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The people in China and India have literally nothing, many times, just a tent and a change of clothes. Even our unemployed fare better than that in this country.
When I was in China a few months ago, I was appalled at the living conditions and the types of work that these folks do for practically nothing. I do not feel bad if there are some manufacturing jobs going there. At least in this country, there is the ability to train to do something else. Not so much there.
I agree...not to hijack the thread, but the poorest in this country are much richer than many in Mexico, almost all of the caribbean and many 3rd world countries..
Also at the end of the second quarter, about 9 percent of CRE loans in bank portfolios were considered delinquent, almost double the level of a year earlier.3 Loan performance problems were the most striking for construction and development loans, especially for those that financed residential development. More than 16 percent of all construction and development loans were considered delinquent at the end of the second quarter.
Of particular concern, almost $500 billion of CRE loans will mature during each of the next few years. In addition to losses caused by declining property cash flows and deteriorating conditions for construction loans, losses will also be boosted by the depreciating collateral value underlying those maturing loans. The losses will place continued pressure on banks' earnings, especially those of smaller regional and community banks that have high concentrations of CRE loans.
The current fundamental weakness in CRE markets is exacerbated by the fact that the CMBS market, which previously had financed about 30 percent of originations and completed construction projects, has remained closed since the start of the crisis. Delinquencies of mortgages backing CMBS have increased markedly in recent months. Market participants anticipate these rates will climb higher by the end of this year, driven not only by negative fundamentals but also by borrowers’ difficulty in rolling over maturing debt. In addition, the decline in CMBS prices has generated significant stresses on the balance sheets of financial institutions that must mark these securities to market, further limiting their appetite for taking on new CRE exposure.
Conclusion
While financial market conditions in the United States have improved notably over the past year, the overall environment continues to be somewhat strained, and some geographic areas like the Southeast are experiencing more difficultly than others.
It's going to be difficult as we all work our way through this but it's not just a Charlotte problem. Jobs are pretty much nonexistent in commercial real estate and it doesn't look like it's in any hurry to pick back up.
It seems that people that complain about the U.S. exploiting workers in poor countries don't seem to understand that the wages we pay are higher than what a worker there would normally get. More importantly, it enables a young girl to support her family and not have to sell herself on the streets. It would be idiotic to go into India or Pakistan and pay $5 an hour to workers. They would be making 10 times more than others. Imagine what a stir that would cause. Everyone in the country would deand that much money as a wage in a country that has practically nothing.
With the loss of Wachovia and pending loss of Bank of America headquarters, Charlotte looks to be getting hit hard by this recession. Where are the jobs.
Charlotte housing market is taking a dive, with over 1,000 foreclosures per month. Housing prices are down atleast 20% the past 24 months. The majority of the builders in Charlotte either went bankrupt of pulled out of this market entirely.
The comercial real estate market bad, no one is willing to lend. We are heading into a major devaluation of this market. The house of cards is falling, who will be here to pick up the peices.
Democrat mayor, along with 9 out of the 11 city council votes being democrat, I just don't see Charlotte pulling out of this ant time soon.
Your comments and views are welcome.
Atlanta was run by democrats for decades and that didnt seem to hurt them much.
Atlanta was run by democrats for decades and that didnt seem to hurt them much.
What do you define as "hurt?" Crime rate? Fiscal soundness? Corruption? School scores?
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