March 27, 2015

A Consequence Of The Euphoric Years

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “My scientific data gathering techniques have produced evidence of a housing glut in Washington — a saturation of one- and two-bedroom apartments for rent that is having a negative effect on existing condo sales both on Capitol Hill and elsewhere in the city. The vast majority of Hill listings in MRIS, the realtor listing service, are sales, not rentals. Even Craigslist beats MRIS for rentals postings in my opinion, but it does provide a glimpse of what’s happening. Time and how much sun is being blocked out by construction cranes will tell if this is a rude awakening or a small bump in the road, but the advice remains the same as last year’s: Sellers, don’t take anything for granted. Buyers, don’t give up hope, there could be opportunities out there. There may even be a bargain in your future.”

“Dave Evans is president-elect of the Fayetteville Regional Association of Realtors. ‘If you don’t have to sell right now, you shouldn’t.’ Conversely, however, ‘The most exciting thing to be in Fayetteville is a buyer.’ According to Evans, Fayetteville has 1,200 excess houses on the market. He says a six-month supply is considered an even market. Fayetteville is well beyond a six-month supply and, at some price points, is at a 12- or 18-month oversupply.”

“But here’s the catch - Zillow senior economist Skylar Olsen’s numbers show a high number of foreclosures hitting the Fayetteville and Jacksonville markets. ‘I’m noticing by looking through the data though, right now there’s an uptick in the foreclosure resale. So enough homes have now made it through the foreclosure process.’ She calls that hidden inventory - homes owned by banks that don’t show up in the current for-sale supply because they are still making their way through the foreclosure process. Olsen says we just don’t know how much of that inventory is waiting to hit the market.”

“Coldwell Banker Owner and Real Estate Broker Kathy Vejtasa talked her perspective on Kern County’s proposed Land Use Management Plan. She said there are more rentals currently because ‘people working for the government cannot have a negative impact on their credit, they cannot have a short sale or a foreclosure, therefore they rent their house at a loss in order to protect their credit rating. That’s why the number of our rentals increased dramatically.’”

“Heather McAnerney of Peoria is one of many underwater homeowners in Arizona, who would love to sell their house, but can’t afford to do it. ‘We want to move because our kids are in a special program outside our boundary, but we can’t because we don’t have enough equity in the house to sell it,’ said McAnerney. ‘Our whole thing is that we need that equity so we can put equity towards a new house. The home values would have to skyrocket in the next 12 months for us to be able to put our house up for sale,’ said McAnerney. ‘All you can do is plug along and pay your monthly mortgage payment.’”

“Residential property prices fell across the country for the second straight month in February. In Dublin the decrease was 0.7% – and 2.4% since the start of December. Davy chief economist Conal Mac Coille said the slowdown was ‘not surprising or undesirable’ given that house prices no longer looked cheap by international standards. Savills research director John McCartney said it was hard for prices in Dublin to sustain the double-digit percentage rises that started in mid-2013 without peoples’ earnings also increasing enough to pay for them.”

“‘Agents are now reporting that buyers are no longer in a frenzy to buy for fear that prices will run beyond their means,’ he said.”

“So it’s time to buy! That’s the enthusiastic motto for Montreal’s 19th edition of Open House Weekends. Asked why developers keep going even as building exceeds demand, Jonathan Sigler, co-president of Prével, compared real estate to a cruise ship, in that it is slow moving, and takes time to get plans and permits in place, and then actually build. ‘A lot of the projects you see started way back when, in early 2010-11-12, when the condo market was very hot. We were selling out even before construction. What you are seeing is a consequence of the euphoric years.’”

“Offshore developers are outpricing locals as demand to build high-rises on Whitehorse Rd grows to ‘fever pitch.’ Allens Blackburn, director Grant Lynch, said the Federal Government’s proposed changes to foreign investment rules would have a mixed impact on buyers in the area. The Government is considering charging fees for foreign buyers for each attempt at buying a property; a fee of $5000 for property of less than $1 million and $10,000 for every extra $1 million in the purchase price.”

“‘I absolutely think there will be an impact on investors from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong who have been investing in apartments in Australia for years,’ Mr Lynch said. ‘The market for investing in apartments in those countries is already a bit shaky because people haven’t been getting returns on their investment. However I don’t think there will be any impact on the multi-million dollar buyers from mainland China, whose main focus is on getting their capital out of China.’”

“Since the Interim Regulation on Real Estate Registration came into force in China on March 1, anxious cascade selling has emerged in the country’s housing market. Because the law requires full disclosure of property ownership, corrupt government officials who had bought multiple homes with illegal gains are worried that their irregularities would be uncovered. Many ’secret sellers’ have thus emerged in the used home market.”

“A real estate broker identified as Miss Huang said business was especially good last year, when the government began to push for the real estate registration system. Huang said she brokered more than 20 transactions in 2014. Many of the sellers had contacted her via telephone and did not show up until the transactions were about to be sealed, she said. Also, the sellers had lowered their prices in the hope that their homes would be sold quickly, Huang said.”

“A developer identified as Mr Zhao said the most anxious sellers now are government officials who had accepted real estate gifts from developers. In China, it is very common for developers to bribe government officials with gifts of real estate in order to obtain construction licenses, according to Zhao.”

“Las Vegas homebuilders are seeing more signs of a turnaround, but with borrowing costs poised to rise, sales could fall again, according to a new report. It’s ‘not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the Federal Reserve raises rates, according to Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith, who said he doesn’t believe that Las Vegas’ housing market — for new and used homes — is strong enough for buyers to withstand a jump in monthly payments.”

“There will be a brief burst in sales to people who jump in before rates go up, he said, ‘but that euphoria will likely be short-lived.’ ‘Some of the lenders we have spoken to recently are still very positive when they are in front of housing industry groups or individuals who only like to hear only the ‘good news,’ he wrote. ‘However, when we speak to them one-on-one, many are worried about what any rising mortgage rates could do to housing sales velocities.’”

“It is now clear that the shale boom was an illusion of prosperity. The same is true about improvements in housing. Following the financial crisis of 2008, real estate prices should have dropped, much, much more than they did relative to other prices. Today, housing is back, with price increases at bubble-era levels and construction activity is picking up. Yet, the overhang from the previous boom has not disappeared. It has just been left in limbo, because of the ‘extend and pretend’ strategy of banks made possible by the central bank’s massive printing over the last 6 years. The number of vacant units in the U.S. still stands at over 18 million units- a level reached back in 2008-2009. The number of units held off the market is still at a record level of over 7 million units.”

“Don’t be fooled by the euphoria of a boom built on a mountain of malinvestments. The problem in 2008 was too much debt, so the solution according to the geniuses in the Eccles Building is to lower interest rates to boost demand to induce households and governments to borrow even more.”

“Printing money cannot correct a misalignment created by government’s incessant interference with the workings of the price system. This printing however will actually make things worse since it alters relative and absolute prices, causing a greater divergence between what society wants to be produced and what is produced. Interfering with interest rates is by far the most damaging policy imaginable since interest rates are the price of time preferences and play a crucial role in aligning output with demand across time. The greater the misalignment across time, the greater the adjustment.”




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68 Comments »

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 03:31:01

‘One of the first “dockominium” projects - a covered boat slip condo - since the end of the recession has been proposed in South Florida.’

‘Harbour Twenty-Six will have 26 covered boat slips in a two-story building in Fort Lauderdale, the property was acquired for $5.75 million in November 2014. It was formerly the Pier 17 Marina and Yacht Club, but fell into foreclosure.’

‘Prices range from $1.8 million for a 120-foot by 35-foot berth to $3 million for a 170-foot by 40-foot berth. Denison Yacht Sales and Promarine Realty are marketing the boat slips. Jim Bronstien of U.S. Marinas will managed the marina.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 05:18:14

PB posted this recently:

‘We’ve done stories before about how downtown living in New Orleans is booming, but not like this. Some developers have come up with a new concept. Imagine living on a floating home, and your address the Mississippi River.’

“It’s totally different and we’re kind of breaking new ground,” said Becky Jones, a co-owner of the project and a real estate agent with Top Agent Realty.’

‘That’s the vision of some Slidell businessmen and women, to move an iced in river vessel from it’s home as a former casino boat in Madison, Iowa, down to the Crescent City to be renovated into a four-story entertainment venue. It will be complete with 20 condos, hotel rooms, wedding and party ballrooms, a chapel and a gym.’

“There’s such a market for condos here and it’s just such a unique vessel.It blends in with New Orleans,” she added.’

‘The Downtown Development District says downtown living is a popular trend. People like the idea of being able to walk everywhere. Add that to the local culture and New Orleans is on the cutting edge.’

‘The target market are people who want a second home in a fun city. “It’s only been out four or five days and the response has been phenomenal. People just can’t believe we are attempting to do this,” said Jones.’

‘And if there’s ever really bad weather like a Hurricane Katrina, the vessel can easily be moved up or down river to safer waters, all 18,000 square feet of it.’

Comment by Karen
2015-03-27 08:51:24

Downtown New Orleans is scary. I cannot imagine living there.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-27 09:51:50

Probably safer to have an address on Old Man River.

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Comment by snake charmer
2015-03-27 13:13:05

I have family across Lake Pontchartrain. Downtown is one of the safest parts of New Orleans, simply because that’s where the visitors are. The city knows how important the convention and tourism business is to the economy. But overall it’s a ridiculously violent city. There’s actually a map showing where homicides have occurred.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-27 19:23:29

2014 Murders in New Orleans: 150

2013 population estimate = 378,715

Estimate of murders per 100,000 population in 2014:

100,000*150/378,715 = 39.6

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-27 19:39:54

Lest anyone think it is especially bad in NOLA, there are numerous comparable crime hell holes around the U.S. St. Louis is another; they had 156 homicides through Christmas Eve 2014 in a city with 318,416 (2013) population. This computes to a murder rate per 100,000 population of about

100,000*156/318,416 = 49.0 — far worse than NOLA!

And I believe East St Louis (on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River) is still worse!

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-27 19:55:16

And I’m right: East St. Louis has averaged 69.5 murders per 100,000 population in recent years.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 03:33:11

‘Chinese banks are increasingly drawing on Western ways of selling off bad loans, after four of the largest five lenders reported a spike in defaults in an economy stuttering at its slowest growth rate in 25 years.’

‘The lenders plan to expand the practice of selling bad loans bundled into financial products, to reduce the amount of unpaid debt on their books, according to banking insiders.’

‘The practice, though common in the West, was mostly unheard of in China just a year ago. Its uptake reflects a government policy of relaxing restrictions on financial markets to attract investment, as well as banks’ hunger for ways to deal with a worsening bad loan situation as profit growth flags.’

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 03:36:45

‘The UK property market has become a safe haven for corrupt capital stolen from around the world and estate agents should do more to investigate concerns. Hidden companies registered in offshore havens hold 36,342 London properties covering a total of 2.25 square miles, says campaigning organisation Transparency International (TI).’

‘Among TI’s recommendations are that estate agents’ anti-money laundering responsibility should be extended to include due diligence checks on the purchaser, not just the seller, including ensuring that the purchasing company has declared their beneficial owners and that appropriate checks have been carried out on those individuals.’

‘Out of 91,248 foreign company-owned properties in England and Wales, nearly two thirds are held via the British Virgin Islands and Channel Island structures.’

‘Three-quarters of properties whose owners are under investigation for corruption made use of offshore corporate secrecy to hide their identities, according to a new report from TI that analysed data from the Land Registry and Metropolitan Police Proceeds of Corruption Unit.’

‘Transparency International, described as the civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, says more than £180million worth of property in UK have been brought under criminal investigation as the suspected proceeds of corruption since 2004.’

‘This is believed to be only the tip of the iceberg of the scale of proceeds of corruption invested in UK property, says TI Research Manager, Nick Maxwell.’

“Luxurious properties in the UK provide a much-sought after badge of wealth and respectability, and represent a very safe bet for the corrupt from around the world. The high prices of the London housing market do not discourage money launderers; on the contrary, they represent an opportunity. The higher the prices, the more money can be laundered through it.”

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 03:39:14

‘House price falls in the capital’s more affluent central boroughs have started to spread across the rest of luxury London, after the upper eschelons of the housing market were hit by the Chancellor’s radical stamp duty reform.’

‘Property values in central London’s top five to ten percent of the housing market, by value, fell 4.3pc in the 12 months to March 2015, while prices dropped 2.6pc in the popular South West London, including areas such as Clapham and Wandsworth.’

‘Prices in all areas of luxury London, categorised as North West, South West, North and East of the City, fell in the first quarter of the year compared to the first three months of 2014, with luxury values to the east of the City seeing the biggest quarterly fall.’

‘Prices in London’s polarised housing market (albeit “normally-priced” homes or mansions) soared before and after the property crash of 2008 with luxury values now 34pc above the last peak.’

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 03:41:54

‘”Soon to rise” may be a familiar term to Filipino urbanites. And why wouldn’t it be with the building boom in the country — characterized by the construction of many residential condominiums.’

‘According to experts, there is an excess of roughly 77,000 units in the supply of residential condominiums by the end of last year.’

‘Megaworld Senior Vice President Jericho Go, however, argued that the oversupply is a marketing concern. “I think it’s really more a question of the reason why other developers have seen or have put themselves in a problematic situation is because maybe it’s not the right product, it did not address the right market, it’s not in the best location or it did not have a township or masterplan to begin with,” Go said.’

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 03:44:46

‘Debt-ridden young couple in Vancouver wants it all: Bigger house, kids, early retirement’

‘Jack and Marianne bought into Vancouver’s hothouse property market in 2010 and now have a 650-sq.-ft. condo with a currently assessed value of $387,000 financed with a $389,000 high-ratio mortgage which carries a 3.75% interest rate for 35 years. There’s also a $24,900 student loan with 5.35% interest.’

‘The debts cost them $1,667 for the mortgage and $391 for the student loan, total $2,058 a month. Married last year, debt is their entrée to life in a very expensive city.’

‘Both 31, they are secure in their jobs: Marianne is a chemical engineer with a large company that will provide her with a defined benefit pension; Jack is a consulting engineer for a company that does materials design for the construction industry. The employer does not provide him a company pension.’

‘Their goals: buy a move-up house in the $550,000 range, which they would design and build themselves, start a family of two or three children, then retire in their early 60s. For now, they bring home combined income of $9,522 a month.’

“We have stretched ourselves pretty thin,” Jack explains. “Our problem is to see the future.”

Comment by 2banana
2015-03-27 05:41:47

I see the (your) future.

It is full of stupid people and “victims”

 
Comment by snake charmer
2015-03-27 07:13:27

Yes, they’ve made questionable decisions, but they’ve also been heavily indoctrinated into believing that those goals are attainable. And I suppose they are, in a dystopian way. Jack and Marianne, may the odds be ever in your favor.

Vancouver prices have skyrocketed. How is it that they are underwater on a condo bought in 2010? Did their mortgage loan include closing costs? Do they have a HELOC?

Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2015-03-27 07:29:42

They could plow some of that take home against the principal and pay down a huge chunk in no time. They’re 2K underwater, that’s a fraction of 1 month take home pay.

Comment by HBB_Rocks
2015-03-27 09:32:17

The article says they save $2085 (assuming cash or something) and $300 a month in RRSP (separate categories) in the Monthly Spending Snapshot but have only $1300 in cash and $21,330 in RRSPs in total under the Assets section.

Nice job with the math journalist.

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-03-27 09:48:48

She’s a chemical engineer and a $1600 monthly payment is “stretching it”? Oh, and he also works. Heck, it’s costs $1600 a month to rent a nice apartment in flyover Broomfield.

I think there is more to this story.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:05:39

‘Single-family homes in Flagstaff continued to soar in price, with the median price compared to a year ago rising more than 20 percent for the second month in a row.’

‘According to the Northern Arizona Multiple Listing Service, the median price of a detached, single-family Flagstaff home sold in February was $334,000. In February 2014, homes were selling at a median price of $272,000. The increase is 23 percent, comparable to the 20 percent rise last month, when the median sales price was also $334,000.’

‘The price is only $33,000 below the peak median February price of $367,000 in 2007 before the local real estate bubble burst.’

“We have a seriously supply problem,” he wrote. “If you are just now entering the market looking to purchase a (three) bedroom, (two) bath house with a two car garage, within the Flagstaff city limits for under $334K, there are only 10 properties in our (multiple listing service) that are available for immediate occupancy.”

‘Because of the dip in sales, the number of homes priced at or below $334,000 on the market has increased from a 3.5-month supply in January to a four-month supply and there is now a 10-month supply of houses priced above $334,000.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:09:42

‘A recent study ranked Flagstaff as having the lowest private-sector wages in the nation when adjusted for cost of living. As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, a low-paying tourism economy and costly real estate contribute to the ranking.’

‘The average hourly wage in Flagstaff was just under $17 in 2014. But when cost-of-living expenses, including housing prices, were factored in, earnings dropped to $14.31 — about $8 below the national adjusted average. The data from the Labor Department and the Council for Community and Economic Research was compiled by Governing magazine.’

‘Richard Bowen is the president of the Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona. He says Flagstaff’s especially large number of tourism-oriented jobs skews the overall picture of earnings in the city.’

“If you took half of those jobs, those low-wage hospitality jobs, out of the equation then our average wage would approach more the national average. So the numbers don’t really paint the whole picture for the region,” Bowen says.’

Comment by Dman
2015-03-27 06:47:41

What’s the deal with Flagstaff? It was pretty hard hit after the bubble, and now it’s bubbling again? Are the houses being bought by outsiders?

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 06:55:14

There’s not much activity for one. But there are thousands of new houses on the way. Apartments have come online with more on the way. The biggest reason prices are high?

http://www.fhahandbook.com/limits/arizona.php

FLAGSTAFF, AZ One-Family $362,250

What do you know, the prices run right up to the loan cap.

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Comment by Dman
2015-03-27 08:48:00

Where are they putting all those new houses? The town is pretty hemmed in as it is. Or is starting to sprawl into adjacent valleys?

 
 
Comment by Richard Warm Onger
2015-03-27 07:50:08

A realtor told me this week that interest rates are rising and this is what is causing housing prices to tick up.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-27 15:36:33

Realtors aren’t too bright.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:13:51

‘With the housing market in the grip of a prolonged slowdown and no signs of its immediate revival, many small developers in the city are abandoning projects fearing further loss.’

‘A developer had obtained permission from Bhubaneswar Development Authority ( BDA) for two duplex projects, one near the Pipili-Konark bypass and another near Jatni through sharing agreement (in which a developer signs a deal with the land owner to provide a fixed share of the housing project).’

‘The group had obtained BDA’s permission in 2012 and had three years till 2015 to complete the construction. “We had invested a few lakhs for preliminary development of the land. But after poor response, we cancelled the agreement with the land owner and returned the land to him,” said Srikant Rout, a promoter of the real estate firm.’

‘Market insiders said this pattern of developers forsaking projects was not an isolated case in the city. “It is a general go-slow approach for all as the market is almost stagnant. However, we are still optimistic. Generally speaking, developers are trying to complete under-construction projects instead of starting new ones,” said Umesh Patnaik, president of the Association for Odisha Real Estate Developers (AFORD).’

‘Observing that there was no immediate sign of market revival, Real Estate Developers’ Association of Odisha (Reda) president Pradipta Biswasroy said that despite the continued recessionary trends, the market for low-cost housing remains robust.’

“The problem is that most of the houses were created targeting the high-income groups where the profit margin is higher. But I think if we concentrate on houses for lower middle classes, the market will improve. The profit margin may be less but there is easy flow of funds from banks and there are buyers in these segments,” he said.’

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:16:51

‘Appreciation in the Springs doesn’t compare to what’s happening elsewhere along the Front Range. In November, for instance, real estate education company FortuneBuilders reported that over the last year, homes in Denver had appreciated 10.4 percent, more than twice the national average. Schleiker notes that other Front Range cities are also seeing high prices for commercial real estate. But both Schleiker and Salzman say that the boom in nearby cities may not be sustainable.’

“You always have that so-called real estate bubble,” Schleiker says. “That’s one thing the up-north assessors are wary of — that real estate bubble bursting.”

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:21:37

‘Real estate sales in the Wood River Valley appear to be trending higher. Kyle Kunz, owner of Sun Valley Appraisal, which tracks the median sales prices up and down the Wood River Valley, said that from 2008 to 2012, there were major reductions, especially in the south valley. Since last summer, he said, the valley has been on a stable to slightly increasing progression of market values, depending on the neighborhood.’

‘Home foreclosure activity spiked when the housing market crashed, and it remained high in the years following. But starting a couple of years ago, foreclosure filings began to decline. That’s another welcome sign of normalization within the real estate market say the experts, and for the broader economy as well.’

“In 2013 in Hailey, for example, the median sale price jumped from $149,000 to $194,000,” Kunz said. “People were taking advantage of those short sales and foreclosures. There was a lot of inventory at low pricing.”

‘He said that today, the median home price in Hailey is $319,000.’

“Mid valley is doing very well,” he said. “Back in 2010 and 2011, there was nothing going on, but now we’re seeing a resurgence. “The median sale price has jumped from $608,000 to $849,000.”

‘Gayle Stevenson of Sun Valley Sotheby’s International Realty, a 30-year real estate veteran said there’s been a positive impact from increased air access. “I’ve been dealing with buyers from California, Washington, Utah, Texas and even internationally,” she said.’

‘Kim Shelley, assistant vice president loan officer of D.L. Evans Bank, said sales have been helped by low interest rates. “We have a lot of our customers building new homes, purchasing new homes and refinancing—we are lending,” she said.’

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:26:26

‘New data suggests homeowners in New Mexico are still sinking, though home values are slowly improving. According to a recent study from Zillow, the number of people who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth is stalled or even worsening in some cities nationwide.’

‘Longtime Albuquerque real estate agent Cheryl Marlow discussed the nature of the housing market in New Mexico. “The challenge is we’ve never gone back to normal,” Marlow said of the housing boom leading up to the recession. “This is the new normal.”

‘That new normal seems rather depressing in New Mexico neighborhoods where, according to the Zillow research, New Mexicans were underwater 23 percent statewide and 25 percent in the Albuquerque metro at the end of 2014.’

‘According to her research, largely generated from data compiled by the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors, roughly 22 percent of home sales were bank-controlled in 2014. That’s down from 30 percent in 2012.’

‘Marlow said 14 to 15 percent of listed homes in the Albuquerque market are sold every month. That differs from Las Vegas and Phoenix, which were among the hardest-hit cities during the recession, where 30 to 35 percent of listed homes are now selling monthly.’

“The difference? Economic growth,” Marlow said. “We just simply don’t have that here in New Mexico. Economic growth is driving the recovery in Phoenix and in Las Vegas.”

‘So, even though Albuquerque home sellers are doing as much as they can to generate the most money on their investment, they may have to wait a bit longer.’

Comment by Overbanked
2015-03-27 06:24:38

Better call Saul.

 
Comment by snake charmer
2015-03-27 07:16:42

But that economic growth is … tied to real estate and construction. We never really tried to divorce ourselves from that kind of circular logic after 2008. It’s too hard.

 
Comment by Richard Warm Onger
2015-03-27 07:51:36

I forget, that Tower of Babel project to build it up to heaven, that worked right?

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:28:39

‘Las Vegas’ once-huge rate of underwater homeowners keeps improving, but as price-growth slows, the flow of borrowers escaping upside-down status has slowed with it. An estimated 26.4 percent of Southern Nevada homeowners with mortgages were underwater in the fourth quarter last year.’

‘Despite the continued drop, Las Vegas’ rate of upside-down homeowners was third-highest among the metro areas listed in today’s report, behind Virginia Beach, Va., at 28.3 percent and Jacksonville, Fla., at 27 percent. Nationally, 16.9 percent of homeowners were underwater.’

‘Overall, these high rates “have become the new normal,” Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said. “We’ve long been expecting the negative equity rate to fall more slowly as home value growth also slows, and unfortunately that’s exactly what we’re seeing,” Humphries said.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:31:49

‘Svenja Gudell, senior director of economic research with Zillow, said double digit rates “well might be” the normal for sometime in Las Vegas. “Normally, you would see negative equity rates around 4 percent to 5 percent in a healthy market,” Gudell said. “Nationally, we are at 17 percent. I see us sticking around these double digit numbers for quite sometime, and that will certainly have an impact on the marketplace.”

‘Zillow said 88,037 Las Vegas-area homeowners were underwater at the close of 2014, with a combined negative equity of $7.56 billion.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:38:13

‘Nearly one in three Miami-Dade County homes with a mortgage are “underwater,” meaning that the balance of the mortgage is greater than the price the property would fetch on the open market, according to a new report.’

‘More than 27 percent of Miami-Dade homes — about 122,950 properties — were underwater in the fourth quarter of last year, CoreLogic found.’

‘At the state level, 23.2 percent of homes in Florida are underwater, according to CoreLogic. Only Nevada (24.2 percent) had a greater share of homes in negative equity.’

“Negative equity continued to be a serious issue for the housing market and the U.S. economy at the end of 2014 with 5.4 million homeowners still ‘underwater,’” Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic, said.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:40:30

‘While New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman pushes again for approval of what is called the “Zombie Law,” some municipalities aren’t waiting. Syracuse and Auburn have already approved their own version of laws that encourage maintenance of vacated properties, and now Medina is considering a similar law.’

‘Abandoned properties adversely affect neighborhoods and the quality of life of those who live near them. Municipalities may have laws requiring basic maintenance, but then have trouble finding responsible parties. Ownership can be hard to track when banks sell mortgages to other banks or institutions.’

‘Statewide, there were an estimated 16,700 “zombie” foreclosures last year, up some 50 percent from the previous year. The problem is thought to have emerged with the 2007 housing crisis. New York State law stretches out the foreclosure process to protect people from unfairly losing their homes, but the unintended consequence is that once people leave those homes, no one is taking responsibility for maintaining them.’

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Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-03-27 06:07:53

“New York State law stretches out the foreclosure process to protect people from unfairly losing their homes …”

Bahahahaha … “protect people from unfairly losing their homes”.

Bahahahaha … it’s the BANKS that are being protected: The people living in these homes are being used by the banks to protect the bank’s assets.

“… but the unintended consequence is that once people leave those homes, no one is taking responsibility for maintaining them.’”

And THERE it is.

Bahahahahahaha .. a nation off dummys.

Dumb ‘em down, and profit.

 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-03-27 06:43:53

It truly is a marvel to witness the psychological effect of using the term “homeowner” in place of the much more accurate term “homebuyer” when describing the plight of these dumb asses.

“Homeowner” implies - deeply implies - that the home buyer is truly the owner of the home and thus will do what he needs to do to protect his home just as he would do what he needs to do to protect everything else that he owns.

Except - and this is the fun part - he doesn’t actually own the home he is protecting. No, it’s the LENDER who is the one who owns the home. And it’s the lender who benefits from all this protection - and he doesn’t have to pay for it.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:34:32

‘Long dormant downtown Fort Myers high-rise condo project The Vue is back – a scaled-down version presented to the city council by businessman Steve Israel.’

‘Throgmartin Riverfront Corp. was the original developer of The Vue, but the venture collapsed in 2007 as the downtown condo market imploded and neighbors raised objections to the proposed 27-story skyscraper’s sheer bulk and its sun-blocking proximity to Centennial Park.’

‘Although Throgmartin won the right to build The Vue in a lengthy court battle with the city, the company lost the land in 2011 in an $18.2 million foreclosure by US Bank National Association, which financed the project.’

‘Israel said he might have to wait for years for the condo market to come back so he can build the condo and the adjacent 50-slip marina he also plans on the river. “When it will happen, I have no idea,” he said. “I’m not in a rush.”

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:56:21

‘Amid the hoopla of February’s apparent jump in new-home sales, another trend is becoming clearer: increases in new-home prices are steadily slowing. Consider that the year-over-year percentage gain in new-home prices, as a 12-month moving average, has plateaued at roughly 7% since last fall after peaking at more than 10% for much of 2013, Commerce Department data shows.’

‘From another perspective, the median price for a newly built home in February of $275,500 marks the third consecutive month in which prices have declined since hitting an all-time high of $302,700 last November.’

‘What does such a slowdown in new-home price increases mean? It primarily means two things: Home builders appear to have exhausted buyers’ tolerance for big price increases, and builders are constructing a greater number of less-pricey homes.’

‘Other data show a similar trajectory for prices of both resales and new homes. For example, Lennar Corp., a top-three U.S. builder by closings, reported last week that the $326,000 average price on its finalized home sales in its quarter ended Feb. 28 marked a 3.2% increase from a year earlier. That’s a big slowdown from the previous year, early 2013 to early 2014, when Lennar’s average price jumped 17.5%.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 04:59:06

‘Lennar Corp., the second-largest U.S. homebuilder, is raising its bet on rental housing as the pace of sales continues to drag. Lennar opened its first community of single-family rental homes this month in Sparks, Nevada, and has a construction pipeline of 20,000 apartments exceeding $5.5 billion, the Miami-based company said.’

“We’ve seen and continue to see outsized improvement in the rental market in terms of low vacancies and higher rental rates,” Chief Executive Officer Stuart Miller said on Lennar’s earnings conference call Thursday. “The inability of the American family to access the mortgage market” is forcing many families to consider renting single-family homes because they aren’t able to buy.

‘Single-family home starts plunged 15 percent in February from the previous month to an annual pace of 593,000 as bad weather slowed development, the Commerce Department reported this week. The average since 1995 has been 1.04 million.’

‘Institutional investors have purchased more than 528,000 single-family rental homes for $68 billion since 2011, creating a new asset class in what has been a mom-and-pop industry, according to a report this month by Haendel St. Juste, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Most of the houses bought by landlords such as Blackstone Group LP’s Invitation Homes, with 47,000 rentals, and American Homes 4 Rent, with 35,000, have been foreclosures, which cost less than the new houses Lennar is offering.’

‘Lennar’s apartment division reported a $5.7 million loss for the quarter. The company expects the division to turn a profit by the end of this fiscal year by selling about five of the communities now under construction.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 05:04:11

‘Possible first-time homebuyers have been staying home instead — in their rented apartments — and not buying houses that could be in their price range. And that socio-economic phenomenon has been rippling through the rest of the housing market and holding back its recovery from the 2008 recession, a pair of economists told a room full of home builders in Atlantic City.’

‘Kevin Gillen, of Meyers Research, led off with that bit of bad news in a speech to the annual Atlantic Builders Convention at the Atlantic City Convention Center. And young people choosing to rent, not buy, has a long list of implications for the housing industry, said Gillen, the chief economist of a California company whose specialty is analyzing residential real estate.’

‘First-time buyers are “nearly AWOL from the housing market,” Gillen said, adding later that those non-starter buyers of starter homes are the missing “domino” in a full recovery. They have done everything from skewing home-price statistics upward — by holding down the number of low-priced sales — to making rental prices “artificially high,” he said.’

“Low-priced homes constitute less than 10 percent of all home sales,” said Gillen.’

‘Jeffrey Otteau, the president of the Otteau Valuation Group in East Brunswick, warned about leaving young people out of the housing market — they’re “fleeing the suburbs,” he said.’

“We’re not building two- or three-bedroom houses on 80-foot lots for $300,000 or less,” Otteau said. “And if you chase out the 30-year olds, you chase out the employers next — because that’s the talent pool they recruit from.”

‘Young people are moving to cities because they like the urban life — and because they came of age along with that 2008 housing crash, and many are “risk-averse” to investing in real estate, Gillen said.’

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 05:10:48

‘Widespread redundancies in the mining and oil and gas sectors are starting to hit home in the resource-rich region of Western Australia’s Pilbara. Hundreds of jobs are being slashed across the industry, in the wake of falling commodity prices.’

‘Mayor of Karratha Peter Long said he had noticed a sombre mood among residents. Mr Long said it was no longer just construction workers being made redundant as projects move into the production phase, which had been expected, but operations staff as well.’

“There are some friends of mine that have been here for a long time, 20 years plus, and they probably thought they were quite safe, and they have been made redundant,” he said. “I think even in the shopping centre you can tell people are just down in the dumps.”

‘Mr Long said he thought the predominantly Rio Tinto town of Wickham would be hardest hit. “I don’t know how many are going in Wickham, Rio has just expanded Wickham, they built 200 new houses there and they have also been increasing their production,” he said. “I do expect though, there will be significant losses in Wickham because Wickham is the main Rio Tinto town now.”

Comment by Dman
2015-03-27 06:55:34

“There are some friends of mine that have been here for a long time, 20 years plus, and they probably thought they were quite safe, and they have been made redundant,” he said.

I never heard that phrase before. I guess you don’t want an Aussie boss calling you redundant.

Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-03-27 08:21:10

British Empire term for “layoff”

Redundant = Employment “in excess of that which is necessary”

Layoff = Kicked to the curb, “because we can”

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 05:14:34

‘On a street lined with triple-deckers near Dorchester’s Ronan Park, a crowd of about 40 people gathered last week outside Maria Baptista’s house as the sun set to stage a protest against the foreclosure of her home and her ongoing eviction process.’

‘The rally was both a sign of solidarity for their friend and an outcry against what the group sees as a broader crisis of residential displacement in Boston’s working-class neighborhoods that’s fueled by a mix of factors, including foreclosures, the erosion of rent control, and the proliferation of large, higher-end developments that contribute to rent increases outpacing wage gains for many workers.’

‘The crowd chanted “Fannie Mae, you’re no good, get them out of our neighborhood!”

‘State Rep. Evandro Carvalho, who grew up in the area and lives just a few blocks away from Baptista, came to the vigil to show his support and speak to the broader issue of rising housing costs. “My mother couldn’t afford a home in Dorchester anymore,” he said. “She had to buy a home in Brockton. Not that there’s anything wrong with Brockton, but she would have liked to stay in her home.”

 
Comment by Get Stucco
2015-03-27 05:21:53

‘Our whole thing is that we need that equity so we can put equity towards a new house. The home values would have to skyrocket in the next 12 months for us to be able to put our house up for sale,’ said McAnerney. ‘All you can do is plug along and pay your monthly mortgage payment.’

Heather got stucco.

Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-03-27 08:22:28

A lot of that going around lately.

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-03-27 05:23:02

“… people working for the government cannot have a negative impact on their credit, they cannot have a short sale or a foreclosure, therefore they rent their house at a loss in order to protect their credit rating.”

That’s interesting and perhaps it explain something:

GEICO (the insurance company) stands for Government Employees Insurance Company and it did well because apparently government employees have fewer accidents. But maybe they don’t really have fewer accidents but instead they REPORT fewer accidents.

If reporting an accident will hose a government employee in the same way a bad credit rating rill hose a government employee then there is a great incentive not to report accidents, which will translate into being a win for GEICO.

Are there any government employees on the board that would like to comment on this supposition?

Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2015-03-27 08:06:17

GEICO is for insuring private people’s cars, so I don’t really see it. Maybe there is an arm for commercial vehicle fleets? It probably depends on the employer and employee regarding accidents and job termination.

It’s probably an earlier version of USAA. Like credit unions, for expansion, they start to let more and more people in.

 
Comment by Neuromance
2015-03-27 16:24:41

Also realize that Maryland, DC and Virginia are recourse states.

WaPo Reference: “In many localities — including Virginia, Maryland and the District — lenders have the right to pursue borrowers whose homes have sold at a loss to collect the difference between what the property sold for and what the borrower owed on it, also called a deficiency.”

Balto Sun reference: “Indeed, in Maryland and the majority of states, walking away is no guarantee that mortgage debt won’t come back to haunt you. These are so-called recourse states, where a lender can pursue you for any shortfall after it sells the house. So if you walk away from a $350,000 mortgage and the lender turns around and sells the house for $250,000, you can still be on the hook for $100,000.”

IRS: Recourse vs Non-recourse debt: “In general, recourse debt (loans) allows lenders to collect what is owed for the debt even after they’ve taken collateral (home, credit cards). Lenders have the right to garnish wages or levy accounts in order to collect what is owed. A nonrecourse debt (loan) does not allow the lender to pursue anything other than the collateral”

 
 
Comment by Get Stucco
2015-03-27 05:28:58

“Don’t be fooled by the euphoria of a boom built on a mountain of malinvestments. The problem in 2008 was too much debt, so the solution according to the geniuses in the Eccles Building is to lower interest rates to boost demand to induce households and governments to borrow even more.”

Is the hair-of-the-dog hangover cure losing credence as a monetary policy measure?

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 05:33:36

‘Banks are easing loan qualification guidelines, making it more likely buyers will be approved. According to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve, more than two-thirds of loan applications for “prime” home loans were approved in December of last year. That is the highest level recorded by the agency since 2011. Lenders reserve their best loan programs for this group of consumers.’

‘And this easing is not only for the most highly qualified. Banks are reducing credit score requirements and lessening hurdles for FHA, VA and USDA home loan programs.’

‘This is important because FHA loans offer a low 3.5 percent down payment, making this program especially attractive to first-time buyers. It is these entry-level buyers which fuel resales and drive the housing market.’

‘As a little icing on the cake, FHA recently lowered its mortgage insurance premiums (often called PMI) for all 30-year programs, making these popular loans even more affordable for buyers without large cash down payments.’

‘Private equity firms are entering the market offering long-term mortgages to affluent investors who want to buy real estate for rental purposes. And unlike Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both of which set arbitrary limits on the number of loans an investor may have, these private equity firms carry no such restrictions.’

‘These loans are currently aimed at fairly high-level investors, with applicants seeking a minimum of $500,000 per loan. But if these firms experience success, I guarantee that banks and government-sponsored enterprises (FNMA, for example) will open the spigot for smaller borrowers.’

‘The bottom line here is clear: The long-awaited housing recovery has been starved for liquidity for several years. I, for one, am hoping that these early signs of “easing” will signal the beginning of the end for this housing nightmare.’

Comment by 2banana
2015-03-27 05:44:58

What could go wrong?

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 05:37:48

‘In Fresno, households at that lower-end 20th percentile had an annual income of less than $16,000 in 2013. On the upper tier, household incomes at the 95th percentile were 9.6 times greater, at more than $152,000. In 2007, high-end household incomes in Fresno were about 8.8 times higher than the 20th percentile, signaling slightly greater income inequality now than when the recession began.’

“What we’re seeing is a rapid recovery at the top coming out of the recession, where wealthy households got hit hard yet are climbing their way back steadily,” said Berube, deputy director of Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program and a former policy adviser to the U.S. Treasury Department. “But those at the bottom got whacked, too, and they were stuck in the first few years of the recovery.”

‘The gap expanded in Fresno even as incomes deteriorated among upper-echelon households, defying a national trend identified in the Brookings report. “Most high-income households in cities have recovered the ground they lost during the recession,” the report states. But in Fresno, household income at that top 5% mark fell by almost $17,000 since 2007, after accounting for inflation. Only four cities reported bigger six-year drops in top-end income: Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Phoenix.’

“That was a surprise,” Berube said. “From all indications, Fresno is having a pretty decent recovery in the housing market, which tends to drive a lot of the rest of the economy.”

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 06:02:29

‘In some areas, one could argue we’re deep into bubble territory. Just look at the Biotech iShares (IBB) exchange-traded fund, an area of white-hot interest for the risk-takers. The ETF is up more than 531 percent from its financial crisis lows and is up nearly 44 percent from its last significant pullback in October. Compare that to S&P 500’s 214 percent and 15 percent gains over the same periods.’

‘As a result, the price-to-earnings ratio for biotech stocks, as a group, has swelled to 50x compared to the S&P 500’s current valuation of 17x (which itself is at levels not seen since 2004). Moreover, nearly 75 percent of biotechs in the Nasdaq Biotech Index have no earnings at all and just five companies — Gilead (GILD), Amgen (AMGN), Shire (SHPG) and Celgene (CELG) — are responsible for 83 percent of the $31 billion in annual earnings that are made.’

‘Putting it all together, only 41 companies in the biotech index are profitable, which means the other 73 percent are losing money. It also means investors are piling into companies that aren’t profitable at extreme valuations.’

‘Much of the progress in the other indexes, such as the Nasdaq Composite, has been driven by biotech and other frothy areas. The Nasdaq includes some 270 biotech stocks.’

‘Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen was concerned enough about the situation last summer to specifically call out biotech stocks as an area where valuation metrics appeared stretched. Metrics in “some sectors” were again noted as stretched in her testimony to Congress in February.’

‘But when asked about biotechs as well as social media stocks during last week’s post-meeting press conference, Yellen deferred, saying she didn’t “want to comment on those particular sectors.” Maybe she’s frustrated that her prior warnings were ignored. Maybe she’s nervous about pricking a price bubble. Or maybe she just realized that it wasn’t appropriate for monetary policy officials to be giving such specific commentary about the stock market.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 06:07:41

‘It’s all about hitting the bull’s-eye – or in Japan’s case – not. Yutaka Harada, the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) newest board member, admitted at his inaugural press conference today that the 2% inflation goal the BOJ set in a two year time frame would be difficult if not impossible to achieve.’

‘Japan isn’t the only one in danger of missing its inflation target. Europe faces growing deflation and the U.K. has hit zero inflation for the first time. The Fed similarly faces low wage and price inflation, yet is soon declare “mission accomplished” on stimulus as they raise rates. Don’t tell this to property markets or REIT investors around the world, whose market values are surging.’

‘“Average prices for bonds secured by assets ranging from Dutch mortgages to Spanish small business loans is at 98.2 on the Euro, near the highest since October 2007, according to data compiled by Barclays. They were quoted as low as 74.3 cents in May 2009, the data show”, Bloomberg said.’

‘Consequently yields on the senior tranches, which are floating rate have collapsed to nearly zero. While much of the emphasis on the first round of purchases is that it “frees up bank balance sheets”, the more important long term effect not discussed is that a buyer of senior risk near zero yield significantly improves the return on equity on banks new lending after it’s securitised.’

‘The hope is that by incentivizing securitisation in this manner, this will spur new lending and issuance in the moribund European ABS market. The ECB is targeting an important aspect of the price and transmission of credit in Europe that had all but collapsed.’

‘The efficacy of property targeting by central banks has not escaped the notice of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). China’s premier, Li Keqiang…highlighted housing, listing it as “the top category in the government’s plan to encourage consumption.” The PBOC is focusing on reducing regulations, bank ratio requirements, and reducing rates among other measures to bolster the property market and boost domestic demand. As we have commented before, given the reticence for China to devalue its currency as it looks to join the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights basket this year, the need for greater internal stimulus for domestic growth via a targeted QE on the property sector is a priority.’

‘In every market the result has been and will be the same. Bank’s balance sheets are shored up, investors take over the property sector as affordability is driven further from wage earner’s reach. The great wedge between capital markets and housing as an item of personal consumption looks set to grow yet larger around the world as central banks push back their broader economic targets and focus on the one item they’ve proven they can succeed in inflating, namely property prices.’

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 06:11:39

‘If you’re wondering what Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said about interest rates the other day you’re not alone. Is she saying the Fed will move to raise interest rates by June or is she saying the Fed will hold off?’

‘Yellen is simply following in the footsteps of past Fed leaders. As Alan Greenspan once explained, “I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you’ve probably misunderstood what I’ve said.”

‘Yellen has to be vague to the point of incoherence for a very simple reason: If she says something definitive then regardless of what choice the Fed makes huge numbers of people will get hurt. If she makes indefinite and unclear statements and the Fed keeps doing what it’s been doing, then at least we have some sense of stability.’

‘The catch is that stability is not necessarily a good option. For millions of Americans the economy is not “stable,” it’s contracting — between 2000 and 2013 the middle class shrank in every state, according to Pew research. At the same time inflation continues to eat away at buying power. The result is a financial double-whammy which makes talk of “recovery” questionable in many households.’

‘The federal government currently carries debt worth $18.1 trillion. If the Fed raises interest rates then the cost of government will increase substantially — for instance, 1 percent of $18.1 trillion is $181 billion in new federal costs. Where does the federal government get additional revenue to fund this new cost or does it simply let the debt increase? What about state and local governments which also have debts to finance?’

‘In 2014, members of the S&P 500 spent $564.7 billion to repurchase their own shares according to FactSet. That’s more than half-a-trillion dollars which was not used to construct new factories, further research or create new jobs inside our borders.’

‘In a sense it can be argued that the low interest rates pushed by the Fed have encouraged corporate buybacks funded with cheap borrowing. If rates were higher perhaps companies would have more incentive to expand, add jobs and reduce unemployment levels, one of the Fed’s stated goals.’

“The housing recovery is faltering,” observed David M. Blitzer in February. Blitzer — the managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices — said “while prices and sales of existing homes are close to normal, construction and new home sales remain weak. Before the current business cycle, any time housing starts were at their current level of about one million at annual rates, the economy was in a recession. The softness in housing is despite favorable conditions elsewhere in the economy: strong job growth, a declining unemployment rate, continued low interest rates and positive consumer confidence.”

‘The real question raised by Blitzer is this: If home sales aren’t booming with mortgage rates below 4 percent then what will happen with higher mortgage costs?’

Comment by Richard Warm Onger
2015-03-27 08:00:48

A realtor told me this week that house prices were rising because interest rates were going up.

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Comment by snake charmer
2015-03-27 07:25:58

How many times has China trotted out some measures to cool off housing, only to back down almost immediately? Too many to count. So the Jenga tower grows ever taller, at the expense of the stability that a solid foundation provides. China’s leaders, who are atop that shaky tower, must be nervous.

 
 
 
Comment by snake charmer
2015-03-27 07:30:44

“Asked why developers keep going even as building exceeds demand, Jonathan Sigler, co-president of Prével, compared real estate to a cruise ship, in that it is slow moving, and takes time to get plans and permits in place, and then actually build.”
_______________________________/

A cruise ship? This sounds like “The Poseidon Adventure.”

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-27 16:16:10

Redmond, WA List Prices Crash 12% YoY; Prices Turn Negative On West Coast

http://www.zillow.com/redmond-wa-98052/home-values/

Comment by confused Redmond resident
2015-03-27 20:36:59

Redmond is close to where I live. prices aren’t down 12% yoy. Like the zillow link says, the market is “red hot”….inventory is at 10+ year lows. Prices stable at best, under pressure to rise further. *sigh*

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-27 21:20:28

Go to the 98052 Market Overview. Click on the drop down list for median list price. While you are there, check out the median sale price. Zillow defaults don’t let you link directly to this data.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2015-03-28 04:57:18

As usual, HA likes to look for the data that fits his position, which is why he seeks out individual zip codes and doesn’t look at broader markets.

But he also likes to ignore the level of inventory. The lower the inventory, the more likely it is that he can find the statistics that he likes–there is more variability in median calculations if the sample size is low. And low inventory markets are most likely those where there isn’t much in the way of weakness.

So, frequently he’ll throw out these ridiculous stats in markets where the locals have a completely different view of the market.

He found a zip code in SF with similar metrics–

In the zip code he picked out, there are 113 homes listed for sale today, and over the past 6 months, 470 homes sold. This is about 1.5 months of inventory.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-28 07:30:28

Rental_Fraud,

You backpedal on entire an entire state experiencing falling prices, you backpedal on local areas experiencing falling prices.

Backpedal some more.

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Comment by Jingle Male
2015-03-28 14:40:04

HA! Halarious….

The median home value in 98052 is $545,700. 98052 home values have gone up 8.2% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 6.2% within the next year.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-28 18:09:35

Jingle_Frrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaud

 
 
 
 
 
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