Greed Is A Powerful Force
It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “The federal agency overseeing mortgage insurance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac signaled a robust federal involvement in the mortgage markets for the foreseeable future. But without waiting for Congress, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt did announce a number of policy shifts for Fannie and Freddie. Reversing a proposal it made last year, the agency will not reduce the size of mortgage Fannie and Freddie will back. Fannie and Freddie will continue to back loans even when the borrower misses two mortgage payments in the first three years after a lender acquires the loan.”
“Under current standards, Fannie and Freddie can force lenders to repurchase those mortgages, which made those lenders reluctant to make the loans in the first place. That, Watt said, ‘undermines the goal of improving access to mortgage credit for creditworthy borrowers.’”
“It is not surprising to see first-home buyers being squeezed out by investors and trade-in buyers in Australia as interest rates have fallen, but banks should not solve an affordability issue by lowering their standards, a central banker warned. ‘As experience overseas has shown, you do nobody a favour by trying to solve an affordability issue by making it easier for people to borrow more than they can reasonably service,’ said Luci Ellis, head of Financial Stability Department at the Reserve Bank of Australia.”
“Ellis also said while first-time home buyers will feel squeezed out, this is probably more a cyclical phenomenon than a structural one. ‘It is still probably quite disheartening for potential first home buyers,’ she said. ‘As such, it would not be a good outcome if they responded by overstretching themselves to try to get into the market during upswings. As well as being against first home buyers’ own long-run interests, that would increase risk in the financial system.’”
“Paul Sawyer is about to take a whirlwind tour of homes. He’s moving his family to Collin County from Florida. Sawyer has one day to make one of one the most important decisions he’ll ever face. Sawyer’s search had him checking out two of only 500 homes currently for sale in a city of 130,000. His guide, Lynn Slaney with Ebby Halliday Frisco, described a housing market where houses are selling before she can even show them. ‘You have to be a little bit aggressive,’ she said.”
“The situation has Sawyer looking at $500,000 custom homes under construction that he won’t even be able to customize. He said, ‘Even if a house isn’t finished you have to be ready to pull the trigger.’”
“The Allens share a 936-square-foot three-bedroom home in Tacoma. They’re ready for the next step in the life of their family. But the Allens, like about 54,000 other homeowners in Pierce County, are stuck. They owe more than their home is worth, and there is no good way out. The Allens bought in May of 2007, three months before the top of the Pierce County market. ‘It never occurred to us that equity could go down,’ David Allen said.”
“‘No one thought that,’ Michelle Allen said. ‘People who were wiser and older than us were saying, ‘Get in now or you’ll never get in.’ Michelle Allen calculated that selling at that price would mean they’ve lost about $60,000 during their seven years of homeownership. ‘That was as if we threw into the garbage $25 every single day that we’ve owned this house,’ she wrote in an email.”
“New Mexicans are losing big time in the housing market with $2.1 billion dollars in home foreclosures between 2009 and 2012. ‘In this area, people are losing money left and right,’ says Sen. Michael Padilla. It’s to the tune of $30,000 to $50,000 per home, according to Padilla. ‘If you’re paying your mortgage next door to a home that’s been foreclosed upon, you’re losing equity every night you go to bed,’ says Padilla.”
“Naseema Ahmed, a broker at Indus Real Estate LLC in Dubai, has been digging through her e-mails for leads after failing to sell a single home in the past month. She had been closing deals at a clip of about six a week since the market began recovering in 2012. Ahmed said buyers are pushing for lower prices and dropping out of talks when their bids are rejected by sellers. ‘Before, buyers would have negotiated and raised their prices,’ she said. ‘Now most are just dropping the whole thing and moving on.’”
“You know a property market is in trouble when developers stage long-jump contests to attract buyers. That’s what happened earlier this month in the eastern city of Nanjing. Looking to sell apartments in a new residential complex, a local newspaper reported that agents from the developer, Rongsheng Group, lined up potential customers behind a queue and asked them to leap forward. Those who jumped the farthest got the biggest rebates — up to $1,600.”
“Chinese newspapers these days are riddled with such tales of desperation. On May 9 in the central Chinese city of Changsha, pretty girls were enlisted to hand out 50,000 tea eggs to lure people into a housing fair. Developers in Shenzhen and Fuzhou are offering to sell apartments with no down payment. In Hangzhou in April, two real estate agents competing for buyers got into such a vicious fistfight that the police had to intervene.”
“Massive oversupply combined with a tightening of credit orchestrated by the government appears to be crushing the market. Falling apartment prices spell bad news for China’s economy. Real estate is one of the main drivers of China’s growth. Beijing’s leaders got themselves into this mess with their go-slow approach to reform.”
“Britain’s economy is booming again. House prices are rising at their fastest in a decade. So it is not surprising that the Bank of England predicts UK economic growth will soar to 3.8 per cent this year, and 3.2 per cent next year, faster than any other rich country. So, how fake is this growth? The sustainable long-term growth rate for a mature G7 economy like ours is nearer to just two per cent. Will any politician tell you about this yardstick? Or about any other key factor determining the real direction of economic success? Surprisingly, they don’t.”
“Our economic party is certainly back in the swing again after the authorities’ hair-of-the-dog remedy of rock-bottom interest rates and £375bn worth of virtual money-creation through quantitative easing. Cheaper mortgages – plus some ill-conceived policies to help people buy houses and to guarantee their loans – have created another housing bubble. It is all smoke and mirrors – 2007-08 all over again. We won’t get out of this without pain, and the longer that our financial and political authorities put off raising rates and cutting their spending, the worse the eventual hangover will be.”
“Will Washington never learn? Remember the housing bubble — people buying houses they couldn’t afford with money they couldn’t pay back on the faulty premise that the real estate market would just keep rising? And how when the bubble burst it took much of the U.S. economy with it? Well, anyone who saw those rows of “foreclosed” signs won’t soon forget the trauma. Not so the Beltway bureaucrats who want to bring back those golden days.”
“Not long ago the plan was to phase out mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (still under federal conservatorship) and encourage more private investment. But Mel Watt, the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, overseer of Fannie and Freddie, has other ideas. Efforts to make a 20 percent down payment once again the industry standard are likely to be the first to go. Plans to reduce maximum loan amounts eligible for purchase by Frannie and Freddie (currently as high as $417,00 and $625,00 in high cost markets) will be scrapped, Watts said. And he directed the two companies to triple to $90 billion sales of mortgage-based derivatives.”
“Isn’t that what got us into trouble in the first place?”
“A customer recently inquired about the price of our tulips. An intriguing question, for what price can we put on beauty? Did you know that there was a time when the price of a tulip was as much as a house or an entire farm? When a man would give up everything he owned for a single bulb? What’s that? Impossible, you say? Judging by today’s economic woes, it’s clear that the great tulip bubble has been long, long forgotten.”
“Sometime in the 1630s, Holland’s love and desire for the tulip had turned to mania. The demand for tulips grew, pushing the price to extraordinary levels. Evil speculators call ‘florists’ found they could buy bulbs and then sell them for huge profits. By 1634 tulip mania was at a fevered pitch. A $1,000 investment in tulips would yield $20,000 profit in just one month. The Dutch middle class got into the act, looking to make a quick fortune speculating in tulips. And as the frenzy heated up, the price continued to climb. Soon people were selling livestock, land, family farms, and entire life savings to acquire a single tulip bulb.”
“It was the epitome of irrational exuberance. The Dutch had lost control of their senses. The bubble burst in February 1637. Traders came to their senses and realized no matter how beautiful a tulip might be it could never hold the value placed upon it by greedy speculators. The sell-off soon turned to a panic and in a matter of days the tulip was worth a fraction of its former value. Investors who had squandered their life savings were left holding worthless bulbs. The Dutch economy plunged into an economic depression and would take years to recover.”
“You find all this hard to believe? How could a lowly flower bring down an economy? Greed is a powerful force and few humans, if any, are immune.”
These articles are priceless. The media hacks work overtime to divert attention from this widening disaster and provide cover for those creating it. It’s like reading a well written science fiction novel.
The goal? To get you out of your cash position and keep you out.
Never short cash. Ever.
The goal? To get you out of your cash position and keep you out.
Never short cash. Ever.
Hear Hear.
Words of wisdom to always REMEMBER thanks for the reminder.
5000 Properties In SF Bay Area Headed For Foreclosure
http://www.realtytrac.com/map/ca/san-francisco-county/san-francisco/#cp=37.435910200020174;-121.9210739135742&lvl=11&sty=r&srange=3&page=1&sort=featured,asc&tabs=PreForeclosure,Auction,LiveAuction,OnlineAuction,BankOwned,REO,GovernmentOwned
That’s all?
The SF Bay Area has a population of well over 5 million people in a state of about 38 million.
If your 4.4MM was anywhere close to correct, there should be 100 times that heading for foreclosure.
Apparently this will take a decade to play out at the current pace. Maybe something will accelerate the process.
If you are talking about the pace of resolution in states like FL, NY, NJ (judicial states), then you may very well be correct.
I’d be curious as to what math makes you think this would be the case in CA.
Follow along R._Fraud. Those are in addition to the 4.4 million excess, empty and defaulted houses in CA.
Oh, so now there are 4.405MM excess, empty and defaulted houses in CA.
I want to make sure we keep a precise count.
Raindrops in the desert J._Fraud. Raindrops in the desert.
~The Daily Crater~
Walnut Creek, CA Housing Prices Plunge 18% YoY As Supply Grows
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/CA-Walnut-Creek-home-value/r_34637/#metric=mt%3D18%26dt%3D1%26tp%3D5%26rt%3D8%26r%3D34637%252C118802%26el%3D0
“That was as if we threw into the garbage $25 every single day that we’ve owned this house…”
Now you are a little “older and wiser”.
“Reversing a proposal it made last year, the agency will not reduce the size of mortgage Fannie and Freddie will back. Fannie and Freddie will continue to back loans even when the borrower misses two mortgage payments in the first three years after a lender acquires the loan.”
“Under current standards, Fannie and Freddie can force lenders to repurchase those mortgages, which made those lenders reluctant to make the loans in the first place.”
And, coincidently, these current standards also hoses the lenders.
Bahahahahahahahahahahaha
Save the economy by saving the banks! It’s the only things these guys seem to know!
Bahahahahahahahahahahaha
My favorite part of all of this:
“Current standards” (which are considered too tight because it punishes people who miss making house payments) … “undermines the goal of improving access to mortgage credit for creditworthy borrowers.”
Bahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Creditworthy borrowers? If they were really creditworthy borrowers then they wouldn’t be missing house payments.
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
People are smart.
Bahahahahahahahahahahhahahahaha
‘Save the economy by saving the banks!’
More dishonesty. Aren’t we told the housing market is hot-hot-hot? That prices are near record highs in some areas? There are bidding wars and nothing left to buy, from Omaha to Portland? And yet, we have to cut deals for banks so they will make loans. This is right in your face lying in order to hand billions of your dollars to investment banks. No law was passed, no discussion taken.
“no discussion taken”
Oh, there was a discussion, trust me on this.
But if you are not a member of The Private Club then you were not part of the discussion.
You’re right, I should have said public discussion, as in hearings, bills passed.
‘James Rickards has done another interesting interview on Bloomberg Television: Jim Rickards: I actually had breakfast with some of the leading private equity investors and CEOs this morning and, you know, privately they’ll say, look, the bank covenants are gone, cost of funds is very close to zero, they’ve got more leverage than they’ve ever had, the U.S. inner stock exchange has greater leverage than they’ve ever had, so it looks good but this is a bubble being supported by zero interest rates, high leverage. We all know what happens, they will collapse sooner than later.’
‘You know, stocks could actually be higher by the end of the year, based on, I expect, the Federal pause, the taper around the middle of the year. But in the long…this is a bubble. The problem is bubbles, they last longer than we think, but when they pop, it ends very badly. This is all being floated by zero interest rates and leverage.’
‘Interviewer (Guy Johnson): You buy bubbles. That’s what Soros and everybody else says; initially, when you see a bubble, you buy it. So, give us your sense of the duration of this bubble. Yellen sounds very dovish still at the moment.’
‘Jim Rickards: I agree completely, she is dovish; I think she’ll be more dovish. As I say, I expect a pause in the taper later this year. But, look, this could run on well into 2015 but the problem is the scale of it.’
‘In 2008, all we heard about was “too big to fail”; well, guess what, the five biggest banks in the U.S. today are bigger than they were in 2008. They have a larger percentage of the banking industry assets, their derivatives books are significantly bigger, you know, so the problem is that the whole thing is bigger, which means that…risk is an exponential function of scale; when you triple the system, you don’t triple the risk, you increase it by a factor of ten or more and this is what we’re up against, this is what we’re facing. Could start anywhere, could start in China.’
‘Interviewer (Francine Lacqua): And we haven’t even touched on China, the house of cards?’
‘Jim Rickards: Yes, and I have a whole chapter in the book, “The Death of Money”, just on China. You know, the wealth management products are a Ponzi and that’s not from me, the Chairman of the Bank of China said they’re a Ponzi, so you’ve seen the Chinese banking officials saying the same thing.’
‘The problem is the money’s going into real estate so if you’re a state-owned enterprise, and you produce steel or glass or any of the cement or any of the components for construction and you just wanna roll steel and build buildings…’
‘I’ve been out there, I expect you have too, I’ve seen the ghost cities, I’ve seen them as far as the eye can see — completely empty.’
‘And people say, “Well, they’ll fill up in the years ahead.” No, they won’t. I mean, that migration from the countryside to the cities is largely over, number one. Number two, it doesn’t take into account obsolescence. You can’t mothball a building; you have to occupy it and maintain it.’
‘So, this is wasted investment. If you adjust the Chinese GDP for the amount that’s wasted, it would already be lower…’
“You’re right, I should have said public discussion, as in hearings, bills passed.”
Are closed-door planning sessions between government agencies and investment banks even legal?
Keep PLENTY of cash under the mattress, if not all of it, because when this thing blows you are going to need it.
“The Allens bought in May of 2007, three months before the top of the Pierce County market. ‘It never occurred to us that equity could go down,’ David Allen said.”
Bahahahahahahahahaha
“‘No one thought that,’ Michelle Allen said. ‘People who were wiser and older than us were saying, ‘Get in now or you’ll never get in.’”
‘People who were wiser and older than us” = People such as David Lereah, maybe?
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Pride goeth before a fall, Mr. Banker.
You want to bet?
My money is squarely on Mr. Banker.
What are the debtors going to do? Start brandishing their lack of money around to buy members of Congress?
But quotes like that are all we have left. Might as well use them.
Did you know that the headquarters of NAR is steps away from the Senate side of the Capitol (not the louche loser Congress side - who goes there anyway)?
Also, the fanciest restaurants in DC are all clustered over there?
Did you know that?
You play your quotes. I’m playing the facts.
I am renovating the tools which the penniless will brandish for use on Mr. Banker, and his ilk.
What are the debtors going to do? Start brandishing their lack of money around to buy members of Congress?
What are debtors going to? Start hanging bankers and their crony politicians by their necks from very high trees. Bundy Ranch in Nevada was just the start of the push back by the people… or do you all honestly think the latest request by the Department of Agriculture to purchase thousands of automatic sub-machine guns is to keep the desert tortoise safe?
Only in your dreams.
If they didn’t do it after they greatest collapse since GD1, they will take it up the backside every single time. And thank people for it afterwards!
Never is too strong a word but highly unlikely is not too far off.
Michelle Allen: “We have done everything right, and no one has an answer,”
Bought in May 2007 and thinks she did everything right. It’s fascinating, clearly she is capable of certain types of thought, working out where to put the hamster etc… What stops people from seeing the obvious? Is it pride?
Michelle Allen: “We have done everything right, and no one has an answer,”
Michelle likely “hen-pecked” her husband into signing the mortgage, or “these legs are welded shut!”
“Real estate is one of the main drivers of China’s growth.”
An borrowed money is the main driver of real estate.
Hence take away the borrowed money and you take away the growth.
Which is really stupid but nevertheless there it is.
China used to have an Earned Money Economy (mostly) because it used to manufacture stuff to sell to the U.S. and other places (places that have Borrowed Money Economies).
But now that the U.S. and these other places aren’t buying Chinese junk at the rate they used to buy Chinese junk China had to fully transition from a Earned Money Economy into a Borrowed Money Economy and join the rest of the countries of the world that run their economies on debt.
“Had to”. Maybe a better term to use is “chose to”.
There are indications that they did far more than join up.
I’ve been reading reports from David Stockman’s blog that, from 2011 to 2012, China produced more cement than the U.S. produced over the entire course of the 20th century.
…. and built cities in Asia with it.
Those cities are empty. Just like their pockets.
And he directed the two companies to triple to $90 billion sales of mortgage-based derivatives.
?????
What’s all that about. They sell mortgage based derivatives also? Triple? The Looting In Chief has begun.
From the New Mexico article:
What’s more, it’s to the tune of $30,000 to $50,000 per home, according to Padilla. It’s why he’s set into motion a task force designed to ensure those involved in the foreclosure process in struggling communities are treated fairly. That includes the homeowners, banks and lenders.
Ooh, a task force. Throw the bums out.
‘If you’re paying your mortgage next door to a home that’s been foreclosed upon, you’re losing equity every night you go to bed,’
Buy now, and lose equity while you lie awake every night for the rest of your life.
‘Analysts say that the Vietnamese real estate market, which has been frozen since 2010, will not recover until housing prices plummet toward local earnings. “Given low sales in the property sector at the moment, we have to accept the fact that the market is still frozen,” former Deputy Minister Dang Hung Vo of National Resources and Environment.’
‘Explaining the reason behind the sluggish situation, Vo, who is now an independent property analyst, said housing prices are extremely high compared to average local incomes. A 2012 report by the legislative body’s economic committee showed that average housing prices were 25 times higher than average annual earnings.’
‘In other words, if a Vietnamese employee saved 25 percent of his earnings, he would have to wait for 100 years before he could buy a house. Vo told Voice of Vietnam that the ratio has since fallen to tenfold in low-cost commercial housing and the social housing segments, which is still too high.’
‘Alan Phan, a renowned Viet kieu fund manager, expressed a similar point of view.
“The only reason for the stagnant property market is that selling prices aren’t affordable for potential home buyers,” Phan said in a recent interview with Voice of Vietnam.
“If housing prices remain too high, locals can’t buy, thus the market remains sluggish.”
‘Explaining the reason behind the sluggish situation, Vo, who is now an independent property analyst, said housing prices are extremely high compared to average local incomes. A 2012 report by the legislative body’s economic committee showed that average housing prices were 25 times higher than average annual earnings.’
We aren’t quite there — yet!
“Soon people were selling livestock, land, family farms, and entire life savings to acquire a single tulip bulb.”
People are similarly giving up their entire life savings today to buy houses. In fairness to their decisions, you can’t live inside a tulip bulb. But then on the other hand, you can’t eat a house.
‘I’m sitting at my laptop composing a note. I want to sound enthusiastic, yet cagey. Candid, yet confident. After an hour, I’m satisfied. I attach a cheerful photo and hope for the best.’
‘No, I am not in the throes of an online romance. I’m bidding on yet another house in Arlington, one of the most cutthroat real estate markets in suburban Boston. Housing inventory is low, demand is high, and multiple offers are the norm. Penning a love letter to a seller — complete with personal photo — is par for the course.’
‘My husband and I scan Redfin daily, prowling for “the one.” We have standards, of course: location, price, size, appearance. When we spotted a promising specimen a few weeks ago, we were giddy…’
lol…. the gullibility of EmptyPockets.
Did the thought ever occur to anyone that the reason they’ve got empty pockets is because they believe in charades?
You just don’t have enough “EmptyPocket” friends.
I’ve been mooching off of them for years. Expensive dinners, wines, etc.
The best part is that they think they’re doing me a “favor” - helping out a friend who’s not that flush.
It’s very funny.
‘The property market in Phuket has witnessed a decline, with many domestic and foreign buyers having delayed their decision to purchase a home so far this year. The resort-island’s residential inventory - condominiums and low-rise property including detached housing, townhouses and villas - was more than 7000 units as of April 30, according to research by the Phuket Real Estate Association.’
Empty pockets…. empty empty pockets. They get emptier with each passing day.
‘Shanghai steel rebar futures fell more than 1 percent to an all-time low on Thursday as traders in top-consumer China, faced with weak demand, ran down stockpiles and were forced to slash prices. “Now the Chinese market is very, very weak, stocks at the ports have been increasing, and I heard that some mills cannot get letters of credit because Chinese banks have limited lending so the iron ore price must go down,” said an iron ore trader in Rizhao in China’s eastern Shandong province.’
Heh…
2005 I had sub-contractors invoking price escalation clauses in their contracts for structural and reinforcing steel.
2008 mill steel prices collapsed to a level where we took the language out of the contracts.
‘There’s a new take on yesterday’s central bank directive to lend to home buyers. An overlooked part of central bank deptuy governor Liu Shiyu’s statement was him telling the banks not to solely pursue profits; i.e. you should take losses to support the market. This is interpreted by one writer as the central bank seeking to avoid a situation where Chinese home owners “walk away” from their mortgages, something that has already happened in Wenzhou.’
‘The banks have said homes are currently overvalued and they are taking several steps to reduce lending, such as increasing the time to approval. According to Centaline, in Beijing and some other cities, loan approval for existing home mortgages has increased from one month last year to three months this year. That is affecting turnover and contributing to the inventory buildup.’
‘Savers also continue to move money out of deposit accounts and into higher yielding WMPs or online money markets, driving up bank’s cost of capital and therefore interest rates. Many banks can earn more money by lending to other banks rather than to home buyers.’
防止房奴弃房，央行力挺楼市 (To Prevent Homeowners From Walking Away, Central Bank Supports Housing Market)
‘Banks are businesses, in order to make money. But Liu’s speech, the moment seems to have reached a special moment, has asked banks ”do not over-pursue business sustainable development.” He says: ‘To understand the pressure to survive the bottom of society officers have a social responsibility, not allow banks to lose money, be financially sustainable development (preservation, profit) like, do not over-pursue sustainable business, each line execution rates almost on the line.’
‘Minutes circulated on the Internet in a word, is “abandoned house.” As can be seen, in particular, the central bank fears of house slaves “abandoned house” phenomenon, this situation has occurred since last year in Wenzhou.’
‘It was reported in August 2013: The house is not enough to sell to repay bank loans, this “upside down” phenomenon in Wenzhou intensified. Wenzhou credit risk generate social housing slump, some individuals “abandoned house” or “foot” situation ……’
房贷为何如此紧 银行高管称房子根本不值这么多钱 (Why is Mortgage Lending Tight? Bank Executive Says Houses Aren’t Worth This Much)
‘The banks have become increasingly stringent in reviewing the loan qualifications. Fuli town a landlord told 21st Century Business Herald reporter, due to the presence of some of his past cases overdue credit card payments, direct bank rejected his loan application. He is currently facing only cobble together the remaining housing fund or transferred to other buyers embarrassed.’
‘Three Rivers Branch of Bank of China, the mortgage department official popular argument seems to explain the mentality of the current bank. “Prices are too high, we believe that the current house is not worth so much money.”
we have more departments of housing than the Soviet Union ever did
do polly or oxide work there?
“Paul Sawyer is about to take a whirlwind tour of homes. He’s moving his family to Collin County from Florida. Sawyer has one day to make one of one the most important decisions he’ll ever face.”
___________________________/
Why doesn’t he just rent for a few months so that he can take his time with said decision? This almost sounds like the lead-in to one of those inane housing reality shows.
permits for empty houses up big time
Only multi-family…just about flat for single-family.
I guess few learned about getting burnt in 2008, because that clearly wasn’t the end to this lunacy. I rented then. I am gladly renting now. While others are in debt they will never pay off I owe NOTHING to a mortgage, ZERO thank you very much.
I have a debt that I WILL pay off and you will ALWAYS owe SOMETHING to a landlord, thank you very much.
Yet his losses to shelter are half yours.
How do you reconcile that Mz. Craterton?
“you will ALWAYS owe SOMETHING to a landlord…”
Oh my Oxide. You will always have to pay taxes, maintenance and insurance. It’s a lifelong obligation. You will be in debt until after your prime working years because you live beyond your means. You are spilling the best part of your life out on paying debt.
A renter lives below their means and has freedom and incentive to save. A smart renter will save enough that their net worth will be twice that of the house debtor at the end of their prime working years.
You are preaching to the damned.
Not to save them I assure you.
I’m missing the motivation then.
If it’s schadenfreude, I’m there, bro! I’m there in spades.
I built a house in N. Thailand (Isaan - Udon) on land my wife has owned for years. $45000 for 2600 squ ft. All brick, cement and steel, termite proof. NO property tax, lulls No tax period. No liens, judgement proof. Retired early. Cheap and better food! See a doc for 5 bucks. Glad I quit the USA. I’ll die here, debt / tax free. People who’ve never been out of ‘mericuh’ don’t know what you’re missing.
Is the alleged British boom based on anything other than quasi-criminal financial services activities and real estate speculation, both of which are centered in London?
I’m trying to think of something tangible that Britain makes or exports. Certainly nothing in my house or office. The country will be in a huge predicament once the North Sea oil fields deplete.
Emeryville, CA Housing Prices Sink 6%; Inventory Balloons 67% As Demand Craters
http://www.movoto.com/emeryville-ca/market-trends/
I keep seeing these headlines in the MSM “California home prices highest in 7 years” “April home prices UP”. Sure, if Silicon Valley is now “California” it’s true, but the reality is the media SELLING price dropped for 43% of California homes.
43% in the “prime time” for the market.
http://www.car.org/marketdata/data/countysalesactivity/
peak was 5/2005 for most places
8/05 was the pop here in 22151
Summer 2005 was when Tucson’s inventory blew up. It was as if the monsoon storms were raining “for sale” signs down upon us.
“…peak was 5/2005 for most places…”
Certainly in the sunnier latitudes.
Portland and Seattle topped-out about mid 2007. You’d think these northern peeps would have seen the RE shagging meted down south?
I’m not sure I follow. Where does that page show the selling price dropping?
Yes, I see it falling for certain counties on a MTM basis, but overall, the MTM median selling price is up statewide…
Of course you don’t understand J._Fraud. Your wallet depends on you not understanding it.
Surrender to the authorities.
Detroit blight fight turns to salvaging
This doesn’t seem like it would be cost-effective.
Hasn’t anything worth salvaging already been “salvaged”?
I’m missing the marginal utility here, or is just one of those politician “talking points”?