I was down at Weiss headquarters last week, and during my trip I drove around visiting a lot of my old haunts. And I can tell you that the for-sale signs haven’t gone away at all in the five months that I’ve been spending time up north.
If anything, there are still plenty of places available at even lower prices!
And today’s data from the National Association of Realtors proves that Florida isn’t alone. In fact, it indicates that Florida might be one of the bright spots! Wow.
In the first quarter of the year, the median home price dropped 13.8%. That was the largest drop in 30 years worth of data.
And only in the leading bust states — places like CA, AZ, FL, etc. — did sales show an uptick.
So can someone please tell me why everyone thinks housing is bottoming? Especially with tighter lending standards, higher unemployment, and a whole new wave of option ARMs waiting to reset?
I won’t deny that there are some interesing opportunities in places like FL right now. But those are for investors with deep pockets, local knowledge, and plenty of patience.
Around here in the metropolitan Northeast, I’m seeing some properties sell. But plenty of others have been sitting on the market for a year or more. I’m talking about nice houses, in good school districts. According to one agent, anything above $300K is essentially a dead zone.
Rates are attractive, sure. And the $8K tax credit is a nice little benefit to “first-time” homebuyers (anyone who hasn’t owned property in the last three years).
But I don’t buy the unbridled optimism about housing. Our best-case scenario is a flattening process that lasts for many years. And the more likely scenario is even better deals six months from now. That’s why I’ll continue renting through the end of the year … at least.
Related posts:
- My latest house hunting experience … As you might know, I recently relocated my family from Florida back up to the Brandywine Valley along the border...
- Case-Shiller Housing Numbers Still Stinking The latest numbers from S&P/Case-Shiller’s housing index prove that things haven’t gotten any better for housing in 2009. In fact,...
- Good Thing the Stock Market Isn’t Run by Real… I came across an article on Yahoo Finance this morning, talking about how buyers should approach the current real estate...
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To Whom This May Concern
What I am about to say is just a general comment.
I am 86 yrs old and grew up in the last depression and know “the score” The young people up to now, with the recession, had it relatively”easy” with easy money and easy ways of purchasing a home- without worry since “credit was always available” In my day
credit was “not available” unless you paid the prevalent credit operators big interest; so what did “poor people” do if they wanted home ownership? They bought 3 and 2 family homes, and “knew” that they could still “hold them” even if they lost their job.
That is being “sensible of course” but instead of 3 and 2 family homes what did they buy single family homes which they ‘couldnt really afford” but ;not being “too wise” didnt know “that they couldnt afford a single unless “they were will fixed/all ways!
The result? is self evident isnt it?
An oz. of prevention is worth a pound of cure - “to make a difference, one must know the difference - between wisdom and foolishness and apparently people who really couldnt afford a single, chose the wrong faculty of understanding.
Who helped them buy singles? the developers of course, the banks of course, the real estate operators of course, and the town/city assessors office of course, plus the state getting taxes - everyone contributed in the fiasco - and do you think people know about it even today with the real estate meltdown? of course not, wisdom is perhaps the hardest “commodity” in this Universe!
maurice rothman
Just wanted to highlight an often overlooked fact. The largest single expense of M & M Median is Federal Income Tax not housing. And if you combine Fed Income, State income and Social Security/Medicare Tax the result is about 40 to 45% of income! With both the Fed and State governments scrambling to fund bloated budgets, M & M Median are likely to be squeezed even more by taxes in the future. Think what that does to the incentive to work and produce! I can see a revolt against taxes (and possibly government in general) at the bottom of this depression. Sorry to sound so gloomy but wanted to keep it real.