Bloomberg article reports 28% of homeowners underwater (1%, more expensive, value, Realtors)
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MikeyKid and Emily couldn't say what you've already written any better. You guys got the point right on the money.
Also, why would anyone want to sensationalize a disaster? What was sensationalized were statements such as "you better buy now before you are priced out of the market", or "they aren't growing anymore land, you better buy", also "the 900 sqft home for 2BDRM/Bath for $400K fixer upper is a great deal", oh and "there isn't a such thing as a bubble".
You wonder why someone would want to sensationalize a disaster? Maybe because it sells newspapers?!!
Why do you keep posting these statements? It is the same thing! Ask yourself that question and you should have your answer!
I will tell you one thing that I KNOW, for a fact. Real Estate in Raleigh, NC is very different from real estate in the "bayarea".
So, maybe what you are seeing (if you are seeing any of this or just reading it) is very different from what I'm seeing.
Hopefully, that helps you understand why everyone says "Real estate is LOCAL".
Lots of these articles are designed to oversensationalize the already sensational real estate environment. A perfect example is your thread title & the title of the article:
"... 28% of homeowners underwater"
One automatically assumes that 28% of ALL homeowners are underwater - without stopping to think that there's a large segment of the population who owns their home outright.
Which leads people to think that the housing crisis is an even bigger problem than it already is.
I've already stated anyone with some intelligence will realize that "underwater homeowners" refers to those with mortgages. You seem to keep arguing that as misleading like it could mean something else... Seriously, though, it can't... Someone who owns a home outright can't ever logically be "underwater". It's not possible.
What is the agenda? Make prices go down further? You can't be serious. Because if you are then you need to look at Mr. Lawrence Yun as #1 on that "promoting an agenda" via media list.
Distraction at best... and I actually get your point. But, we can't stop there. We'd have to talk about all the outright owners who had their "retirement savings" wrapped in houses and lost big. We'd have to talk biflation and it would be a long drawn out argument.
Just about everyone who turns the keys on a home loses 5-6% equity instantly for costs to sell it. We all kind of accept that - I mean, RE only goes up. I like the HUD programs and, in fact, have read details on how they could fund themselves or even make a bit of money. It's Barney Frank and those "derivative" clowns over at Freddie that put them under the bus. You should be worried about the programs for who is running them - aka the bankers.
Reason for selling is subjective and could swing from personal disaster to outright greed. The ones "holding out" (the I'm not giving this away crowd) and not listing are part of that equation. It should have us all worried.
Whether you want to believe it or not, your profession helped to create this monster. Not close to the driving force (see Banks), but you certainly were complicit. It wouldn't be appropriate to throw your hands in the air yelling the sky is falling, I don't think any of us should be doing that. But we should be taking a long hard look on what can be done to turn the tide... Maybe that's the simple question that this article is asking. How can we turn this around? I mean we're all for a little ride it out attitude most days, but you can clearly see from this RE forum that people keep starting threads - many of them pointing at this Zillow data. Great - I helped make your point for you... awesome.
Mikey,
The original post is an error, but with the great effort by folks to excuse and support it as acceptable error, without correction, it may become a lie.
The reason to "split hairs" stems partly from this ingrained perception that an error or "a lie repeated often enough becomes truth."
FACT: From all the evidence presented, "28% of Homeowners are..." NOT"...underwater." They are not. And the title stands uncorrected. GOOG SERP will show it far and wide.
Using the error or lie for emphasis and exaggeration to scare the public, and this IS a public forum, failing to correct the verbage, and attacking anyone honest enough to point out that the emperor is nekkid is pretty lame.
I think I am pretty brutal on real estate agents and some common industry practices. (IIRC, I am one of the few who recognizes that buyers pay a price for buyers agents.)
"Splitting hairs" is what we do daily, and we need to do it well to bring value to clients.
The fact that splitting hairs to expose an error or a lie is discomfitting to some folks does not excuse the error or lie, or compel anyone to cave and worship the error or lie.
VickiR, the crash of the economy and or housing market is not a paper I want or many others want to purchase. This disaster is compared to Hurrican Katrina. I don't want to buy a paper about the Hurricane it is just awful news. Do you think people sensationalize hurricanes?
Why do I keep posting my opinion, well the same reason you and everyone else on this board does, because I (we) can.
Local realesate impacts the bigger national picture. When it comes to the housing market/crash, in order to get a the broader picture one must look at all areas. Just the same way people take a look at unemployment. If you think your area is perfect and ignore your neighboring state and feel that you are immune, well that is your choice. So no, I don't get where you are coming from when you talk about local realesate.
When things were great in the realesate world did you tell your clients the home they would be purchasing is overprice? That there was a bubble? Did you tell don't stretch yourself as realtors are sensationalizing high prices? Nope, you told them to hop on board and drink the Koolaid.
Again, I know about other areas. Am not an expert and yes I do read the news, which a lot of people have stop doing BTW. You say Raliegh is great, when did Raleigh stop being part of the US? When people start loosing their jobs their just let me know how the housing market is. BTW one of my properties is in the South.
The term is commonly used in reference to the mass media. Critics of media bias of all political stripes often charge the media with engaging in sensationalism in their reporting and conduct. That is, the notion that media outlets often choose to report heavily on stories with shock value or attention-grabbing names or events, rather than reporting on more pressing issues to the general public.
In the extreme case, the media would report the news if it makes a good story, without much regard for the factual accuracy or social relevance. ....
VickiR, the crash of the economy and or housing market is not a paper I want or many others want to purchase. This disaster is compared to Hurrican Katrina. I don't want to buy a paper about the Hurricane it is just awful news. Do you think people sensationalize hurricanes?
Why do I keep posting my opinion, well the same reason you and everyone else on this board does, because I (we) can.
Local realesate impacts the bigger national picture. When it comes to the housing market/crash, in order to get a the broader picture one must look at all areas. Just the same way people take a look at unemployment. If you think your area is perfect and ignore your neighboring state and feel that you are immune, well that is your choice. So no, I don't get where you are coming from when you talk about local realesate.
When things were great in the realesate world did you tell your clients the home they would be purchasing is overprice? That there was a bubble? Did you tell don't stretch yourself as realtors are sensationalizing high prices? Nope, you told them to hop on board and drink the Koolaid.
Again, I know about other areas. Am not an expert and yes I do read the news, which a lot of people have stop doing BTW. You say Raliegh is great, when did Raleigh stop being part of the US? When people start loosing their jobs their just let me know how the housing market is. BTW one of my properties is in the South.
Moderator cut: personal - off topic
Real Estate in Raleigh, NC is VERY DIFFERENT than real estae in Calif. We had NO bubble. Our prices went up 4% to 6% PER YEAR. RE in Calif. was going up 10% PER MONTH. Do you understand the difference?
Our prices DID GO DOWN. But they didn't go down like your prices because they never went up like your prices in Calif. I simply can't say it any simpler. And if you have never been out of Calif., maybe you just can't understand it.
When you speak of homes that are 900 Sq. ft., costing $400,000, it is difficult for ME to understand. Our typical home in a very desirable North Raleigh area is closer to $300,000. That home is on a l/4 acre lot, is 2800 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a 2 car garage and may be anywhere from 15 years to brand new. Do you understand when Calif. prices dropped, our prices in Raleigh, NC did not drop like that. Do you understand ANY of this?
If you read alot, you may read some of the articles that talk about "Top 10 places to live in the US" or the "Best Places to Raise a Family" and you'll see that we make those lists year after year. We have people moving here, DAILY. So it is a different real estate environment.
Do I have clients that purchased 3 years ago and want to sell today? Yes. Did their prices go down? Yes. Mostly if they were townhouses instead of single family houses and mostly because of short sales and foreclosures in their n'hood but they didn't go down MUCH. Maybe $2,000 or $3,000. Maybe the prices stayed the same in 3 years. Yes, I am seeing that.
That is why I say Real estate is local. Maybe that is too much for someone like you to understand. Just like I don't understand WHY someone lives in Oakland, calls it a ghetto and yet, sells their home for over $1 million. Yes, I had a client that moved here from Oakland and showed me photos of her $1 million home. She sold it 2 years ago. She moved here, paid $400,000 and purchased a beautiful 3,000 sq. ft. home on 1 acre of land, with a pool.
So, although I can understand WHY you think the way you do, I don't understand why you won't LEARN about other areas instead of pretending that you KNOW things you simply don't know.
rjrcm, wasn't talken about events that didn't happen. Yes, the media tends to blow events that are yet to happen out of porportion as stated in the articles you posted. But for disasters that actually happen, the general public is not rushing out to purchase news papers to read about the disaster, don't the media is sensationalizing the coverage just covering the story. That was my point to another poster.
Moderator cut: personal - off topic.
I am not comparing NC to CA. Now that wouldn't make sense. If all I do is look as at the Oakland housing market for EXAMPLE and compare it to the housing market of LA well someone on this board (like you) could say oh you do know what you are talking about because you are looking at two different (local) markets. Uhmmm, and I would tell that person (like you) that they don't know what they are talking about because you can review what is happening across the board. Analyst look at the bigger picture and view data across the board. That being said we all live in the US. Sure NC may differ from CA but I'm sure there is unemployment in NC just like CA and foreclosures too.
Please bring up a statement I made that is something I clearly don't understand from your perspective.
Also, one other point I'd like to add. The article which people are referring to that started this thread is based off of the national picture. If you only feel comfortable talking about your local community then why post here?
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