Spokane Real Estate Tanked?

[coffeepotbend]

Spokane is just waking up to the reality of the housing bust......it was late to the party, but the party is over now.

We still cannot afford to buy in Spokane. 4 years ago we could afford a very nice respectable house in Spokane. Now, we can only afford the crappiest houses, in the crappiest neighborhoods, which is unacceptable. Who can afford the nicer homes? How many regular folks make enough money to qualify for a loan at those prices? Not the majority. Higher ranking Air Force folks near the top of their careers should be able to afford a decent home.........but, because of the housing bubble, can now only afford crap houses. Wages versus home prices do not line up. When they do, the bottom will be here. The prices have a ways to fall before they hit bottom.

It all stinks very badly. We want to buy a home very badly, but must wait until they become affordable again. The days of buying out of your affordable price range is over, those fast, bad loans do not exist anymore. People actually have to qualify again. That means people with bad credit are no longer in the market, and those with good credit (like us) will have a cap, or limit to the amount the bank is willing to loan. It will be based on income....proven income.

I, for one will not settle for a crappy house in a bad neighborhood. For all those who bought houses at the top of the bubble, my heart goes out to you. For those who bought low and want to try to sell your house and make 100-200 hundred thousand profit...you may find a sucker, but it won't be me. I will not buy a house and let someone make that kind of profit off the backs of us working folks.

Prices should not have doubled. Our wages did not double. Did your wages double overnight?????? The principles of wages versus home prices still apply. We will buy when homes reach the fundamentals of wage earning versus home prices. When they line up to historical levels of a normal degree, we will buy. Until then, we will be "sitting on the sidelines."

[Deena160]

Originally Posted by coffeepotbend

Now, we can only afford the crappiest houses, in the crappiest neighborhoods, which is unacceptable. Who can afford the nicer homes? How many regular folks make enough money to qualify for a loan at those prices? Not the majority.

Just curious...what do you consider affordable? My idea of affordable is skewed from living on this side of the mountains. It also doesn't help that lenders have just assumed that you're going to pay more of a percentage of your income then in some other places and have issued loans as such.
Appreciate you cander and cartoons! :~) D

[coffeepotbend]

Hey DEeNa160, I've been reading that the banks are no longer going to honor loan requests that exceed the amount you can pay back. They are going back to the 30% of your income going towards housing, or 3 times your gross yearly income for the price of a home. For us, that would mean crappy old houses in bad neighborhoods.

Ha ha ha....you liked my antagonistic cartoons....

I understand why you would be skewed when your on the left side of the mountains. It's waaaayyyy to expensive there!! Not to mention the party bubble was late. Here's a reality check. In Florida, within a mile of the beach, you can get a 1800-2000 square foot house, brand new, solid brick on a 1/2 an acre for $150,000. The only problem is that taxes and hurricane insurance kill you! Still, that same house 3 years ago had a price tag of $300,000. Thank God we were smart enough to rent instaed of buy!!!!! Our bubble was before yours, and has dropped significantly, and is still dropping. That's because that same house would have cost $100,000 in pre 20002.
But again, prices rose fast everywhere....huge bubble. It's all fake equity based on the bubble, bad loans, unqualified buyers, and investor driven greed. It has to fall. It's unsustainable to area income.

I think it's smarter to wait it out and not jump into housing until it is normal again. I know many people who are upside down on their mortgages and are very unhappy. I also know several people who are doing short sales below what they owe. I don't actually know anyone personally who is foreclosing, but there are foreclosures going on all over my neighborhood and the whole area in general. Know one wants to catch a falling knife.
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I will buy again......but I am waiting.........especially because we're military and we may have to move again in 4 years. I don't ever want to be upside down on a mortgage. I also know military folks who simply retired or got out because they couldn't sell their house, upside down on the mortgage and didn't want to foreclose. A foreclosure will negatively effect your military career as well.

Now, if you are a homeowner that bought pre-bubble, the smart thing to do is sell at the best price possible, then hold onto your money until the bottom is here, then buy again.

I hope the best for everyone. There is a lot of pain going on this turbulent economy and mess of a housing market. (((((hugs))))) for all those who are struggling.

[coffeepotbend]

WendyK, my property manager's husband sells cars and was making 6 figures before this economic crisis. They have a condo and are upside down on the mortgage. They just rented it out at a loss and moved into her parents basement this month. Neither one of them are making much money these days and renting the condo out at a loss and living free in the basement is cheaper than living in the condo. They hope to sell the condo later (short sale)while saving some money to get back on their feet. The pain is everywhere.....

[ArcticPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Deena160

Just curious...what do you consider affordable? My idea of affordable is skewed from living on this side of the mountains. It also doesn't help that lenders have just assumed that you're going to pay more of a percentage of your income then in some other places and have issued loans as such.
Appreciate you cander and cartoons! :~) D

Affordable would mean no more than 4 times the average per capita income. So, if the per capita income is 30K, it would be 4 X 30K = 120K. If 120K was the average house price and people earned an average of 30K, then that would be affordable.

[jeffcrane]

still holds true....if the market appreciated 40% over a 4 year period and has only dropped (at this point 2-3%) and factoring in another 7-8% and leaving it at a 30% gain that is very good. I personally think this is evening the playing field for buyers and sellers have had it all too well. This is more of a traditional spokane market. One thing is for sure; there are a lot of people looking to move here and depending on what happens in other areas that people want to get out of to enjoy what spokane has to offer; they will be making the moves to Spokane when they sell their homes. Elections, October-January winter months also are something to consider as well with the slow down. Are we seeing more short sales...yes, more foreclosres....not so many, buildup in inventory....yes....tanked market....no.

[jeffcrane]

The figures are for 2008 through the end of October +- a couple days. Hopefully this will help people by seeing it in black and white