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Here are those links as far as the wall st journal article-- as I said in my post the area that was "hardest hit" Also I just got back from sanibel and captiva and fort myers beach. The picture they paint in the article of lee county is far from true. with the exception of Lehigh acres .... All true , maybe under exageratted. Here are those links http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.c....html?nav=5069
to be honest I don't know how to post links or quotes on this site but if you google fort myers cape coral january 2009 existing home sales there are many articles as well as info posted from the national association of realtors. The media would rather headline backward looking data such as year over year price drops because compares it to when the market was at the boom, instead of looking at todays market. Showing glimmers of hope isn't as eye catching as "THE HOUSING CRISIS CONTINUES"
With all due respect.......I'll believe the Wall Street Journal before the shills at the Nationl Association of Realtors. The NAR are an industry mouthpiece. There is almost no chance the housing market in most markets in the USA is going to see any real improvmnt in the next several years for many of the factors that I have stated in my prior posts.
With all due respect it's data that investors rely on and where most newspapers like the wall st journal get their info. I agree they are a mouthpiece for an industry and will put a positive spin on the data but their figures are correct... My point is like another post you won't know the bottom untill it passes. The way I sense the bottom is when prices come down to a point where people are willing to buy and the volume has come way up in the hard hit areas so prices don't need to go down anymore (in these areas) because buyers are willing to pick up the real estate ... so as inventories go down, prices will stabilize. The first to go bad are showing the first signs of recovery which is higher volume not neccesarily higher prices
I do expect to see a bottom in the next year or two, but that's just my opinion. The larger point I was making is that when prices stop falling, and they are still falling most everywhere, prices will go flat, or sideways for several years in most markets. So at best I don't expect to see house prices start to go up year after year for a very long time. And I don't ever expect to see the kind of housing boom that we experienced from 2001 -2006.
And is that - in your opinion - a good or a bad thing?
(Not being sarky, just genuine curiosity. As a relatively recent arrival in the US + looking for property in NH = )
You ask a good qustion. The kind of price-run-up on housing we have seen in the last 6 years or so has been irrational. It distorts markets. I've seen 130% mark-ups on some property. This has helped the growth of these exotic loans that have helped crash the economy. I suspect that someday we will get back to historic, normal growth for the USA of 2-4% a year growth in housing. Somehow Americans were under the impression that we could keep selling each other houses forever until we were all worth millions, lol. The world does not work that way I'm afraid.
Somehow Americans were under the impression that we could keep selling each other houses forever until we were all worth millions, lol. The world does not work that way I'm afraid.
Well, they weren't alone.
We moved here from Ireland - which along-side Spain has had the biggest property bust in Europe. Those are the two countries held up as shining examples of how it can go so spectacularly wrong.
What truly fascinated me was the rampant belief that it could go on forever. As far back as 05, I used to look around me and say, "Lads, it'll end in tears." I was considered a party-pooper. I'm no economist and still have to reread paragraphs about hedge funds twice to get them to make any sense, but common sense dictates that when the cost of housing is so totally and completely out of whack with income (not to mention has no basis in reality), something HAS to give.
Common sense or talented bankers... which is the biggest oxymoron in the English language?!
Not only do I not expect to ever see the kind of run-up on prices that we experienced 2001-2006, but I pray that we never do. It's simply not sustainable... I sold my first house (which we built) back in 1998 for approximately 150K, and relocated to another area of the country. When we returned in 2002, our former home was for sale for 300K, and was on the market for less than 10 days, and sold for full price.
The other factor in this housing crash (and there are too many to get into here...) is that home-owners were encouraged to tap into the equity in their homes, while prices were at an all-time high. You heard it or read it everywhere "Take that trip!" Buy that car! Put your equity to work for you-you deserve it!!" and homes that coulda/woulda/shoulda been close to being paid off were re-mortgaged and refinanced over and over again. It's very sad to see homes owned for a decade or more, with more owed on them than was when they wrote their first mortgage. It's easy to point the finger at the bank and say "It's all their fault--I didn't understand what I was doing. I was victimized!" but there is still something called personal responsibility. It's in short supply these days.....
Not only do I not expect to ever see the kind of run-up on prices that we experienced 2001-2006, but I pray that we never do. It's simply not sustainable... I sold my first house (which we built) back in 1998 for approximately 150K, and relocated to another area of the country. When we returned in 2002, our former home was for sale for 300K, and was on the market for less than 10 days, and sold for full price.
The other factor in this housing crash (and there are too many to get into here...) is that home-owners were encouraged to tap into the equity in their homes, while prices were at an all-time high. You heard it or read it everywhere "Take that trip!" Buy that car! Put your equity to work for you-you deserve it!!" and homes that coulda/woulda/shoulda been close to being paid off were re-mortgaged and refinanced over and over again. It's very sad to see homes owned for a decade or more, with more owed on them than was when they wrote their first mortgage. It's easy to point the finger at the bank and say "It's all their fault--I didn't understand what I was doing. I was victimized!" but there is still something called personal responsibility. It's in short supply these days.....
+1 Valerie C!
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