Carl leason

Top 10 U.S. Housing Markets Expected to Drop Composite 8% in 2008

I know that the graphs and sales downturn are for real, but my real question is what are the Banks and Mortgage originators going to be do forced to do to prevent this kind of BS in the future ? Undocumented mortgages,...what kind of insanity is that ? Let those bastards take the heat and the blame and the consequences ! This housing fiasco was caused by lenders and the Fed. MUST take a really drastic bunch of steps to prevent this from
happening in the future,...Placing the clamps on those jerks (lenders ) really tight is just a first requirement ! Then allowing those lenders to repackage and sell those junk portfolios to pension funds is simply criminal.LC

Homebuilders, Real Estate Sectors Weakest Following Fed Move

All you need to know is on charts,...compare XLE, HES and XOM.
If that doesn't answer your questions, nothing will.
Energy stocks are all doing well as is SLB (Schlumberger ),..also take a look at FSLR ( First Solar ) solar energy company,..all energy sectors are on an upswing. !
You can track them all on the Free "MarketBrouser". Check it out !
Almost everything else is in the pits ! But the demand for energy is ever increasing, keep in mind that every stock or fund has it's ups and downs but look at even the last 2 years at those mentioned above,..if you invested in any of those funds or stocks, you would have made a fortune and there isn't going to be any let up in demand , ever !LC

Homes No Longer Affordable To the Average American

Many , many thanks,....Right on target. !

Housing Prices To Return All the Way To Pre-Bubble Levels?

Mikey,...Whoever said that single family home prices rose an average of .5 pct. during the 2 decades, 1975-1995 is absolutely nuts. During the late 70's and early 80's home prices were going up like crazy !
Especially, if you purchased income property, at that time, the IRS rules said that 40 pct. of the capital ganes were forgiven and one only had to pay cap. gains on the remaining 60 pct.
I for one was buying small apartment buildings 6-10 units , holding them for a year and a day and reselling for a big profit ! One place I purchased was a small mobile home park for $300,000. and sold a year later for $475,000. That was from Jan. 1980 to Jan. 1981 !
I think that's a bit more than .5 pct. return any way you want to
figure it and at time, those kinds of returns were common. Things fell apart to a large extent during the Reagan / Herb Volker ( Fed.chief ) years during which time interest rates were about 17-18 pct. for home loans, but by the end of Reagan/Volker terms, interest rates fell below 10 pct and increases in sales and values restarted !
Can't believe everything you read,..I don't care who makes the comments. I only deal in facts ! LC

Housing Prices To Return All the Way To Pre-Bubble Levels?

Home prices dropping by 25 pct. I don't think so !!!!
All the really bad news I read on home prices seem to forget that
the US dollar is in a "free fall" and the dollar as compared to the Euro and the Canadian dollar indicates that the weak US dollar means that it's bargain time for Canadians and Europeans ! I fully expect that housing prices will continue to fall moderately during the next year or so, but I have been selling R.E. for 25+ years and
have seen the interest pick up even now by Canadians and Europeans. In addition, China is holding so many greenbacks that they could buy just about the whole inventory of homes for sale and still have a surplus !
In essence, a weak dollar will prop up US home prices simply because they are already priced cheaper than Canadian home prices and many places in Europe.
My big hope is that the new Fed. Chief won't do anything to screw up the economy any more than it is. Another worry is that congress doesn't seem to have the guts to stop Bush from asking for sums of money like the recent request for "another 50 Billion",..like it was nothing but pocket change. ! Whats wrong with these people. ??
Just run the presses and print more bucks, seems to be the Feds. response ! Bush makes statements like he is getting ready to wind down the war, but in the meantime is putting the finishing touches on the worlds largest embassy in the heart of Bahgdad !
What we really have is government gone nuts ! LC

U.S. Housing Numbers: Bad and Worsening

Tesh, for most people a house is a home, but realistically , many investors see houses as "Investments", and are looking for a higher selling price real fast, or at least rental income that will pay for the mortgage and expenses and hopefully go up in price over the long term. But on the other hand, You are absolutely correct in that people started gambling with homes / condos with complete disregard for return on investment. To make it real simple,...if one can place their money in a Bank savings account at 5 pct. then if they take that money and invest it in a million dollar high rise, ...is it going to give them at least that 5 pct. return on investment ? If real investigation of the market says that it ain't going to happen,..then leave your money in the bank ! It's truly that simple ! LC

U.S. Housing Numbers: Bad and Worsening

Your article is already all too familiar, but ...the one thing that no one seems to want to say is that those metro areas that are experiencing the worst drop in prices are cities with demographics that scream,.."High Crime area",...A great example is that Tampa, Fl has home prices dropping by 7.7 pct. while across Tampa Bay, in Palm Harbor and Clearwater, Countryside, prices are down perhaps 1-2 pct. but nothing like Tampa's drop in prices. Same holds true for San Diego, which is wonderful when it comes to climate but has a super high high crime rate,..as does Detroit, ( most murders in the U S ), Wash. D.C. etc.
The real facts are that no one wants to live in a high crime area, and those cities that have it are suffering for it ! Most cities had a real spike in home prices driven insanely high by investors who didn't "Do the math", and now they are simply coming back to realistic levels. For investors, they have to start figuring the return on investment, if they don't,...they will always get burned. But buying a million dollar high rise water front condo is a sure fire way for an investor to loose a huge amount of money real fast. The income just cannot support the mortgage and expenses. Most of the investors are of a "Herd" mentality, "if John did it, then I'll do it too !" and both got burned !I have been an active Realtor in Fl for
26 years and could easily see this coming, but investors can't seem to see past their nose. LC

Getting the Real Estate Crisis Right

Christian,...You are the first in a long time to really get it right !!! I see so much BS about the housing market that it's mind boggeling ! But You have it right on all points ! Makes me wonder what the other "experts" have been reading. All the talk about "corrections" and median prices as compared to incomes is simply analyzing and not looking at facts ! I have been in the R.E. Business for over 25 years and you wouldn't believe how many times I have been asked by people to "get them out of a contract" that they signed and put down a good deposit ! I keep telling investors to "Do the math".
but it seems that most Investors have a Herd mentality,...follow the friends actions , even if it's a dumb idea ! Thanks, LC
Thanks for writing ! LC