Wall Street Journal:
o, is our long national nightmare over? Has the housing market finally hit bottom?
There has been some muted -- albeit exhausted -- cheering from homeowners in recent weeks. But before we break out the champagne, look out for further potential problems just down the road.
Redirect to Tim Wilson's Profile
Global Economy 'Leveling Out,' Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke Says - washingt...
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
Nothing has changed-it will continue to get worse for the next few years. I don't know why the govt lets the banks do this. I don't know why this seems so hard to understand and implement solutions for this.
Home prices won't "recover" to the bloated unrealistic levels they were prior to the collapse.
That's why there was a collapse, because "market values" were grossly beyond reality in many areas of the nation.
What we are now seeing is a return to reality.
Thank god. I'm still unable to afford a home right now, but hopefully within the next year, I can make it happen.
I have absolutely no sympathy for the people who are primarily affected by the crash of the insanely overinflated market here in Florida. A large number of forclosed homes that I've been looking at were most recently sold in the past few years at well over the assessed market value, to people who were obviously looking to flip the home for a profit as prices kept being artificially driven up.
Hopefully, those people are in enough financial ruin that they'll be more careful about attempting to do so again in the future. Now if the assessed taxable values would just start dropping to where the current market value is, a $60k house might not be out of my reach.
Lets see, we want the prices to go up how far?
People can blame whomever they want, dems, repubs, banks, Obama, Reagan ,Bush , Clinton
We were done in by people going overboard buying more than they could take on, and builders overbuilding. Nobody made people buy houses with 0 down and a ajustable loan on crap they could never afford, or made them take credit lines on a worthless house to buy jetskis. Builders thought the good times would last forever and built mcmansions like mushrooms. That is how I see it.
Me, I live in a 1200sqft cape cod and put 50% down 9yrs ago for it (my first home).
"Nobody made people buy houses with 0 down and a ajustable loan on crap they could never afford,"
yeah they did...they are called predatory lenders.the banks openned that floodgate, afterall they ae the ones that determine who is getting a loan and they looked teh other way .
Poor financial choices were made based on speculative and in many cases, known false information. The smartest guys in the room when it came to financial choices (ie, the banks), should have known better. They should have objected - but they didn't for many mischievous reasons.
However, that doesn't mean people were made to buy. In order to have been made to buy, one would NOT have had an option to walk away from a real estate transaction before they bought the house. I haven't heard of one person that was made to buy. Everyone had then, and still has now, the right to walk away from a real estate transaction before they buy a house.
As much as I'm ticked at the banks for not acting in responsible manner, I have to admit that they aren't the only ones that acted irresponsibly.
We're dead. The government refuses to give real help at the same time they give the nod to outrageous, unearned bonuses.
Realistically, the government is alright, when it is allowed to funciton as it was set up to do, but, it IS the particular elected officials that were in place to do the job of making some decisions that would benefit the electorate.
Benefits for the people that put them into office, instead of their paymaster lobbyists,
whom they really are beholden to. They wouldn't think of upsetting their income stream.
Would they?
I mean really. Does anyone think that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was done to benefit
the electorate, instead of the banksters and their buddies?
Do you think that it is possible that a politician may take their own self-interest OUT
of the equation, and do what is BEST for his, or her, people?
lsmft. lucky strike means fine tobacco.
Memo to self:
Ignore anything published by the WSJ.
Their motto: Making the World Safe for Wealthy White Republican Males for Decades.
Bloomberg.com said the same exact thing based on the same figures on August 12. I doubt if these journals are trying to make people believe that the real estate market sucks to bolster the image of Wall Street. To the contrary - it is an admission against their interests.
Wall Street and government laywers who have at it for 40 years are now saying the same thing. I am afraid it is true and this fact will greatly harm banks whose balance sheets are based on these same assets. I'm dumpting my real estate before another 10% drop which would bring real estate in line with income, employment and historic figures before the bubble.
Sad but true for the economy. Dot.com isn't coming back either, nor tulip mania.
The Wall Street Journal! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
It astounds me that so many have forgotten that we were in a bubble, and not just any old bubble, but the largest bubble in the history of mankind (way to go Greenspan - you couldn't learn from the Tech Bubble? You know, the one you also presided over in the 1990s?)
Anyway, anyone who bought at the over-inflated prices we saw after 2003 will probably NEVER recoup their losses, and loans written on these assets are going to be "toxic" for a very long time.
Anyone expecting housing prices to recover to where they were at the peak of the bubble might have to wait a few decades. Look at Japan if you want a glimpse of America's future.
A collapsed bubble - one more legacy of the Bush years.
I agree with you. The homes were never worth their cost and it will indeed be decades, if ever, before they are again. By the time the land values return, the homes will be out of style and young buyers will want the "new" development down the road.
Amen.
But the same people who will profit if oil prices go up are rooting for housing prices to go up too.
of course many of these same people have a side bet (derivative) betting against any of this.
Such is the Wall St. Casino.
OH NO! Intelligent contributors are beginning to connect the dots, and dashes in terms of the current American financial scenario. The American financial wizards smoothly transported America through the technological bubble into the housing bubble to ensure economic equilibrium. Unfortunately, both bubbles deflated with a large, painful BANG!!! If, and when economic disaster arrives America is not going to be in the dark like the 1930’s!
Those who say no one knew are lying.
If anyone wants to know who knew about the pending economic collapse, here is a talk about it in December 2007 by Paul Krugmann at the google campus about the impending collapse, he spells it out to the letter.
6 months before Cramer said buy Bear!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XhvG_fD0HA
in 1994 the orange county bankruptcy brought my 5 year old condo to half it's value. the bumper stickers at the time read, "honk if you have 2 billion." certain people at the time bought into real estate big. yes they were politicians. years later prices recovered. years later the thing was rumored to be masterminded by merrill lynch. the point is that particular disaster involved 2 billion...this disaster is world wide and has no point. other than the rich got theirs- and only ten percent of the rich will make it this time. i say again we won't hit bottom for five more years. you'll see.
I say you are absolutely correct because:
The result of HealthCare reform will be the death of the healthcare industry.... The nurses are no longer necessary, the only openings are for weekends and night shift with NO OTHER STAFF...
Then healthcare reform will result in INCREASED PREMIUMs....Then the employers will STOP paying anything for the health insurance because by gum they need more profits at the top and there are lots of people in INDIA to replace AMERICANS...
No controls over charges for uninsured, no more health insurance for children because they will all be in HMOs,,,sure they will get their shots because BIG PHARMA has to keep up profits to pay off the doctors who get their 'continuing education in vacation spots so that Big PHarm can brainwash them about the drugs...
We have no other healthy industries in this country...This will all impact the housing market because more and more people wiil be forced into foreclosure/bankrupcy....Sorry I really wish I would not need to make these comments....but I do...
ORZAG AND DEAN AND ROHM could have pushed thru for the Public Option, but Rahm is against it because of his ties to Wall STREET....
silliest post ever
Krugmann talks about this here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XhvG_fD0HA
he said it took 6 years to correct and that we are again in the same position.
Basically all the future value of property has been spent.
For the most popular financial rag that could not pick up the biggest financial collapse in 100 years as it was happening,
this comment 2 years after the numbers said it will take 6 years for property prices to balance,
comes as no suprise.
They knew. They just didn't report it because it was in the interest of their readers not to discuss the potential downside of any financial news. They rode that wave as long as they could.
this link says it all:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USACPI1800.svg
The WSJ doesn't know squat about the economy.
Why?
They're Ayn Rand disciples.
You are so correct, they said exactly the same things during the GREAT DEPRESSION....
They're modern luddites. IBD is another paper with its head buried deeply up Ayn Rand's sandbox.
Loading comments…
First Posted: 08-16-09 10:13 AM | Updated: 08-16-09 10:37 AM