example was the baboon traps — monkey refuses to let go of the goodies in the coconut and consequently is captured — psych 101.
With the market very likely past the peak, it is time to get what you can and not try to get every penny. Based on probability, prices ahead have a small chance of moving past the peak based on past market history and just the way markets work.
And this is why the market will crash instead of soft landing. Greedy sellers will hang on until the sh*t hits the fan.
The most greedy will be brutally butchered and I bet they do not own just 1 home on average.
There’s probably been a bunch of equity “liberated” from this POS but still, what greed.
they’ll be wishing they took that 663K 6 months to a year from now. ouch.
Just a comment… We don’t know what condition that house was in in 1994 since that area had damage from the Northridge earthquake. Some houses may look cheap but in reality they might have been *real* fixer uppers. My cousin picked up a great house that year for 130K but it had a lot of damage.
Even given the assumption that the house was in substandard condition in ‘94, you would still have to agree that greed was still likely the primary component in this family’s reason for walking away from the deal over $37K. I mean c’mon, simple math already…
to PS,
Thanks for more insight into this couple and their expectations. Hope you can follow up on it in the coming months to help make our day. No wonder they can afford to wait things out with that cost basis, but there is that little thing inside me that hopes they ride this puppy all the way to the bottom. How greedy can one get? I guess we will find out.
A better question would be…who in HELL would willingly move from West Hills to Northridge?
Their dream of moving to Northridge may be shattered…..
They may be greedy, but they certainly don’t dream very big.
Investors Business Daily has article about of recent homeowners. 29% of homeowners who took out first mortgages last year had zero or negative equity!
People are going to learn very quickly why lenders used to want 20% down and would go through a borrower’s finances with a fine-tooth comb.
Way to easy to walk away these days. Opps, almost forgot…those refis and HELOCS are recourse loans! Guess it won’t be that easy after all!
That’s **TOO** easy, not to easy.
in about 2 months say end of may beginning of june it will be hot enough to fry and egg on any city sidewalk in west hills, northridge, reseda or granada hills between hours of 10am and 7pm.
“A better question would be…who in HELL would willingly move from West Hills to Northridge?”
Possibly someone affected by higher gas prices and long commutes. Question is whether they lose their tax basis on the new property since they are still in the LA basin.
Northridge isn’t really any closer to LA Proper….unless they work at the Miller Brewery. In that case, they SHOULD have bought in Northridge in 94 when they moved to West Hills (the earthquake made for some great deals). And I doubt someone sitting on over $400K of home equity is moving because of gas prices.
But I didn’t realize that you could take your old tax basis with you under prop. 13 no matter where you moved. If that is true, it’s no wonder our schools are so bad out here…
But I didn’t realize that you could take your old tax basis with you under prop. 13 no matter where you moved.
Only under certain circumstances. I think you have to be over a certain age, and transfer from a certain group of counties to somewhere else within that group or to another certain group of counties in CA. There are probably some random feel-good exceptions as well for handicapped, veterans, etc.
I believe you have to be 55 or older, and you need to check county-by-county. Still,
it’s well worth the effort or part of your future planning.
i learn something valuable every time i visit this blog.
I understand the frustration from reading the spin and the language. But I really don’t expect the major media “news” to call that the market has “tanked”. Because it hasn’t. It will, but it hasn’t yet. As long as we do not see majority of the indicators (median price, deliquncies, forclosures etc) saying things are terrible, it won’t appear in the news.
Why ? Because they report news. What has happened, not what will happen. If you read editorials/commentaries, like the one that appeared on Marketwatch site last week - they are pretty lucid and devoid of any spin in their projections.
The “news” and “reports” are really dumbed down. They will go to idiotic lengths to appear “neutral”. See the report from IBD - linked in a post above. After giving a decent report, they, for God knows why, ended the report by adding this trivial truth.
But solid hiring and bigger wage gains should support home prices and let most people make their monthly mortgage payments.
What ??? Yes, duh, that’s obvious. But why would there be bigger wage gains ? Bigger ? I haven’t seen any wage gain, let alone “big”. The question of “bigger” doesn’t even arise.
I predict, even a year from now, every “news report”, even of doom and gloom, will have some absurd attempt to provide a silver lining.
A news reporter can say any of the following without fear of recrimination:
“The Iraq war is a tragedy that has cost thousands of casualties and will cost thousands more before it is over.”
“Underfunding of pensions and lack of retirement planning will leave millions of Americans destitute in their ‘golden years’.”
“A bird flu pandemic will kill thousands, perhaps millions.”
But God help the reporter who says:
“House prices will go down.”
It is a sad commentary on our society.
Amen. A sad commentary indeed. The news wouldn’t dare tell millions of thier viewers/readers that THEY are going down. Bird flu? Destitute retirees? “That won’t happen to ME.” We all just love chasing ambulances; none of us want to be in one.
I predict that when millions are in the housing bubble aftermath, it will be time to purchase a really big bar, with a wide selection of booze and sympathetic bartenders. Hey, wait! A new profession for the SD unemployed realtors!
Of course, none of those calamaties will matter because we’re all going to get swallowed up by the ocean when the polar ice caps melt — dead birds, granite countertops, destitute grandmas and all, at least according to the front page of the Washington Post today.
Gawd, I admire you Mad Tiger…
Well said!
Mrs. Chan appears to be very greedy. I hope that they are unable to sell it at all.
Yah this attitude reminds me of many here in Irvine. bla bla bla
This is an insane amount of money Ms Chan wants. That comes out to about $414 per square foot. Not including land, you could build a VERY nice house for $200 a foot and have new high quality construction. But then I live in TX and that amount of money seems just insane to me. It seems like CA is another world where a different set of economic laws are in force that allow average working people to buy $600,000 houses that are small and fairly aged. This to me seems much more bizarred than the internet mania ever was.
Believe me, it is insane. These people juggle $$$ around to get by because of the absurd pricing, live in fear of the slightest price decline, drive for hours to get to work… and have nothing left at the end of the day for the most part. A mere 30% decline in LA translates into $200K-$500K in most good areas. And that only gets prices down to PoS crap for a lot of $$$$$$ that people in most of the country would still think is nuts.
Believe me - 30% will crush all the super-leveraged FBs - MOST OF THE POPULATION…
Yep. I went to undergrad in California and it was great fun as a student, but no way would I live there. I can live like a king in Texas for a fraction of what it would cost to live there.
“the seller thinks the market is going to go up”
ROFLMAO
Just visited Central Fl. Took a cruise Daytona, New Smyrna Beach…..No exaggeration, almost every corner had at least one for sale sign some up to 3…New taxes, Hurricane season ??..not sure but seems there’s a rush out the door
Ok, how about this? you think the market is going to go up now that spring is here?
NO MKT Increase for FL or CA. Insane in both
Canadian news paper Toronto Star says in its today publication ” Economy to slow as US falters ” Last summer we noted that housing market and household indebtedness inthe US wassimply unsustainable, and it would give way to an economic slowdown in the second half of 2006. ‘Evidence is mounting in support of this view’ TD chief economist Don Drummond said in Wednesday release.
The report noted that as intrest rates rise , the inventories of unsold new and resale homes in United States are on the rise- with new home inventories at the highest level since 1997- and sales of existing homes on the decline for the past five months. In addition, US mortgage applications are down 25 per cent fromthe peak level inJunbe 2005 and refinancing applications have dropped by 50 percent.
This post got lost in the system. Apologies to the poster:
‘At church (Florida), pastor finished off his series (three weekends) about priorities and thinking about who are we serving as we have to serve somone. Well, his last sermon was about financial responsibility and how childish attitudes about money can put us into a situation in which out priorites are determined by our spending, while our spending should be determined by our priorities. Anyway, he used himself and his wife as an example, how they have wanted a certain house for years and just recently found themselves walking into an open house (exactly the kind they wanted) and pretending the house was theirs. while they were pretending they were also thinking how they could afford or rather how they could get in the house. Because the house was so overpriced creative financing was the only answer. As soon as their fantacy reached this point they looked at each other and said nay, it is totally not worth it. What got me, was that at the end of this sermon about financial responsibility, when he called for those who would like to receive God in their life to step forward NOT ONE PERSON DID! This is a congregation where every sunday at least ten people and more step forward and that day no one did. Like some one said there are certain things that people can not handle right now and dealing with their financial spin is one of them. The congregation was frozen in their seats. That pastor had balls even though he is late…’
Wow, that was strange. They should be praying extra if they’re in trouble…
Folks very rarely go up for the stewardship alter calls, it would mean that people might watch them when the offering plate is passed around next time. Good for the pastor, this country needs a few more sermons about fiscal responsibility and good stewardship.
Conviction. That is truly a man of God - speaking directly to the convicted souls about misplaced priorities. Their reaction is an alter-call for their real beliefs - and he may have just spared many some real misery.
Ms. Chan is the ‘Median Homeseller’.
And what all of you say is true.
Her reluctance to lower her price, due to pride, greed, and shock- at how fast the California market has changed-
All of these things will cause the market to ‘crater’ as we move toward the ‘End Times’.
The ‘End Times’ are not biblical, or apochalyptic.
The ‘End Times’ are the ‘End of August’.
At the ‘End of August’ we will…
1. Hear homeowners complain about BUYERS being GREEDY.
2. Hear homeowners ASKING for FAIRNESS in how they should price their homes.
3. We will hear OUTRIGHT ANGER at homeowners who listened to advice from the NAR- specifically David DiaLereah- who told them to price their home high because it would go to “12% appreciation in 2007″.
4. Lawsuits against lenders and realtors will commence.
If the NAR knew what was TRULY good for them…
…they’d get on the phone with Mrs. Chan…
…TONIGHT…
…and BEG HER to LOWER HER PRICE.
Like I said, however…
That’s only if they KNEW what was TRULY good for them.
In hindsight- they’ll wish they’d listened.
Ms. Chan’s gonna sue just about everybody once this is said and done.
Couldn’t it have been prevented?
Tonight?
Heh, all the unemployed RE agents will go to law school and sue each other.
I’m a loan officer for a nationwide mortgage lender here in San Fernando Valley. I have noticed that my leads and the call volume has declined in my office. Still lots of investors out there though. I’ve funded loans for California investors buying in states as far away as Michigan. You would be suprised how many people are still oblivious to the housing bubble. I want home prices to drop a lot here in Cali so I can get a home in the near future. I’m stuck in a heard place though. If the market tanks I might have to go back to work for 24HR Fitness, haha.
Michigan! That’s great. Of all the places not to invest. The arrogance of California speculators will be their undoing. As another poster said yesterday, they think that the local folks are too stupid to realize how undervalued their own property is.
Let me tell you about my early-20s niece with a new internet-U degree who bought all this desolate ranchland out in Arizona because she’s so much smarter than the locals. See, she heard a rumor that a Mormon temple may be built in the area, so of course that means the Mormons will just pour into the area to live! Too bad none of the dumb locals knew of this amazing opportunity to make big bucks in RE!
Did anyone catch the ABC world news tonight bubble series this evening?
Please post a summary or some links?
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=1752600
are we suppossed to feel sorry for this idiot and all the others like her? they’re spinning it like she’s a “victim” instead of a greedy moron who wanted something she couldn’t afford.
This type of Major network news reporting is just beginning to be mainstream. I don’t think the impact will be taken seriously until the same story is reported here in Orange County, Ca, Manhattan, Miami or San Francisco. The “not_in_my_neighborhooditis” will take some high profile stories to cure, and will bring people to the shocking reality that economic forces that have existed since the dawn of humanity still exist.
Namely: inventory vs. demand, greed, corruption and poor to non-exisatent financial plannning.
Sunset…
I was told they booted it ‘for time’ tonight.
Keep watching.
Sometimes stories come up which take prevalence over ’series’.
When time is tight, they boot ’series’.
That’s just the nature of the beast.
You didn’t miss anything.
My mom was watching, too.
Keep watching.
Here’s some simple California arithmetic - One assumption (A REASONABLE ONE), that everyone in CA is HELOC’d or otherwise hyper-leveraged.
A 30% decline will crush everyone, unequally.
Those with sub-median housing will take a $150,000 haircut and won’t have the resources to make it, turning over the assets to lenders.
Those with reasonably nice homes in better areas (NOT COMPLETE GANG INFESTED SLUMS) will take a $300,000 haircut. They will be a lot broker than the poor dopes living in sh%tholes in Arleta but will suffer the same fate - surrendering their properties to lenders.
Lesson: Everyone in CA is debt ridden & screwed to varying degrees. Properties will be seized across the board so “rich” (not really, just more leveraged) or poor, in the end, will all be poor…
The only problem with this assumption is that everyone in California doesn’t have a HELOC and there are actually some people who don’t even have a mortgage.
You’ll get a good read on just how leveraged everyone is in a couple of years when lenders are overwhelmed by their inventory of defaults. Those 6% affordbility numbers will bite back - HARD!
We can only hope the govt doesn’t come up with some lame brained mop-up program!
I posted about my neighborhood in another thread — out of 9 homes, only two have traded hands in the last 24 years. Of course, most of my neighbors are retired too.
I think some neighborhoods are going to be a lot worse off than others but it’s over-generalizing to say that “all” of SoCal is hyper-leveraged.
The greed, arrogance, and ignorance of people will be a big part of what brings the bubble to and end. They are all part of the normal market cycle. Dont let it piss you off- this whole thing is self-regulating.
Just chill and watch. If you feel like it, take a look at the mortgage data we just posted. It’s nasty- but if you think thier’s a bubble, you’re going to have to be a little patient. The slowdown is only 6 months old at best. So, relax, and watch economics 101 bite people’s butts.
-X
BubbleTrack.blogspot.com
“Please call Jeff even if it were 2:00am as I cannot sleep anyways.”
Read about 280000 - Home has been reduced $10000 for quick sale. Very motivated. NW area.
Ah man, this is gonna hurt.
Dickhead…. he acts like he is hurting but he bought this on 02/23/2004: $163,000. I think I might send him an email.
I just did. It said “Thought you were going to snap this up and flip it to some young family who would take a death-or-glory loan to buy it from you at a horrendous markup? I hope they foreclose on you, you’re a greedy vulture who deserves worse than whatever you get.”
Everybody should take five seconds out of their life, click this link, and say something nasty to him. Always kick a bully when they’re down.
Again, no pity. Don’t buy what you can’t afford, and PLAN ahead.
Check out the power lines in the back yard.
That’s some power line.
Maybe the seller could work that into his pitch: “Exterior lighting needs no electricity - just suspend fluorescent lights near the transmission tower”.
Further that pitch by saying, “amenities also include industrial size bug zapper.”
There was a Live local story on the news tonight that featured Pasadena. The story was about homeowners that felt lucky to have bought there homes a few to several years back, because they can’t afford to buy now. The theme of the story was that Los Angeles is the least affordable area in the country (according to the reporter).
Hey Txchic… how did you fair with the floods in Texas? I hope ok.
““In June 1990, the median price of a single-family home was $240,800, down from $245,000, then a record, a year earlier. Prices then went on a protracted slide. Inventory swelled to more than a two-year supply because people losing jobs could not afford to hang onto their homes. Now as this market is turning the economy is on sound footing. That could keep prices from collapsing or the so-called bubble from bursting.”
“Of course, back in June 1990 no one could see a price collapse heading down the road. But on the upside it did create one heck of a buying opportunity.” ”
Its hard to compare now to then. Dont forget the LA Riots of 1992, earthquake of 1994, Orange county bankruptcy. These were big events that had a big impact. So far no big event yet. But the speculation in this market is way beyond the past. And the risky financing of the last few years is something not even dreamed about in the past. There is a lot of risk in this market. Something big could happen to push it down.
I don’t think this one needs an external catalyst, sensible. This bubble is big enough and unstable enough that it will probably just collapse under its own weight.
A big exogeneous event will be associated with this RE bust.
It isn’t necessary but humans need an exogeneous event to blame so that they can escape without blame.
Forbes or Fortune just did an article on 10 things that could pop the RE bubble. It will happen and it will be blamed.
Read about U.S. Home Resales Probably Declined Last Month, Survey Shows
.
“March 23 (Bloomberg) — Sales of previously owned homes probably fell in the U.S. for a sixth consecutive month, adding to evidence of a cooling housing market, economists said before an industry report today.
Home resales probably declined in February to an annual rate of 6.5 million from January’s 6.56 million, according to the median of 60 economists’ forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to publish the sales figures at 10 a.m. in Washington.”
Read about New crop of home buyers forecast.
“With a 13 percent increase in foreclosures last month, the prospect of higher interest rates, and a slowdown in home sales, some people are predicting doom for the real estate industry.”
Read about Hedging the housing bubble.
“Homeowners and real estate investors nervous about a bursting of the housing bubble will soon have new tools to hedge against a pullback in home prices.
Standard & Poor’s said Wednesday it plans to unveil several home-price indexes in the second quarter for 10 cities. They’ll serve as the basis of cash-settled futures and options contracts expected to launch in April.
“For the vast majority of Americans, their home is their largest and most valuable asset, and in a period of rising housing prices and increased concerns about a possible housing bubble, reliable information on their biggest asset is extremely important,” said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P’s index committee.”
Read about Building homes on old military bases isn’t so easy.
“Meanwhile, Lennar faces a marketing challenge. Though the Navy spent $400 million to clean up the area polluted partly by a national radiation-defense lab, Hunter’s Point still has lower life expectancy and higher hospitalization rates for chronic diseases like diabetes compared with the rest of the city, according to Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, director of environmental health for San Francisco’s health department.
“Some people are convinced that the shipyard is a radioactive, pulsating volcano of ill winds and vapors,” says Scott Madison, a local businessman who chairs a citizens advisory committee.”
Lennar — what a bunch of f*ckholes. I’m sorry to report that they haven’t had a bit of trouble selling entry-level dungheaps starting at 900k on the old Tustin Marine Air Base in Orange County. They even have sign spinners out there.
It’s neighborhoods like that one that make me lose faith in the housing bubble. I know things should come crashing down, but sometimes I wonder.
I remember touring those 900k houses and feeling they were appropriate for raising a family–but I don’t know anyone my age that ever expects to be able to afford something like that. Unless they’ve already started flipping their first properties, of course
First, where’s Deb. Second, how does this jive with the strong home sales numbers that came out this morning, and what do y’all think of that. Are we going to see a “spring bounce”?
No. We’re going to see a “dead cat bounce.”
I just sent a nice email to Jeff the flopper @Bksfild house. Copied parts of the comments. As for the 20’something numbskull buying AZ wasteland. A =Mormon temple was already built in Snowflake AZ and any price appreciation or whatever has already occured in that area. I have never personally been to Snowflake, and am Mormon. I have been driving I-40 regularly between ABQ and CA, which Snowflake is about 50 miles away. I wouldnt’see any reason for buying land there because of a pending temple.