some good stuff here
http://www.thehousingbubbleblog.com/
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some good stuff here
http://www.thehousingbubbleblog.com/
Aother way for people to lose their money in a derivatives market! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Cono Este
Any more detailed info anywhere? Could be interesting &/or amusing.
If the stuff is tied to contracts against real real estate, I can just see SF housing prices rising because of a short squeeze!!! Yikes!
Or the car dealership squeeze routine at closing - "well sir, you would not want to be caught in a housing downturn, but for a modest fee of 2% of sales price we can provide you with a 5 year put on your house...and you'll get a risk mitigation discount on your mortgage...".
Or how about zero cost collars?
The more I think about it, the weirder it gets!
This is a super-kewl site that shows the house sales in your neighborhood
on a google map!
Zillow.com
Selling a home? Good luck
Record inventory to pull down prices in area, experts say
By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News
June 8, 2006
The record number of unsold homes in the Denver-area market topped 30,000, and the inventory glut is expected to drive down home prices in an already soft market.
There were 30,457 unsold homes on the market last month, according to figures released Wednesday by Metrolist, which tracks homes sold by Realtors.
That eclipses the record set in April, when 29,045 homes were on the market, and it is almost 21 percent more than the 25,198 homes available in May 2005, according to reports released by Steve McGuire of RE/MAX Professionals and independent broker Gary Bauer.
The ever-growing number of "for sale" homes competing with one another is being fueled by foreclosures. Blame overbuilding, a loss of high- paying jobs and rising interest rates, experts say.
Since the beginning of the year, the metro area has ranked near the top of the nation in percentage of homes going into foreclosure. In 2005, 2 percent of all homes in the metro area ended up in foreclosure, the highest rate in 15 years, and that trend has continued this year.
The recent downturn in the stock market, spurred by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on keeping inflation under control, also could have a chilling impact on sales during what should be the hot selling season.
"I'm just floored by these numbers," said Kurt Poole, principal of Metro Brokers/Poole Properties in Highlands Ranch. "It's hard to find anything positive to say about the home sales market."
Poole noted that he has been saying for the past two years that the market is at the bottom and should start to creep up.
"But clearly it is not at the bottom yet," he said. "It seems bottomless."
McGuire said that the supply will continue to grow through the summer, as people tend to try to sell and buy homes before the school year starts.
The huge number of unsold homes is causing a bottleneck in sales and likely will drive down home prices and make homes tougher to sell, he warned.
"It's really the basic law of supply and demand," McGuire said.
The median, or middle, price of a home in May was $250,943, up slightly from $250,000 in April and $248,000 in May 2005. The average price of a single-family home, at $315,257, was down from $318,949 in April but up from $304,635 a year ago.
It now appears that the price of homes in upscale areas such as Cherry Hills Village and Greenwood Village are starting to soften, McGuire said.
"And there's no support for the low end of the market," McGuire said, which is being hammered by near-record numbers of foreclosures, especially in Adams County and parts of Aurora.
Bauer said the number of unsold homes on the market is near the top.
"We never thought we would see 30,000, but here we are," Bauer said. "We may hit 31,000, but I don't think we'll go much beyond that."
Bauer said that the recent nose dive in the stock market could further slow home sales because people can feel less rich and lose confidence in the market.
"That's what scares me," Bauer said. "It shouldn't impact the home market, but it can. The perception is that it could hurt the sales market, and perception becomes reality. On the other hand, one month does not make the market."
By the numbers
30,457 Number of "for sale" homes on the market in the Denver area in May.
21% increase from a year ago.
• Reasons: Experts blame foreclosures, overbuilding, a loss of high-paying jobs and rising interest rates.
Copyright 2006, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.
Prices were up 14% last quarter, 24% in my neighborhood.
Crash?? More like a continuation of a decadee plus boom.
Realtors: Home sales now a 'buyer's market'
Sales fell for third straight month in June; nearly flat prices make double-digit gains seem like a distant memory.
By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
July 25 2006: 11:54 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's official - even the nation's leading group of real estate agents now says it's a buyers' market in housing, as a soaring supply of homes for sale means nearly flat prices and longer waits for sellers.
The news came in the National Association of Realtors' report for June, which showed that home sales fell to the slowest pace since January last month while price gains were the smallest in over a decade.
The industry group said sales of existing homes fell to an annual rate of 6.62 million in June, compared with a 6.71 million pace in May. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast sales would slow to a 6.60 million rate.
June was the third straight month of slower sales, and the lowest pace of sales since the seasonally adjusted number for January. The pace of sales is now 9 percent year-ago levels, and was down in each of the four regions of the country.
The median home price, which reflects the point at which half the homes sold cost more and half cost less, edged up to $231,000 from $229,000 in May.
But that marked only a 0.9 percent increase from a year earlier, which is the smallest year-over-year gain in home prices since May 1995. As recently as October, prices had jumped a record 16.8 percent from a year earlier due to tight supplies and bidding wars among buyers.
"The change in price performance is directly tied to housing inventories - a year ago we had a lean supply of homes and a sellers' market, with monthly home sales at an all-time record high," David Lereah, chief economist for the group, said in a statement. "Sellers have recognized that they need to be more competitive in their pricing given the rise in housing inventories."
The inventory of homes for sale on the market is now at 3.7 million, up a whopping 39 percent from a year ago. That resulted in a 6.8-month supply of homes for sale at the current sales pace, up from only a 4.4-month supply in June 2005.
The Realtors statement said the market has shifted to a "buyer's market," which it said is good news for those shopping for a home even if it posed a problem for those looking to sell.
"People who were discouraged by the bidding wars that were so common over the last few years are finding more choices now," said Thomas Stevens, a Realtor from Vienna, Va., who is president of the group.
Last year we bought our house in Fresno - it was on the market for 12 hours, and had 7 bids. We lucked out to get it.
We were planning on keeping it for at least 5 years. But had to move and thus sell this summer. This year...it definitely increased in value but at this rate we'll be lucky to break even. It's just sitting there. And the 112 degree heat doesn't help matters :( SLC RE market is rockin it tho.
Every time I read something about the "bubble" it is about the number of homes on the market. This statistic doesn't really mean anything to me. I want to know how many of these homes are short sales or what the final selling price is below the asking price. I think all the bubble hype has caused some owners, and some investors who are long on real estate, to test out the market and see what they can get. Afterall it doesn't cost anything to list your house. So why not list it and see what happens? I have been shopping for some investment property lately and haven't found a bargain or this "buyers market" that is supposed to be out there.
Looking in the right spot?Quote:
Originally Posted by mcsquared
SLC is still going off. My sister has been outbid over asking price numerous times on listings less than 24 hours old. She's getting pretty frustrated just trying to spend her money.
I've heard claims that the SLC area gained 17% just from the start of this year and that percentage increase could be seen in what the lender valued the homes at. Even the home we bought 6 months ago is now worth 30-40K more then when we bought it.
NYT
July 26, 2006
Sales Slow for Homes New and Old
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Selling a new home is getting harder and harder: just ask the builders who are being forced these days to entice potential buyers with expensive inducements like free swimming pools and fancy kitchen cabinets.
At the same time, the torrid pace in the existing-home market is slackening, as prices are leveling off and properties are staying on the market a lot longer than they used to.
Adding it all together, a variety of experts now say, the housing industry appears to be moving from a boom to something that is starting to look a lot like a bust.
“Housing has had a great five-year run,” said Edward Yardeni, chief investment strategist for Oak Associates, a money management firm in Akron, Ohio, and a longtime bull on the economy. While he still does not expect a housing downturn to damage the overall economy severely, he predicts that the housing industry itself is entering a longer decline.
“Instead of being a seller’s market,” he said, “it became a buyer’s market. And once the psychology changes, it could take a while to reverse. Buyers recognize there’s no need to rush out to buy a home.”
The latest housing data, released yesterday by the National Association of Realtors, made clear that a significant slowdown is under way. It showed that the sales pace for existing homes fell for a third straight month in June — the ninth monthly decline since hitting a record last June.
On a seasonally adjusted annual basis, the rate of existing-home sales dropped to 6.6 million, down from 6.7 million in May and well below the record 7.3 million pace reported last June. The number of existing homes still on the market, meanwhile, grew to a record of 3.725 million units, representing a 6.8-month supply at the June selling pace, up from 6.4 months in May.
The shift of the upper hand from seller to buyer is showing up in home prices. Last month, the national median price rose to $231,000, less than 1 percent higher than in June 2005. That was the smallest year-over-year increase in more than 11 years.
Builders are losing their grasp on the new-home market, which is why so many of them have responded by being more aggressive in their use of promotions to sell homes. A new survey by the National Association of Home Builders of 369 builders across the country found that 75 percent are currently including add-ons like pools or garages at no additional cost when they sell a home. That compares with 50 percent a year ago.
A handful of builders reported offering free vacations. None did last July.
Builders are also helping buyers finance their homes. The survey found that 33 percent of builders are currently absorbing financing points on mortgages, which allows homeowners to pay lower monthly rates. Only 18 percent reported doing so a year ago.
When people were lining up to buy, “the only thing they had to complain about last year was getting enough material, labor and land,” said Michael Carliner, an economist with the home builders association. But now, he added, “things are slowing down.”
The home builders association reported last week that builder confidence had fallen to its lowest level in 14 years.
NYT
July 29, 2006
Housing Slows, Taking Big Toll on the Economy
By VIKAS BAJAJ and DAVID LEONHARDT
The housing industry — which largely carried the American economy through the tribulations of the 2000 stock-market crash, a recession and climbing oil prices — has lost its vigor in recent months and now has begun to bog down the broader economy, which slowed to a modest 2.5 percent growth rate this spring.
That was a sharp comedown from the 5.6 percent growth rate of the first quarter, the Commerce Department reported yesterday, caused in part by the third consecutive quarterly decline in spending on houses and apartment buildings, after several years of rapid growth. [Page C1.]
“It hasn’t slowed down a little bit — it has slowed down a lot,” said Doug McCraw, a developer who has scrapped his plans for a 205-unit condominium tower in a neighborhood just north of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “Anybody who did not have a shovel in the dirt has chosen to wait till the market settles.”
The housing slowdown is perhaps the clearest effect of the Federal Reserve’s two-year campaign of raising interest rates in a bid to tap the brakes on the economy and reduce inflation. That campaign has been largely successful, with the decline happening gradually while other parts of the economy, mainly the corporate sector, pick up much of the slack.
“Housing is going from being far and away the most important contributor to growth to being a measurable drag, and it’s happening gracefully so far,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, a research company. “But there’s now a growing and measurable risk that things don’t go according to plan.”
The biggest risk, economists say, is that the optimism that fed the real-estate boom will reverse dramatically. The number of homes for sale has surged in recent months, particularly in once-hot markets, like the Northeast, Florida, California and parts of the Southwest. As builders delay land acquisition and construction it could reduce employment and spending in the coming months.
More broadly, just as rising housing prices during the boom added to Americans’ sense of wealth and well-being — encouraging them to spend more on a variety of goods and services — the reverse could dampen sentiment and lead consumers to pull back on their purchases.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/29/bu.../qeQ8eMzrx0HOQ
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,3893046.story
Housing Expert: 'Soft Landing' Off Mark
By David Streitfeld, Times Staff Writer
July 21, 2006
Leslie Appleton-Young is at a loss for words.
The chief economist of the California Assn. of Realtors has stopped using the term "soft landing" to describe the state's real estate market, saying she no longer feels comfortable with that mild label.
"Maybe we need something new. That's all I'm prepared to say," Appleton-Young said Thursday.
The shift in language comes as debate over the real estate market is intensifying. The long-awaited drop-off is happening, but there's little agreement about how brutal the landing will be.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in congressional testimony Thursday that the national housing downturn so far appears orderly.
At about the same time, however, D.R. Horton Inc. Chief Executive Donald Tomnitz was telling analysts that the home builder's sales in June "absolutely fell off the Richter scale." Horton, the nation's largest builder of residential housing, has numerous projects in California.
For real estate optimists, the phrase "soft landing" conveyed the soothing notion that the run-up in values over the last few years would be permanent. It wasn't a bubble, it was a new plateau.
The Realtors association last month lowered its 2006 sales prediction from a 2% slip to a 16.8% drop. That was when Appleton-Young first told the San Diego Union-Tribune that she didn't feel comfortable any longer using "soft landing."
"I'm sorry I ever made that comment," she said Thursday. "When I get my new term, I'll let you know."
If there's one group in California still unreservedly bullish on real estate, it might be the throngs lining up to take the licensing exams.
The state Department of Real Estate recently reported that the total number of agents in the state passed 500,000 in May for the first time. That's one agent for every 55 adults in the state.
Appleton-Young had no qualms about predicting a hard landing here: "We're expecting a fairly significant shakeout."
Maybe the market will crash here and I'll be able to buy a place!
No one here gives a shit how much you make. Show off your wealth to your neighbors instead.Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_gyptian
Don't know much about the economics of the SLC area, but you are definitely swimming upstream. The days of easy money and 17% gains since the start of the year are over. Spend some time poring over homebuilder earnings reports and general real estate data. When making money is this easy it doesn't last. Real estate markets rarely crash in nasdaq-uean fashion, you'll just watch homes linger on the market much longer and have flattish or slowly declining values, depending on the local conditions of the market.Quote:
Originally Posted by meatdrink9
Don't know much about the economics of the SLC area, but you are definitely swimming upstream. The days of easy money and 17% gains since the start of the year are over. Spend some time poring over homebuilder earnings reports and general real estate data. When making money is this easy it doesn't last. Real estate markets rarely crash in nasdaq-uean fashion, you'll just watch homes linger on the market much longer and have flattish or slowly declining values, depending on the local conditions of the market.Quote:
Originally Posted by meatdrink9
Was that really worth saying twice?Quote:
Originally Posted by ski_trader
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...iewed-homepage
California Home Sales Take a Plunge
By Jesus Sanchez, Times Staff Writer
2:25 PM PDT, August 24, 2006
July sales of existing homes in California plunged nearly 30% from year-ago levels and prices in once red-hot markets such as San Diego and Sacramento dropped, according to a report today that provided yet more evidence of a housing market cool down.
In a separate report, nationwide sales of new homes took a larger than expected fall in July, dropping 21.6% from the same month last year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.07 million units, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The sales pace was down 4.3% from June.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Whatever happens over the next year or two, RE is still one of the best long-term investments going. The reason is simple: supply and demand.
There isn't any more real estate being made and as long as the population continues to increase the demand will be there.
If the market dips, that's a good time to buy. Wait a few years, maybe even ten, and you'll be making a nice profit unless you bought something really horrible.
I'm just gearing up to go RE psycho. I'll post some figures after a few deals have been completed, but this crash is BS unless you're an idiot. In which case you'll find ways to lose money doing anything.
People who weren't invested from 90-95 spraying about real estate? Idiots.
What I want to know, in simplistic terms , is whywhen the housing markets "cool" bringing prices down to where schleps like myself can actually afford a house, do interest rates go up? Therefor making it more difficult to afford payments? Is there a simple answer, one not tied to macro/ micro economics, dollar values, the whim of a reserve chief, or the wind direction on tuesday?
It just seems logical to me that when housing prices come down to where average joe's can afford them, then the federal reserve should be helping by keeping interest rates lower. Maybe I just answered my own question. If it's logical than the government wouldn't do it!
The federal reserve doesn't regulate mortgage interest rates. The fed regulates short term rates between banks and mortgage rates are tied to long-term bond yields rather than the short-term rates.