A Function Of Time In California
The Press Democrat reports from California. “Sonoma County home prices fell back to $500,000 for the first time in three years as the region’s housing decline deepened in November, according to the latest Press Democrat real estate report. Sales dropped 24 percent compared with a year ago, and the number of listings on the market stuck near historic highs for the month. Home sales have been falling more than two years in annual comparisons.”
“Prices now have declined 17 consecutive months in annual comparisons. In November, the price of a typical home sank to $500,000, down 11.5 percent compared with a year ago. It is the lowest since May 2004, when the median stood at $490,000.”
“The slide has knocked the price of a typical home down by 19 percent since the median peaked at $619,000, reached in both August 2005 and January 2006.”
“Price reductions for houses offered at less than $475,000 have been twice as deep as cuts for homes priced at more than $622,000.”
“‘The low end is hammered. There’s a lot of people that have been hanging on that can’t hang on any further,’said Karl Bundesen, owner of Century 21 Bundesen Realty in Petaluma. ‘I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of it. We have a lot of inventory and foreclosures to clear out before we get this thing turned around.”
“Buyers likely will offer less than the listed price for a home as a hedge against prices continuing to fall. They also expect sellers to pay closing costs, make repairs and other concessions.”
“‘For a lot of buyers, it’s the only way that they will start the conversation,’ said Lori Sacco, an agent in Sebastopol.”
“Santa Rosa mortgage broker Darren Seliga completed a recent loan for a buyer who renegotiated the price on a home because of a foreclosure sale in the same neighborhood.”
“‘I’m starting to see that happen with more buyers and sellers,’ he said. ‘Those hurt the market. It’s like mini-explosions all over in different neighborhoods.’”
The Contra Costa Times. “The Federal Reserve moved Tuesday to protect home buyers from dubious lending practices, its most sweeping response to a mortgage meltdown that has forced record numbers of people from their homes.”
“Jay Damato, a mortgage broker in Walnut Creek, said that although some people weren’t aware of all the risks in their loan, his clients were. ‘I made sure they understood all the risks, but it didn’t change their behavior,’ he said. ‘Unless you make a law that all loans are now 30-year, fixed-rate loans with 10 percent down, this problem is not going away.’”
“Damato said that it would be impossible to find a lender for almost anyone who wanted a loan without income documentation, so many of the laws are already out of step with the current market. And, that market changes weekly and sometimes daily.”
“‘I could do stated (undocumented) income loans on conforming loans until last week. … Now I can’t,’ he said. ‘It’s changing every day.’”
The Ventura County Star. “When asked if the Ventura County housing market is enduring one of its worst sales years ever, Bill Watkins, executive director of the UC Santa Barbara Forecast Project replied: ‘We just had one.’”
“Sales of new and existing houses and condominiums from January to November plunged 27.9 percent in Ventura County, compared with the same period a year ago, DataQuick reported. Sales last month stood out as the lowest total for any November in DataQuick’s records, which date back to 1988.”
“November marked the 24th consecutive month that Ventura County has posted year-over-year decline in sales. Ventura County’s median price fell to $521,250 in November, a 9.7 percent drop from $577,500 last year, according to Dataquick.”
“Watkins said he believes California could be weaker economically than the rest of the United States for the first time in a few years. The state’s budget crisis also means the government is going to reduce spending and raise taxes, which will have a negative effect on economic growth, Watkins said.”
“What does that mean for the residential housing market? ‘It means there’s no hope for an immediate turnaround,’ Watkins said. ‘There’s currently no sign that would give someone a reason to believe it would pick up.’”
“Realtor Mike Plisky says sales are off 35 percent at Aviara Real Estate in Westlake Village compared with last year, but he’s seen a recent spike in activity. A lot of the buyers on the market are investors. ‘This is not a great time to sell, but it’s a great time to buy,’ he said.”
The North County Times. “Riverside County home prices in November remained near recent lows, with growing numbers of bank-owned properties drawing bargain hunters and first-time buyers.”
“Houses and condominiums sold for a median $356,500 last month, a 17 percent decline from November 2006, according to DataQuick.”
“Agent Chris Parent said lenders find themselves paying more than expected in property taxes and maintenance costs after they seize houses from delinquent buyers. It’s a bonanza for many of the 150 bargain-hunting investors and potential owner-occupants Parent represents, he said.”
“‘They know they’re walking into a phenomenal deal,’ Parent said. ‘It’s the end of the quarter and taxes are due and banks are getting rid of the (houses).’”
“One couple Parent represents bought three houses in Murrieta last month, including one for $312,000, or $223,000 less than its most recent sale in August 2005. The couple are renting out one of the houses and have put the other two back on the market for substantially more than what they paid.”
“Builders have been scrambling to sell off hundreds of empty tract homes across the county and the region, another factor that DataQuick cited for the lower prices in October and November.”
“The average sale price of existing houses in Southwest County has plunged 22 percent since November 2006, to $375,200, according to The Californian’s analysis of sale prices from a database that real estate agents use. That’s a level last seen in March 2004.”
“‘It’s the time for investing,’ said Troy Smith, who paid $478,000 last month for a house near Murrieta Valley High School that a lender had seized and then listed at $635,000 in March. ‘Nobody has that crystal ball. Nobody knows when it’s going to hit bottom.’”
“Ever larger numbers of homes are falling into foreclosure after owners default on their loans. Lenders now own 1,852 properties in Southwest County, according to The Californian’s analysis of data from foreclosureradar.com, a database for banks and investors. That represents about 29 percent of houses listed for sale locally.”
The Daily Bulletin. “San Bernardino County home prices fell by 13.2 percent in November, according to DataQuick Information Services, but that wasn’t the worst report for Inland Empire sellers. No, Riverside County prices fell even more, dropping 16.5 percent from November 2006 to the same month in 2007.”
“Redlands-based regional economist John Husing said the federal government needs to figure out a way to alleviate the foreclosure problem.”
“‘We definitely have the potential for an economic downturn right now,’ he said. ‘With what is happening in the housing markets and the slow growth at the ports, we may see a downturn in the Inland Empire next year.’”
The County Sun. “Home builders are pulling less than half the number of single-family detached building permits in San Bernardino County this year as they did in 2005. It’s no surprise for an area claiming one of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates and a huge inventory of empty houses.”
“It’s a situation that doesn’t bode well for local governments because a major drop in home building means less tax revenue from new construction, said Mason Gaffney, an economics professor at UC Riverside who studies real-estate business cycles and land-resource economics.”
“As far as the housing slump goes, ‘this one is right on schedule,’ Gaffney said. He said some builders were too busy constructing homes during the housing boom and didn’t notice the market’s cycle coming to an end.”
“Compared with other Southern California home-building slowdowns throughout history, the current one is ‘pretty extreme,’ Gaffney said.”
The Press Enterprise. “It was the third consecutive month in which sales of new and existing homes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties increased, rising from a combined 3,717 in September to 3,980 in October and 4,222 in November.”
“‘There has been a small increase in demand thanks to discounts, particularly in the new-house market,’ said Andrew LePage, an analyst with DataQuick.”
“November’s 7,671 foreclosure-related filings in the Inland area represent a 62 percent increase from a year earlier.”
“Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors, said although deals seem to be giving home sales an unusual push during the holiday season, ‘we are not expecting the market to bottom out anytime soon.’”
“Chris Thornberg, an economist and principal at Beacon Economics, contends that buyers are smart to wait.”
“‘If anyone thinks there are bargains in this market, they are fooling themselves,’ he said. ‘We have two years of falling prices ahead of us.’”
“Efforts to make mortgages more plentiful, Thornberg said, won’t solve the main problem, which is home prices that rose much faster than incomes have and will have to decline until houses are more affordable.”
“‘It is just a function of time. Painful, painful time,’ he said.”
“Mike Dwight, senior VP of Frontier Homes, based in Hesperia, said a downsizing in home designs and falling land prices will result in less costly houses hitting the market about the middle of next year.”
“To recharge the industry, builders need to produce houses priced in the $200,000s for first-time buyers, he said. ‘At the end of the day, it is the first-time buyer who drives the market,’ Dwight said.”
“Appleton-Young said she hopes the federal government will take action to make mortgage financing more available. But she said a rebound in home sales also will require an attitude change among potential buyers, who have been waiting for prices to fall further.”
The Press Telegram. “Riverside and San Bernardino were the only counties in the region where the median price below the federal conforming loan limit of $417,000. DataQuick noted that…compared to a year ago, conforming loan purchases fell 31.2 percent in November, while jumbo sales tumbled 69.3 percent.”
“Jumbo-financed purchases represented nearly 40 percent of sales this year before the August credit crunch, while last month they accounted for 22 percent, the company said.”
“‘It’s still pretty gloomy,’ Jack Kyser, vice president and chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. said of the market. ‘I think you are going to find some very motivated sellers out there.’”
The Sacramento Bee. “At a town hall-style event here, Paulson and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent more than an hour listening as local officials, loan counselors, community members and borrowers described the troubles they were having getting help from their lenders.”
“‘Unfortunately, there (are) all too many stories like yours in the country,’ Paulson told one borrower who said she could no longer refinance her home and would almost certainly lose it. ‘This is why we’re trying to find solutions.’”
“More than 1,100 homes in Stockton and neighboring cities of San Joaquin County were repossessed by banks in July, August and September, according to DataQuick.”
“Paulson promised to investigate the claim of one borrower who said her lender had refused to offer any solutions and would not talk with her until she had defaulted. ‘In June I’m staring down the barrel of an $8,000-a-month mortgage payment,’ said the woman, who declined to give her name.”
“Paulson and Schwarzenegger said their programs aren’t designed to help everyone. ‘Some of these people won’t have the capability to be homeowners and will become renters again,’ Paulson said.”
“Schwarzenegger told the audience to focus on the long term. ‘This crisis is not going to last,’ he said. ‘It’s a bump in the road. Eventually, the market will take off again.’”
“Schwarzenegger told the audience to focus on the long term. ‘This crisis is not going to last,’ he said. ‘It’s a bump in the road. Eventually, the market will take off again.’”
He also said “NO PROBLEMO”
Apparently a constantly rising housing market is a government mandate. I’d prefer a stable currency and no inflation.
Yeah, right, and eventually my hair will grow back.
Actually, he’s right. Except that “bump” is the size of Mount Everest, and in the long run, we’re all dead.
LOL.
Nice one, Harm.
“focus on the long term.”
So… Arnold the Pig,(no offense to our chubby little friend on Green Acres) buy multiple properties and just wait it out, eh? Isn’t that what Casey did?
And the crisis said…
“I’ll be baaack”
“Your equity. Give it to me.”
“Your equity. Give it to me.”
ROTFLMAO!!
GovernaTOR: Cross my heart and hope to die…..it vas guud before….it vil be guud again…..or I vil tear some (caps)REALTOR heads off…..caps or not!
I couldn’t believe this advice given in an article on yahoo finance.
http://finance.yahoo.com/loans/article/104047/Skip-the-20-Down-Payment
HAHAHAHhaahahha…obviously, this one’s been sitting in the queue for a while. Or, old wine in new bottles, an old chestnut from 2004.
And why oh why do they talk about “compound interest” on what usually is mostly equities in a 401k?
I dont necessarily disagree with the advice in the article. I wouldnt buy a home, but if you do, you can probably do better investing 50k in the S&P rather than buying down your mortgage with that 50k, at least during normal times. Mortgage interest - tax deduction + PMI is a historically lower rate of return than the S&P. Plus, if you buy now, do you really want much invested since you will probably end up upside down anyway. Hells no!
Yes, but… All those analyses of return of real estate vs return of stocks always neglect to factor in the value of future rent expense avoided. Bottom line, you do need a roof over your head. And you still have to pay property taxes, maintenance etc once the mortgage is paid off. I would wager that someone who bought a house in 1980 in California (before the bust in the first part of that decade) and never moved or refinanced would still be in better financial shape today (even if housing prices revert to 1997 values tomorrow) than if he had rented that same property and invested the difference in the biggest bull stock market in history.
Right now you are better off sticking it a mattress.
This is why the stock market too will fall big. People just think it is risk free.
“It’s a bump in the road. Eventually, the market will take off again.”
My God. Why in Heaven’s name would he want the current pathetic situation to replay itself???
In the movies soon: “Asta Lavista Bubble” !
“Asta Lavista”
LOL.
Quite a Gal, that Ms. Lavista. I remember her fondly.
“It’s a bump in the road.”
I remember the words of the soon-to-be-ex CEO of a company I used to work for: “The investors are just being a bunch of nervous nellies.” LOL
Yeah, as you can imagine that worked out just great.
“Damato said that it would be impossible to find a lender for almost anyone who wanted a loan without income documentation, so many of the laws are already out of step with the current market. And, that market changes weekly and sometimes daily.”
So the Fed regs just whacked the market again everywhere, right? I hope? Heheh
Sounds to me like they just cut the legs out from whatever subprime customers are still out there. The implication is that demand has just dropped (again) and the implied equilibrium market value just dropped (again).
When in doubt, I check the screaming on BrokersOutpost. The louder the noise, the more effect regulations are having. Just by the lastest handwringing there, I’d say they nailed that coffin shut >; )
Oh, they’re screaming. But the coffin isn’t shut yet. I’ve noticed a trend. Fewer posts on trying to get subprime loans and more posts on how to get through this tough time. My favorites are on how eliminating ‘Stated Income’ will collapse any Jumbo market.
Yes… it will.
I’ve also noticed a lot of threads over there on economizing the alchohol consumption (while increasing quantity). chuckle. Oh, I book market their forums as “Schadenfreude.”
Got popcorn?
Neil
I had a lady in front of me buy 3 talls of Icehouse beer. My liver quivered. When they start saying on BrokersOutpost that Natural Light doesn’t taste so bad we know it has hit rock bottom. LOL
The way I see it, reckless behavior calls for regulation. Don’t like regulation? Don’t act like assholes.
Problem is, the absense of regulatory oversight brings out the assholes in droves. This is why the deregulation juggernaut needs to be laid to rest for the balance of the 21st century and a rule of law restored to keep in check the misbehaviour of bad actors in financial markets.
Wouldn’t you say that the current situation is a correction of sorts for misbehavior of the recent past? Granted, it might seem rather extreme, but a hard whack is more likely to drive something home than a soft tap.
“Appleton-Young said she hopes the federal government will take action to make mortgage financing more available. But she said a rebound in home sales also will require an attitude change among potential buyers, who have been waiting for prices to fall further.”
Would someone please just take Ms.Simple-ton Young out back and shoot her! This dim wit has no clue, as are do all RE shills. An education is in the making.
I wouldn’t put it past the NAR to try TV commercials incorporating mass hypnosis to convince us that paying more for a house is a good thing. If any of you start twitching or clucking like a chicken when you try and lowball …..
“Redlands-based regional economist John Husing said the federal government needs to figure out a way to alleviate the foreclosure problem.”
Well ms. simpleton-young and her pal husing, no longer believe in the market. They want federal government intervention and control of housing. Didn’t they hunt commies in Orange County?
So, why are these two still on the loose?
Well, Leslie’s not going to like the guidelines they passed yesterday, which if anything make financing LESS available - by actually requiring the buyer to - you know - HAVE SOME MONEY AND INCOME?
As far as an “attitude change” among buyers - how about an attitude change among sellers, who for now seem to believe that some fool buyer OWES them an outrageous sum for their used house.
Why don’t buyers and sellers meet in the middle - the buyer wants the house for free, and the seller wants top dollar - seems like 50/50 would work out well, right?
HAVE SOME MONEY AND INCOME?
You mean, I, like, really have to pay this 725K loan back? Surely, you can’ be serious?
Surely, you can’ be serious?
Yes he is and stop calling him Shirley.
Money and income? The nerve of those guideline writers!
How about an attitude change for Ms. Leslie. I bet she’ll have loads of realtors looking to her for sales guidance with that attitude - next she’ll be telling buyers to wipe that smirk off their faces or she will.
The new regs pretty much close down the independant shops and force new loan down the FHA / conforming pipeline. The FHA mod reintroduces risk pricing along with income and asset verification to the market which is going to make JoeCheap Chardony very unhappy.
This will also have a big affect on non O/O loans. I’m hoping this shoves RE investors back into the commerical loans stream again where they belong.
Guess in my ‘naivete’ until I stumbled on the HBB, thanks Ben, I didn’t get into the mkt because 1- I always thought you HAD to have %20 minimum down, and a Good income, and then of course houses had to be affordable according to my income.
Thought I was just a loser for not having more than 100k saved up JUST for a house that was overpriced, then of course Ben Jones helped with insight and interesting ‘friends’.
Merry Christmas.
Even the mkt in Asia is not doing well. Jobs are not flush..etc.
Lots of elections going on around the world- economy is mjr factor. Hmm.
“…a rebound in home sales also will require an attitude change among potential buyers, who have been waiting for prices to fall further.”
I’m nearly speechless. People waiting for prices to go down so they can afford a house need to buy now at the higher prices in order to get the market moving???
That’s just… wrong.
Oh hell, the needle just blew off my crap detector.
Simple question to the RE community:
Why do we want a rebound….If the REIC has not figured it out by now, they should be informed that the last boom market:
- was not sustainable.
- caused the current and future pain
- will cause MILLIONS of people to lose their homes
- will cause millions more to lose their jobs
- will cause a recession in the US and the world
WTF! are these guys stupid? Oh, yeah, they are part of the REIC. Either stupid or lying.
“Appleton-Young said she hopes the federal government will take action to make mortgage financing more available. But she said a rebound in home sales also will require an attitude change among potential buyers, who have been waiting for prices to fall further.”
Gahhh!
If they thing that the ‘attitude of buyers’ is bad now, wait until Oprah and the other talk shows start running episodes on the housing crisis.
Shameless plug for my latest blog article. 
Seriously, the news really isn’t bad yet. Buyers aren’t that hesistant… yet. Many buyers who qualify today will not be able to in six to twelve months. Then… we can talk about people waiting.
Oh, I’m waiting. But eventually I learned the patience to understand that this has a few more years to play out. A crystal ball? True, no one has one. But that doesn’t mean we cannot see what’s obvious!
Got popcorn?
Neil
Neil — I’m kind of torn about wanting Oprah to wade into the housing mess.
On one hand, as your blog points out, she’ll pound the message home to the Jane6Packs out there.
On the other hand, I can also see Oprah turning the show into a big sob session with plenty of “victim” stories that put all the blame on the “predatory lenders” — as if borrowers’ greed had nothing to do with it.
– Judge Smales
“You’ll get nothing and like it!”
Judge,
100% true. It will be high on sob stories and rescue plans.
But can you think of anything that would send speculators and borderline buyers into the hills? FAR into the hills?
We cannot stop them from doing sob stories. I expect that it will force the politicians to do another botched ‘rescue plan.’
But it will also expose the greed and speculation. it will expose the bugs under the rock faster than any ‘rescue plan’ can be implimented by various broke governments.
Got popcorn?
Neil
After Oprah, they can run across the hall and go on Dr. Phil’s show where he can bitch slap them around with his southern euphemisms and rake them over the coals with questions about their personal responsibility.
Oprah could bail out every troubled homeowner out there by herself and still have money left over. If she feels sorry for them, let her fix their problem.
ROTFLMAO!
Wrong time to take a sip of a hot drink!
True story: A few months ago, I was at a meeting where an in-person event starring Oprah was discussed. The event in question was a multi-day retreat at a local spa. According to our speaker, who attended this retreat, Oprah is NOT a nice person. She said as much herself.
Which means that if we’re expecting a bailout from Oprah, forget it. Not gonna happen.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, but the Oprah critic is probably in love with Hillary and wants to discredit Oprah.
“You’ll get nothing and like it!”
That’s harsh. Maybe you should start calling yourself Subprime Santa.
“‘Unfortunately, there (are) all too many stories like yours in the country,’ Paulson told one borrower who said she could no longer refinance her home and would almost certainly lose it. ‘This is why we’re trying to find solutions.’”
Solution to what? Why can’t she refinance? The solution is pack your friggin bags and let someone who “can” pay have the house.
“They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into, I say let them crash”
From the movie “Airport”
I believe that was from “Airplane” - either way…I always loved that line and it fits nicely here.
FB: “I can’t re-finance and will surely lose my home cause my payment will be 8k!”
Paulson: “Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue.”
Arnold to Paulson: “Doo yoo like glahdiator moovies?”
DOC
“Sonoma County home prices fell back to $500,000 for the first time in three years as the region’s housing decline deepened in November, according to the latest Press Democrat real estate report.
Woweee!!! Better snap me up some Sonomia RE quick –bargains like this won’t last forever!
“November marked the 24th consecutive month that Ventura County has posted year-over-year decline in sales. Ventura County’s median price fell to $521,250 in November, a 9.7 percent drop from $577,500 last year, according to Dataquick.”
Wow, Ventura prices are down to what?: only 10X median local HH incomes now? Buying this dip’s a huge no-brainer.
“[Riverside County] Houses and condominiums sold for a median $356,500 last month, a 17 percent decline from November 2006, according to DataQuick.”
$356K for Riverside?? I can’t believe they’re just giving it away in the Inland Empire –everyone wants a 2-hour commute from there!
[Riverside County] Houses and condominiums sold for a median $356,500 last month, a 17 percent decline from November 2006, according to DataQuick.”
I just sold my home in riverside county for 360K on 11-29-07… I was joking with my wife that there were only three houses sold in Riverside County last month.
Now I see this stat and I do believe I was mistaken. There were two houses sold - mine and another one for 353K.
Worthy
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2007/12/read-it-here-fi.html
• KB Home, Colorado: $196,000, according to deed.
Actual price = $168,400
This kind of bullsh@t is proping up home values bigtime.If the real numbers were reported a lot of people would sh@ting in their pants right now.It is crooked , rigged game for sure.
Hmm, take the incentive then pay higher property taxes forever. Are the Sixpacks really that ‘tarded?
These cash backs are illegal and generally result in an EPD or the person uses the money to live free for a year or so.
A couple of those should garner fraud charges.
Can this practice be basis for a class-action lawsuit? Yes, I hope.
NO
No one gets to sue who is not directly affected by tortious conduct, breach of law or regulation or breach of contract.
All a class action does is gather everyone who was injured by such conduct into one lawsuit and it allows the suit to go ahead without identifying each individual and having them join in the suit because there are too many of them AND it would be impossible to locate them all and bring them into the case as plaintiffs.
Wish people would lose the phrase “class action lawsuit” from their vocabulary.
“No one gets to sue who is not directly affected by tortious conduct, ”
For the past 4 years I’ve been priced-out because of the fraud. Now I’m going to be affected by the coming Depression that results from this fraud.
I won’t be joining the suit however, unless the judgement gets paid in bullion…
“To recharge the industry, builders need to produce houses priced in the $200,000s for first-time buyers, he said. ‘At the end of the day, it is the first-time buyer who drives the market,’ Dwight said.”
I’m sorry but $200K is still way too much for a 1st time home buyer, try $130-150K if you want buyers.
130-150 that’s still too much try 75k
UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I guess that Orange Co. is not a first time buyers market then. 75K will get you a shed for the dog in the seedier section of Santa Ana.
Forget Rancho Santa Margarita.
Patience, OC, patience.
OCDan, I admire you very much, I have read some of your earlier posts and know how you are making it on one income in RSM. My wife and I rented in RSM and then Ladera Ranch and moved to Highlands Ranch CO this past October. It was a great decision. It was like getting an immidiate 30% pay increase due to so many things being cheaper here - gas, utilities, insurance. We bought a nice newer home, 20% down, and our mortage is like $1500/mo, less than we were paying for a condo in south OC and with our tax deduction, it is like $1200. We miss many things about OC, but we LOVE Colorado, not a perfect state, but one that at least is much more fiscally sound, and according to a report I read yesterday, one of only 22 states that are NOT projected to have a budget shortfall by 2010.
I was born and raised in South OC, love it more than any other place, but had to get out of there for the betterment of my family life.
Have you considered moving out of there for a while? At least until this mess clears up. I understand, I think RSM is one of the best communities in all of California, if not the US.
I like OCDan, too. One of my heros around here.
My first house was $110k, financed at 8.2%.
Mo Money-
Our first McMansion was a first time buyer home (bought new) at $134K, 2,000 sq ft, and an ARM at 17.5% under Fed Chairman Volcker in 1983. We were betting our payment would go down, and we were right. We lived there 14 years, and then bought a supersized McMansion with views. We later sold. McMansions are a horrible lifestyle.
I wouldn’t call 2,000 Sqft a McMansion by any means, my 1st house was an old raised ranch at 1800 sqft and $140K. Easy to swing with a 30% down payment and my income at the time and still have money left over for other things.
In 1983, 17.5% ARM’s were the way to get in and refi. If it wasn’t a p.o.s. zero zoned lot, and a 2-story, we might still own it.
I’m with you on an old raised ranch. I bet your yard had some nice trees and privacy (and no HOA.)
Our next home is cash, one-story, trees w/ a vegetable garden. Our past HOA’s would not allow them.
In the past, your income(s) grew. That’s not happening much anymore, if any.
I like big yards with trees, but I detest raised ranches. There are plenty of those around Fairfax, and each is hideous — it’s neither fish nor fowl. The best thing that can be done to a raised ranch, other than razing it, is to add a third story, so that it now resembles a colonial with the basement peeking out 2-3 feet above ground.
Not ideal, but I’ve seen some very tasteful (far nicer architecturally than new McMansions in the area) “build-ups” in Fairfax and Vienna. There is a particularly nice one near the Giant on 123 (Oakton) as well as one undergoing construction near GMU.
“One couple Parent represents bought three houses in Murrieta last month, including one for $312,000, or $223,000 less than its most recent sale in August 2005. The couple are renting out one of the houses and have put the other two back on the market for substantially more than what they paid.”
I would guess that having ‘missed’ the greatest investment opprotunity in a lifetime, they finally pulled the trigger. Shooting yourself in both feet will only be topped by the years of bloody hands. A classic of knife-catching.
Yes it takes some detachment from reality to think you can buy low and then turn around the next day and sell high. 2 more rentals coming soon.
2 more rentals coming soon.
3 foreclosures by next fall. Who the heck gave them 3 mortgages?!? They have to set up a system to stop that fraud!
Got popcorn?
Neil
So we have low sale numbers and STILL actual home buyers are few and far between.
The ‘investors’ who are buying these ‘bargains’ are NOT removing these homes from inventory, these homes will be back soon.
Once most realize that these prices WILL NEVER COME BACK, these homes will add to inventory levels.
I think next spring/summer selling season should be the ultimate death knell to this bubble. I still hear from plenty of people who realize that the bubble was real that expect prices to return to 2005 levels in 5 years.
That will be over soon.
Once most realize that these prices WILL NEVER COME BACK, these homes will add to inventory levels.
If I may nitpick, those REAL prices will NEVER COME BACK. We can all agree on that. With inflation… we’ll see these prices again in about 2017.
The next spring/summer ’selling season’ will hurt this market. But I’m not expecting the death kneel until 2009. Cest la vie. If I’m wrong, I’ll be officially joining the ‘guns and butter crowd’ and digging in.
Got popcorn?
Neil
those REAL prices will NEVER COME BACK. We can all agree on that.
Neil, it seems so obvious, and yet there is Arnold, talking about the market “tak[ing] off again”. If he had just said “stabilize” I could live with it as politico speech. But taking off? Is he that arithmetically-challenged? I think not. So it’s very revealing: it’s a roundabout way of hedging the coming long-term train wreck in Calif. (will be worse than FL, IMO) by being able to say something at his political funeral like “nobody expected that the market wouldn’t come back - that’s what’s killing us.”
“I think next spring/summer selling season should be the ultimate death knell to this bubble. I still hear from plenty of people who realize that the bubble was real that expect prices to return to 2005 levels in 5 years. ”
Agreed. I talked to a coworker today. I hadn’t seen him for about a year. He said, “man, you were right when you said house prices were going to come down here (Stockton, CA)”. I said ” yeah, and it’s just getting started. Prices are going to drop a lot lower over the coming years in my opinion.” He looked at me like someone just nudged his joshua tree a little farther North, the I remembered he loaned his Daughter about $60k to buy a POS 1bdrm condo in 05′.
Ouch.
DOC
Thank you Morpheus, I do believe I will have the blue pill.
In California, everyone seems to warship the real estate gods. I met a couple like this in Fortuna (near Eureka) a couple of years ago. They moved from Santa Rosa and immediately bought 4 investment properties and wanted well above market rents. I looked at one of the houses and tried to negotiate the rent down, but they were not willing. Before I left, I told the couple that home prices were going to dramatically fall over the next several years and the guy, who was in his late 50s and makes a “living” day trading stocks and flipping houses, said “no way…there might be a brief pause in the market but real estate in California only goes up!” This was in 2005.
I wonder how many of those homes have been foreclosed on?
In California, everyone seems to warship the real estate gods.
Yea, it will be like an Iowa class battleship raked the coastal real estate with one ton shells.
LOL Neil!! Beat me to it. Smiles!!
2002 - 2005 Worship
2007 - ? WARSHIP!! (barrage scene from “”Iwo Jima”)
DOC
Let’s just say the blended strawberry margarita Californians “warship” the real estate gods, but real Californios drink their margaritas straight-up, on the rocks, and watch the navel-gazers from afar.
What is it with these people buying multiple houses as investments. Since when did every fool become a real estate investor? In fact, when did investing become the new hobby? What happened to working and saving and living your life - is that just too shlubly now? Is this just lemmings falling for the whole ownership society? I know there’s always been people that invested, but it seems to me that most folks just used to live their lives. Money, profit and consumerism seems to be the total focus for way too many these days.
“lemmings”
Look,
Everyone’s
Making
Money!
It (real estate)
Never
Goes
Sideways (or down)
Look,
Everyone’s
Making
Money!
I
Need
Greater
Suckers
Losers
Everywhere!
Mass
Meltdown.
I
Notice
Groans and
Sucking
I loved the quote the other day, and I forget to whom it should be attributed…
When life gives you lemmings, make lemming-aid.
“What happened to working and saving and living your life”
-I don’t think anybody is getting paid a decent wage.Not enough to save these days. Middle incomes and all…30-50k
Should be interesting times.
Sarah Connor?
“Schwarzenegger told the audience to focus on the long term. ‘This crisis is not going to last,’ he said. ‘It’s a bump in the road. Eventually, the market will take off again.’”
What he is saying in as many words is, “Caleefornia real estate always goes up, in the long run.”
don’t be economic girlie-men!
I hear Cyberdyne is hiring for the Skynet project.
Arnold’s too rich (and dim) to ever conceive of anyone having trouble affording a 500K home. I had an office next to his in the 90’s. Really really enjoyed those farting contests he and his weight-lifting buddies had. Class act.
He won’t be in office if it does take off again.
“One couple Parent represents bought three houses in Murrieta last month, including one for $312,000, or $223,000 less than its most recent sale in August 2005. The couple are renting out one of the houses and have put the other two back on the market for substantially more than what they paid.”
Ya gotta lov these ‘mentally handicapped buyers’. First they will help delay the bottom by a few months and then they will be fleeced of their windfall profits from the housing boom.
“One couple Parent represents bought three houses in Murrieta last month, including one for $312,000, or $223,000 less than its most recent sale in August 2005. The couple are renting out one of the houses and have put the other two back on the market for substantially more than what they paid.”
Should be interesting to see how this plays out. This time next year they should be showing at a loss. They are just fueling the already overcrowded market…………..:-)
Push met shove and shove won, oh (hyphenated-one)
“Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors, said although deals seem to be giving home sales an unusual push during the holiday season, ‘we are not expecting the market to bottom out anytime soon.’”
Leslie 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEHAXeUjfuw&feature=related
Extraordinary Popular Debt
By Bill Bonner
“These credit mushrooms were no exception. They grew in a hothouse – nurtured by extraordinary popular delusions…fertilized by the rich manure of politics…and abundantly watered by liquidity from central banks. People ate them; their debts grew as large as their hallucinations.”
Man, oh Man. Can it be said any better?
–
Bonner has ways with words and he is often right.
Jas
Man, oh Man. Can it be said any better?
I still think Bill Gross did a great job of describing CMBS’s as hookers…
Got popcorn?
Neil
“Sonoma County home prices fell back to $500,000 for the first time in three years as the region’s housing decline deepened in November, according to the latest Press Democrat real estate report.
Woweee!!! Better snap me up some Sonomia RE quick –bargains like this won’t last forever!
“November marked the 24th consecutive month that Ventura County has posted year-over-year decline in sales. Ventura County’s median price fell to $521,250 in November, a 9.7 percent drop from $577,500 last year, according to Dataquick.”
Whoaaa, Ventura prices are down to what?: only 10X median local HH incomes now? Buying this dip’s a huge no-brainer.
“[Riverside County] Houses and condominiums sold for a median $356,500 last month, a 17 percent decline from November 2006, according to DataQuick.”
$356K for Riverside?? I can’t believe they’re just giving it away in the Inland Empire –everyone wants a 2-hour commute from there!
–
A Function Of Time:
SF Bay Area Listing Price Drops from $850K to $639.9K to $514.9K in less than a year.
Comment: “I wouldn’t buy this house even for 100k!”
http://www.burbed.com/
BTW, Santa Clara Co. Listing Price for SFH has dropped from $898K in March 2006 to $669.95K today.
Jas
That is pathetic. Spend time in college then get a decent wage job all to live in something as crappy as that. What is wrong with you bay area people? I just don’t get it.
Good Lord! Scroll down and look at the wishing prices of some of that garbage! Almost every one of those homes pictured should be razed. Talk about ancient. How much deferred maintenance is there in those walls? If only those homes could talk!
See when you look at things like that, you come to the conclusion that folks are really going to have to re-evaluate how they look at real estate especially in California. In one of those pictures you are basically paying 800k for a lot full of trash. That really doesn’t make any sense. There’s no value. You would be better off pitching a tent in front of a storefront on Rodeo Road in Beverly Hills.
A small lot like that if it had a homes like this http://www.livinghomes.net/ (head nod to txchick for the link) or something similar with solar and and other cost to own reducing benefits then the cost maybe justifiable but for a termite infested tear down you really have to re-evaluate exactly what the hell you’re spending your hard earned money on. Of course there are some intangibles like schools and lack of crime that should be priced in that can’t be avoided. However, hopefully this downturn forces folks to get realistic about what exactly they are paying for…probably not, but it should.
” You would be better off pitching a tent in front of a storefront”
at walmart with your trailer or used RV.
That way you can live in “better” neighborhoods.
–
“The slide has knocked the price of a typical home down by 19 percent since the median peaked at $619,000, reached in both August 2005 and January 2006.”
That is also the median drop from the peak for CA.
Jas
“‘In June I’m staring down the barrel of an $8,000-a-month mortgage payment,’ said the woman, who declined to give her name.”
“Paulson and Schwarzenegger said: “$8000 a month? That’s chump change. We’ve got wine budgets bigger than that. Can’t you just eat cake?
“Paulson and Schwarzenegger said: “$8000 a month? That’s chump change. We’ve got wine budgets bigger than that. Can’t you just eat cake?
+5 insightful
“Redlands-based regional economist John Husing said the federal government needs to figure out a way to alleviate the foreclosure problem.”
Send in the clowns…
“‘They know they’re walking into a phenomenal deal,’ Parent said. ‘It’s the end of the quarter and taxes are due and banks are getting rid of the (houses).’”
That is music to my ears. ‘Banks are getiing rid of the houses.’ The more the houses sit empty and unoccupied the more expensive it becomes for banks to keep holding to them . Especially after several winter storms pass over the region the amt of damage to an unocupied REO goes up 10 fold. Roof leaks, rain & wind damage to eaves, sidings and paint, yard piled with leaves, wind/rain torrents sweep garbage from streets into the property, vandals and looters rip out any exterior fixtures , ect. After this winter, which looks to be a wet stormy one, any remaing unsold Reo’s will lose 10% in value just from depreciation due to miminal or lack of upkeep, and destruction due to storm/wind damages.
Anyway why would banks keep on hanging on to these albatrosss POS unsold foreclose homes which they have to pay property taxes, insurance, upkeep, fees, ect. Why not just dump tham at 50% off which in LA would still be average $200,000-250,000 for an average POS 3/2 1500 sq ft in an ordinary ho-hum LA working class suburb .
Let the dumping begin!
Banks are not dumping. Banks are trying to get as much cash as they need before December 31. The banks are just as hopeful as the FBs that there will be a bottom in the next 6 months. We are 1/6th of the way down. A lot more to go. If you wish to get a reasonable idea of future expectations go to the CME and look up housing price futures for LA.
MAY08 —- —- —- 240.20A —- UNCH 240.20
NOV12 —- —- —- 180.80B —- UNCH 180.80
You can buy a 4 years out future on a house in LA for 60K less than one in May of 2008. Ah you ask what do the traders know? That the prices will be far worse in 4.5 years than today. So buy them and lock in a future price of a home. at a 25% discount to next May.
“It will make 1929 look like a walk in the park.”
Peter Spencer Dec 15, 2007
For the first time in 5 years, I feel optimistic that next year will be good for short sellers.
Can you explain? (Sorry, my brain is overly tired here..) Are you talking stocks or houses?
I believe Ms. TxChick57 is referring to Stocks.
The prices posted are Case-Schiller housing price futures for LA expiring in May 2008 and November 2012. The current Case Schiller price is ~247 for LA.
In theory if you were looking at buying a house in the year 2012 and knew the house was currently priced at $1 million, then you could buy futures contracts expiring in 2012 that are 25% below todays prices. And you should be able to lock the price of your future house for $750,000 in 2012. This does not matter if the house goes up to $5 Million your futures will go up accordingly, but if the price of the house drops - you still bought it at $750,000 - you do not participate in any further downside gain and as the price drops below 180 you will be putting up a lot of cash dollar:dollar. A very expensive lesson in picking bottoms.
“‘It’s the time for investing,’ said Troy Smith, who paid $478,000 last month for a house near Murrieta Valley High School that a lender had seized and then listed at $635,000 in March. ‘Nobody has that crystal ball. Nobody knows when it’s going to hit bottom.’”
This will come to be known as famous last words…from talking to a couple of folks who classify themselves as “investors”, they seem to believe that rent prices will remain the same or go up. They haven’t penciled in a decline in rental prices. One smart guy indicated that with all the foreclosures coming on line means that there will be a shortage of rentals therefore driving up the price.
I would have spent some time correcting them but didn’t see the benefit of wasting a perfectly good highball…
‘This will come to be known as famous last words’
- Agreed!
This guy is a classic Ca Jackass who thinks that he ‘Scored’ a real trophy!
The whole state is full of the spirit of the ‘Caif Gold Rush’ - gonna get rich!
No Troy, nobody has a crystal ball, but a lot of people in the 909 have crystal meth, and if they snort enough, they might be deluded into thinking now is the time to “invest.”
Troy’s right; nobody has a crystal ball, but lots of folks in the 909 have crystal meth, and if they snort enough, they might think now is a good time to “invest”.
“Jay Damato, a mortgage broker in Walnut Creek, said that although some people weren’t aware of all the risks in their loan, his clients were. ‘I made sure they understood all the risks, but it didn’t change their behavior,’ he said. ‘Unless you make a law that all loans are now 30-year, fixed-rate loans with 10 percent down, this problem is not going away.’”
Yes, Jay, the problem is going away, and so are the vast majority of mortgage brokers. By the time we reach the bottom, it will be at least 20-30% required for a down payment.
y the time we reach the bottom, it will be at least 20-30% required for a down payment.
check. Oh… FHA is now to $417k. Think about how many people could qualify for a $417k FHA loan. That isn’t a $417 New Century loan by any means… chuckle.
Got popcorn?
Neil
“Jay Damato, a mortgage broker in Walnut Creek, said that although some people weren’t aware of all the risks in their loan, his clients were. ‘I made sure they understood all the risks, but it didn’t change their behavior,’ he said. ‘Unless you make a law that all loans are now 30-year, fixed-rate loans with 10 percent down, this problem is not going away.’”
If it were strictly up to market forces, down payment requirements would be a logical prudent lending measure for lenders who don’t want to get stuck holding the bag on falling knife collateral. I would argue that one would have to pass laws to discourage prudent down payment requirements in order for lenders to avoid using them — not to suggest that such laws have ever been or will be passed, of course…
I dig metaphors, and calling this one a slow moving train wreck or boring baseball game isn’t appropriate.
A better metaphor for what’s happening is quicksand, which slowly sucks victims into it’s grasp…
But leaves them alive until the last moment, when they sink under.
I actually fell into quicksand when I was a kid catching turtles in a swamp. I was wading in an area of water about three inches deep when all of a sudden I was up to the top of my chest in quicksand. Luckily I was close to the edge and grabbed a handful of branches from a tree growing at the waters edge and pulled myself out.
It was kind of similar to sinking in silt but having waded in bayous and swamps as a kid my experience was that a person usually stabilizes at around the knee level when walking in silt. I was up to my chest almost immediately.
Gotta go. See you guys tommorrow.
–
“Redlands-based regional economist John Husing said the federal government needs to figure out a way to alleviate the foreclosure problem.”
All the cry babies must have a BIG tit to suck on.
Jas
The solution is simple.
Take the money from those that have saved, or at least are not in debt (maybe we can create a market to somehow borrow in the names of our unborn descendants) , and give it to those that are “in need”.
“Take the money from those that have saved,…”
There’s the rub. Most folks who ‘have saved’ have done so through the vehicle of autopilot home equity gains, which were recently revealed to be dropping like a rock in my hood. The last time I checked, the U.S. household savings rate (labor market income less expenditures) was negative. Can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip, though perhaps children of turnips will suffice?
that have saved
And how does one get this “saved money”?
It’s all in the book. It’s only one page long.
“‘I could do stated (undocumented) income loans on conforming loans until last week. … Now I can’t,’ he said. ‘It’s changing every day.’”
It sounds to me like the number of potential buyers is dropping every day.
Yea, lack of stated income loans will just about kill off the California market… If folks around here have to start proving income and having seasoned funds prices will slide at a very quick pace.
I notice over the years that Leslie A-P always yammers- on about the buyers: how the buyers are this, the buyers are that, …… yadda yadda yadda, cluck cluck cluckkkkkkkk!! According to HER it’s always the fault of those dagummed buyers !!
It takes TWO PEOPLE to make a transaction; buyer and . . . SELLER !!!!! Hey Leslie, why dont you turn yer PR machine loose on the stubborn, outtatouch, greedy Sellers once in a while !??!? What a tool.
(Talk about a one-trick pony. Reminds me of One-Bill-Gil (Sedillo) and his constant harping over wanting illegal immigrants drivers licenses. You’d think that was the only reason for his existence in politics. I always felt sorry for his constituency in CA & wondered if anything else ever got done in his area)?
For Sale: Used San Diego county home affordably priced to sell under $1,000,000. Number of homes listed on ziprealty.com from $90,000 - $1,000,000 is currently 16,490, an average density of one home for each $55 worth of price range between $90K-$1000K. That is a pretty good selection — investers must be sitting on their hands with so much inventory to choose from!
For the first time this year, the median list price for SFRs in my zip code (Rancho Bernardo 92127) has dropped below $1.2 m. It was as high as 1.395 m just last spring.
Got fire sales?
We can also be like these standup people and just save for the rest of our lives and watch pass us by…..saving is good but this is pathetic.
http://ptmoney.blogspot.com/2007/12/complete-list-of-cnn-moneys.html
Did you read the comments following the profiles? Yeesh, I thought the HBB crowd was tough, but these commenters are brutal!
Well, I went home with the waitress
The way I always do
How was I to know
She was a mortgage broker, too
So I went gambling in Stockton
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
this loan is quite amiss!
I’m the innocent bystander
Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I’m down on my luck
And I’m down on my luck
And I’m down on my luck
Now I’m hiding in Riverside
I’m a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money
The shit has hit the fan
Send lawyers, guns and money
This loan won’t leave me alone
This loan won’t leave me alone!
Draw blood.
With apologies to the late Mr. Warren Zevon
I saw a debt zombie with a foreclosure notice in his hand
Walking through the streets of Stockton in the rain
He’s that greedy-handed choad
Who bought in Modesto
Lately he’s been overheard in Ojai
You better stay away from
He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim
Huh, good luck getting a re-fi
Owwwooo debt zombies of Stockton
“Some of these people won’t have the capability to be homeowners and will become renters again,’ Paulson said.”
Sounds like a leper colony to me.
“Some of these people won’t have the capability to be homeowners and will become renters again,” Paulson said.
Being as how a lot of the foreclosing activity up here in the Bay Area is in the outlying communities, I hope those “renters” stay where they are, instead of trying to flock back into the metro areas and driving the rents up.
Man if CA prices actually become affordable again, I’d hate to be at ground zero there. I think the average house price there is what, $500K? Watch as that drops down to 100K. $400,000 down the toilet per household, or close to that. They’d certainly have a Hallmark BOHICA moment there. Thankfully I don’t live in the second half of the USA. Better stock up on beans and ramen noodles if that happens though.
Watch out for the Golden Hordes!!!! hhahahaha….
Pasadena Declares Water Emergency After Drought
“This hasn’t been full for two winters now. We are hoping normally this time of year, these ponds would be full of water, and the water would be seeping into the ground,” said Pasadena Water & Power Chief Water Engineer Brad Boman, describing a series of reservoirs that collect water off the San Gabriel Mountains.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22303828/
A house isn’t worth much without water…
Ahnold Ziffel
Thread hijack: News from the field: Have been talking to a few customers last couple of days. Jewelry seems to be off as a category this Christmas (after several pretty good years). It’s not just the knick-knack mom and pops but also mall-heads like Zales, Kay, Claire’s, Penney - heard that Zales (ZLC) was freaked about (lack of) sales in one of the malls in FL and brought in corporate types to put fear of God in sales staff. Lots of resistance to higher prices. Christmas in general is looking a little weak the past week - very anecdotal, but if anything daily comps may be decelerating. FL definitely weaker than further north. Also hearing of retailers forming cartels in malls to try to drive rents down.
Even though I don’t think the stock market can go much lower this CY and I’m not even overly bearish on stocks in general, I think a lot of the specialty retailers (non-tech related only) may still have room on the short side, especially ones with strongest bubble-state presence, although they have really whacked ZLC already - if you want to see a picture of how bad it is for jewelry retailers in malls check out this 6-month chart: http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/intchart.asp?symb=zlc&intflavor=basic
Interesting. The TV ads for b-ugly diamonds have been relentless this holiday season. Every diamond begins with D, for dumb.
Meanwhile, at the mall…
“…brought in corporate types to put fear of God in sales staff…”
LOL! Yeah, I’m sure the “corporate types” really scared the pants off those highly paid retail clerks. Especially in FL.
Sales are slow? Blame the STAFF. Because it couldn’t be the economy or the inventory levels or product mix chosen by ever-brilliant management.
What a clasically ‘corporate’ response.
anectodally, i am seeing tons of pickup trucks for sale here in northern california, probably signs of stress in the construction industry
Every street has a Jetski 4 sale on a trailer with another toy behind if 4 sale.
Everytime I see that…I know. Things are getting tough already.
“Paulson promised to investigate the claim of one borrower who said her lender had refused to offer any solutions and would not talk with her until she had defaulted. ‘In June I’m staring down the barrel of an $8,000-a-month mortgage payment,’ said the woman, who declined to give her name.”
__________________
What to investigate?
So now the lenders are required by law to offer alternatives for people going into default? How about the middle finger?
As if the government puts any money into the money they lended.
“I could do stated (undocumented) income loans on conforming loans until last week. … Now I can’t. What has gone wrong? Paulson said it was the wand, I must stop the Joshua tree wand! I must get the ‘American consumer wand’ ” Lord Voldemortgage said.
I thought you might like the address of this property owned by Countrywide in Fredericksburg, VA.
FREDERICKSBURG
5616 JOSHUA TREE CIRCLE ,
FREDERICKSBURG , VA 22407
$359,900
lol. doubt there are many jt’s in Virginia
I used to live in Texas in a subdivison with streets named after majestic, impressive landmarks of the western US — Glen Canyon, Mt. Shasta, Columbia Falls. It just highlighted Texas’ utterly boring landscape and made me homesick. I moved back to CA after a year.
“When asked if the Ventura County housing market is enduring one of its worst sales years ever, Bill Watkins, executive director of the UC Santa Barbara Forecast Project replied: ‘We just had one.’”
_____________________________________________________________
“The worst day of your life - so far…”
Homer Simpson
The Simspon Movie
Found this while wandering the web. Interesting, prices haven’t taken the short respite they took last time.
http://www.californiahousingforecast.com
I haven’t confirmed this through any RE agency but a letter carrier in the Prunedale area around Salinas said that there were 13 or 14 million dollar homes in foreclosure. The RE industry in Salinas tries to keep a tight lid on housing and pricing.
Real estate market still pretty strong here in West LA/SM/Venice, I have yet to see any foreclosures around here, I don’t understand what all this noise about foreclosures is all about, sounds like it’s all limited to crappy areas.
Good to see you post lainvestorgirl. It’s been a while. Check out trulia.com for foreclosure listings. I found a bunch here in Costa Mesa and they were not all limited to the “other side of the tracks”.
Just one more time before going to bed:
BURN, BABY, BURN!
Dedicated to all fbs in Clownifornia, especially lainvestorgirl
Wake me up in 2009, when the asking prices are really going down. These 10-20% declines are coming from the smart sellers. The majority of the idiot clowns will chase the market down much, much lower in the upcoming months and years.
G’night!
“Appleton-Young said she hopes the federal government will take action to make mortgage financing more available. But she said a rebound in home sales also will require an attitude change among potential buyers, who have been waiting for prices to fall further.”
Excuse me missy, I ( the prospective buyer) hold the money. Your attitude needs to change.
Appleton-Young said she hopes the federal government will take action to make mortgage financing more available. But she said a rebound in home sales also will require an attitude change among potential buyers, who have been waiting for prices to fall further.”
LAY is just plain Stupid!!! How about sellers stepping up and listing their home at a real level instead of what they need to clear their debts.
Just remember this: Like real estate, the stock market always goes up in the long run. With this in mind, go buy the dip.
Why analysts are optimistic about 2008
Posted Dec 19th 2007 1:55PM by Peter Cohan
Filed under: Analyst reports, Time Warner (TWX), Market matters, Merrill Lynch (MER)
Fortune’s thinks that Wall Street analysts are congenitally wired to be optimistic about earnings. (Fortune shares a parent, Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) with BloggingStocks). He thinks analysts are optimistic because they think the companies they cover are special. I disagree. In my view, analysts are optimistic about 2008 because they have to help sell stocks and banking business to keep their jobs. And selling stocks and closing banking business depends on forecasting higher earnings.
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/12/19/why-analysts-are-optimistic-about-2008/