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triciae_gw

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

triciae
15 years ago

Well, this is not what I was hoping to see. I've been waiting for these numbers...thought the slight uptick in sales last month might have been a positive sign.

Maybe, we'll see better numbers next month. February sales did show signs of a bottom.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: S&P/Case-Shiller Indices - January 2009

Comments (24)

  • fixizin
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    A "bottom"? LOL! You write with the longing voice of an RE Agent, looking at those Year 2005 commission check stubs.

    In a FUNCTIONING economy, the bottom would be Year 2000 prices, since virtually ALL real estate price increases since then have been "froth" created by the bankSters on Wall Street. I mean, where have ACTUAL wages and salaries (not incl. RE commissions) gone since 2000? Almost nowhere. Ergo, *HOW* can RE price rises since 2001 be SUSTAINED? Answer: they simply can't... except through financial CHICANERY, and we really can't SURVIVE any more of that!

    However, the banksters have now DAMAGED the ACTUAL (not just paper) economy so severely, that RE prices may drop straight THROUGH 2000 prices, and settle at 1991 levels. =:O RTC fire sales, anyone?

    Sorry, but you MUST consider today's foreclosure sales as valid "comps"... indeed, you MUST. Pity.

    Of course the Nat'l Assoc. of Realtors (NAR) themselves are the absolute WORST when it comes to wishful thinking and ignoring macro-economic REALITY. (Not surprising, I guess, given the obvious vested interest in commissions.) I mean, who else would hire and push forward as a "chief economist", the execrable David Lereah? That NAR charlatan actually wrote a book entitled 'Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust', and this was in 2006!! HMOG!

    Here is a link that might be useful: David Lereah... Hoser of the Decade

  • triciae
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yikes! No, I'm not a REALTOR just your average loan officer with 25+ years experience in construction & distressed property work-outs married to somebody with an inside-track. If you'll look over this forum for the past 2-3 years, I believe you'll find my predictions have been pretty much right on...unfortunately. (sigh)

    /tricia

  • fixizin
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tricia, yes, you ARE an ASSET to this forum, as evidenced by your solid advice in the 'Builder bankrupt, buying from the bank' thread, and many, many others. THUMBS UP!

    I apologize for not making it more clear that my issue is NOT with you, but rather the NAR... followed closely by the lying scumbags in the ratings arm of S&P, "proud sponsors" of the Case-Shiller index. One would be hard pressed to argue that S&P's FANTASY ratings of HUNDREDS OF BILLION$$ of MBS, CMBS, and CDOs was not a major enabler of the dire mess we're all in! (WHEW!... I feel better now... ;')

    It is sad to see something as useful and (ostensibly) objective as Case-Shiller tainted by association with S&P...

    That said, there's nothing in that report which indicates "bottom", so I defer to your long experience, and hubby's (secret?) inside track, for evidence of a bottom... not being a member of the multi-generational Ivy League Bank(st)er Elite, I really REALLY need to know when "bottom" is hit... for my health... lol.

    Keep up the solid work!

  • jeri
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Because I want to buy a home, I read everything I can, and based on that, I have to agree with fixizin. Some of the places I read include The Motely Fool, Mish, Calculated Risk, Dr. Housing Bubble, Patrick.net, and others.

    Tricia, as someone who mostly lurks here, I was surprised by your post. Please dont get me wrong  I have a great deal of respect for you. I just canÂt imagine where you are coming from.

  • chisue
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Are there stats for MORE than the single year over year? Where are we now compared to, say, Jan. 2006, or Jan. 2000? (Number of sales; price.)

    I was interested to see a consumer confidence chart today and realize that DH and I are evidently 'typical'. We decided to sell and build at a confidence peak, around 1999. LOL

  • deegw
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    fixizin - Your posts are interesting but your excessive use of capital letters really detracts from your message. I'm sure you know that caps are the Internet version of shouting. No one likes people to shout at them.

    Dee

  • fixizin
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sorry... should've used italics instead... got lazy.

    Anyway, still looking for fundamentals which put a floor under housing prices... not seeing them. And I cringe every time I hear Obama, Geithner, or the all-day infomercial known as CNBC, talk about "propping up" or "halting the decline" in housing prices! Um, helloooo!!... I'm sorry, but the bezzle in housing prices is the problem... :rolleyes: ... of course they know that, so what they're really saying is:

    a) The Fed and other central banks have NO mechanisms for dealing with DEflation, thus it scares them worse than an honest audit; and

    b) We who committed this Crime Against Humanity are trying to spread the pain out over time, so the plebes don't rise up and burn Lower and Midtown Manhattan to the ground, along with nearby areas of Connecticut, and then do to us bank(st)ers what the partisans did to Mussolini! :bugeyes:

  • triciae
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    First of all, lenders are inundated with the sheer numbers of refinance applicants. These are, for the most part, people who might well have defaulted. Seriously, lenders are working 12+ hours days, 6 days/week trying to keep up with their pipelines & still falling behind. Many of these applicants are not qualifying, however, those that do qualify are not likely to be tomorrow's foreclosures. That's good, right? Right.

    Second, banks are also being inundated with cash. People are saving. Many banks, including DH's, have lowered their interest rates on MMs & CDs to ridiculously low levels to discourage more inflows of cash. They have to balance assets to liabilities & the wheelbarrow loads of excess cash are complicating their capital positions. But, for consumers...we'll be less susceptible to sudden economic shocks going forward because of our savings. And, for the banks, better consumer strength means they can underwrite more & better quality loans eventually improving their positions. (Right now, what to do with all of the excess cash is an issue.) Overall though, saving is good, right? Right. (Well, within reason. If we all keep a bunker mentality...that's not good.)

    For years, the government has tried to keep unemployment below 5%. While a lofty goal, we've paid a high price. We've had to keep pumping more & more consumer spending to keep the job numbers high. Most of the last decade's job growth was in the service sector. We need better more secure jobs. Consumers are now positioning themselves to be able to take advantage of schooling opportunities by stockpiling cash & reducing spending. That's painful right now but good for the future. We are not going back to the industrial revolution so we'd better get ourselves retrained for the 21st century.

    Third, people are paying off debt in large numbers. DH's runoff in the unsecured portfolios is significant. Current production can't begin to offset the runoff...good for consumers; but not so good for that asset/liability balancing act banks must juggle. So, DH's bank won't make as much money this year but, in the long-term, their customers will be healthier. That's a very positive sign for the economy, right? Right.

    Fourth, people are buying homes again. As prices have declined the affordability index is allowing millions of new buyers into the market every month (combined with government supported low interest rates). In fact, with rates this low DH is selling every closed mortgage keeping nothing in portfolio feeling the rate risk to the institution is too high. The good news is that he can sell those mortgages...including jumbos (they are not limited to just Fannie or Freddie). That means credit is not as frozen as six months ago. That's good, right? Right.

    Lastly, DH feared that 2009 would bring huge increases in foreclosures. That hasn't materialized. Yes, collections is still working 6 days/week & late payments are high but his "Over 30 Days" delinquency is holding steady as she goes at a rate not high enough to remotely threaten the institution. Yes, their service area has experienced some layoffs & delinquencies have risen from 2008 but the barrage of lis pendens just hasn't happened. Delinquencies lower than forecast...that's good, right? Right.

    I maintain that we are at or very near the bottom. Many of the monthly reports are lagging indicators of the economy. For instance, it'll be months before we see unemployment turn around. I expect to see ugly unemployment into 2010.

    Those markets that had the most "air" in their bubbles are even showing early indicators of a floor. Now that the shock has worn off, lenders are getting serious about unloading these properties via mass auction or to investors. Investors are again coming back to the market & lenders are selling blocks of REOs. It's a healthy sign when people are willing to risk an investment, right? Right.

    Companies & individuals are still spooky & who could blame them? This has been downright scary, for everybody. But, if companies are going to stay in business...they will again have to dip their toes back in the water. Even the PMI companies have quartered off the problem areas & are no longer painting the entire country with the same brush as evidenced that 95% LTV loans are available for prime borrowers outside of the quake's epicenter.

    A "bottom" doesn't ever look rosey. First quarter earnings are going to be dismal. But, I think second quarter is going to look better. Nope, not at 2005 or 2006 levels...but better. We are confident enough that, last week, we put in an offer on a house. We offered 95% of listing price with no financing contingency. The seller flat rejected our offer. Stupid seller...or, another sign of a bottom?

    In any event, I'm no longer wondering if the entire country is going to implode. And, whether we like it, or not, the Feds liquidity has reduced funding pressures on money-center banks. As unpalatable as it is, the support of Bear Stearns & AIG should prevent massive counter-party collapse. If we think supporting AIG is ugly...doing nothing would give us all a lesson in what "ugly" really looks like. Hopefully, something will actually be done to prevent such wide spread opaque risk going forward.

    Inflation in 2015? Yeah, probably.

    /tricia

  • jeri
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It seems so simple to me...

    Over the long term, average home prices have tracked average earnings. And by this measure the market has much further to fall (in most areas). Do you not agree with this?

    Unless banks are willing to play games with mortgages like they did during the bubble, folks will simply not qualify for these still bubble prices.

    What am I missing???

  • chisue
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tricia -- Has another house taken your eye? Did you give up on the tangled web around the ocean-view oldie that had been remodeled? Your 'virtual friends' here need to know! LOL

  • triciae
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yes, we gave up in complete despair. Two and one-half years later the dream has faded. It's still sitting there high on the hill overlooking the harbor. This will be it's third year sitting vacant. So so sad. We still drive over periodically & talk to the neighbors (we've gotten to know them!).

    The house we wrote the offer on is also here in Mystic. It would have been perfect for our needs that have changed since my lupus diagnosis. I don't think we're destined to move?! lol

    /t

  • ncrealestateguy
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    OK... NO ONE knows when the botom will occur. We can only look back in the past, and exclaim, "there it was!"

    NAR's Cheif Economist is a joke. But let's realize that NAR has the best interests of the profession at heart...

    Since Jan. 15 of this year, Sales here have really picked up. I am writing offers on homes that have multiple offers on them. I am receiving phone calls from Buyers, and for the first time in 6 months or so, I feel like I am busy. Most of these are first time home buyers or investors.
    So, SOMETHING, has definately changed, and it's not just the weather.
    Buyers will determine where the bottom is, not you, me, nor the government, and right now, buyers are starting to feel that there are good deals out there. Now, an increase in buyers and sales does not translate into immediate price stabilization. There is soooo much inventory out there, that it will take time for these buyers to eat up the excess inventory. But when that does, then the price bottom will have been reached.

  • fixizin
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Kudos to Tricia! After first teasing us by putting out the "chips and pretzels", she eventually comes through with the Beluga caviar and Nova Scotia lox, and other solid morsels and good tidings! I agree, those are all beneficial trends you listed.

    Admittedly, my "sensors" are a bit skewed, being dead-center in the worst of bubble zones (Miami-Ft. Laud.), with some of the sleaziest of mortgage originators. OTOH, many FL banks are big into South American narco-$$, so that's a recession-proof biz which should cushion them... can you say bittersweet? =:O

  • dreamgarden
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    triciae-"Maybe, we'll see better numbers next month. February sales did show signs of a bottom."

    "Fourth, people are buying homes again. As prices have declined the affordability index is allowing millions of new buyers into the market every month (combined with government supported low interest rates). In fact, with rates this low DH is selling every closed mortgage keeping nothing in portfolio feeling the rate risk to the institution is too high. The good news is that he can sell those mortgages...including jumbos (they are not limited to just Fannie or Freddie). That means credit is not as frozen as six months ago. That's good, right? Right."


    Right! Here is why I do not believe we have seen the 'bottom' of the housing market yet:

    7 Reasons Why the Big, Bad Bear Will Return
    by Sean Brodrick 04-08-09

    Reason #5:
    Itâs Probably WA-A-A-AY Too Soon
    To Call a Bottom in the Housing Market

    Youâll notice that the number of seriously delinquent loans was accelerating through the fourth quarter. Whatâs more, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index for January fell 19 percent compared to the same month a year ago, reflecting an acceleration from the 18.6 percent year-over-year decline reported for December.

    And the problem is likely to get worse â¦

    Some 700,000 homes across the country stand in whatâs called a âshadow inventory.â These are houses that have been taken back by banks but not yet given to a real estate agent to sell.

    Hereâs another frightful factoid: U.S. home prices have never bottomed while unemployment is still rising. And as I showed you in reason #2 above, we havenât seen the high tide in job losses yet.

    Bottom line: We wonât know weâve hit bottom in the housing market until after the fact. And it will take months, maybe years, for the housing market to work off its problems.......


    A link that might be useful:

    www.moneyandmarkets.com/7-reasons-why-the-big-bad-bear-will-return-3-33047

  • dreamgarden
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    fixizin-"A "bottom"? LOL! You write with the longing voice of an RE Agent, looking at those Year 2005 commission check stubs.

    In a FUNCTIONING economy, the bottom would be Year 2000 prices, since virtually ALL real estate price increases since then have been "froth" created by the bankSters on Wall Street. I mean, where have ACTUAL wages and salaries (not incl. RE commissions) gone since 2000? Almost nowhere. Ergo, *HOW* can RE price rises since 2001 be SUSTAINED? Answer: they simply can't... except through financial CHICANERY, and we really can't SURVIVE any more of that!

    However, the banksters have now DAMAGED the ACTUAL (not just paper) economy so severely, that RE prices may drop straight THROUGH 2000 prices, and settle at 1991 levels. =:O RTC fire sales, anyone?


    Fixizin, you must be reading my mind! Here is an article that supports what you have been saying (link below):


    "Home prices continue to plummet. And every real estate agent must know that the S&P Case-Shiller 20-city housing price index has dropped for 30 months in a row and the most recent numbers showed the largest drop in history by falling 2.8 percent in just the last 30 days on top of a 19 percent drop in the last 12 months.

    Not everybody in the real estate business is that clueless. For example, a bank analyst at Caylon Securities issued a loud warning earlier this week when he predicted that the percentage of loans that American banks will need to write off in the next few years will exceed levels during the Great Depression.

    Here is how he described whatâs coming:

    âThe seven deadly sins of banking include greedy loan growth, gluttony of real estate, lust for high yields, sloth-like risk management, pride of low capital, envy of exotic fees, and anger of regulators.â"

    A link that might be useful:

    Liar, liar pants on fire: Your neighborhood real estate agent
    by Tony Sagami
    April 8, 2009

    www.uncommonwisdomdaily.com/liar-liar-pants-on-fire-
    your-neighborhood-real-estate-agent/

  • fixizin
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks dreamgarden. Like you, I can't see a macro, nationwide bottom in housing until I see a macro, nationwide bottom in unemployment. And while I do concede that a bottom in both could occur before achieving what I consider necessary transparency in bank balance sheets, I hope the transparency is forced on the banks... sooner the better.

    (Already .gov is openly silencing results of the so-called "stress tests"... thus the stock market responded with it's own stress test today--SP500 *DOWN* over 4.25% in one day!)

    Anyway, I think Tricia writes very compellingly, and very honestly, but I fear she and DH are too close to the elephant, metaphorically speaking, and are looking at data from their local area, which, IIRC, is kinda far from any bubble epicenters.

    Here are some of Tricia's points, which inquiring minds need details on:

    In fact, with rates this low DH is selling every closed mortgage keeping nothing in portfolio feeling the rate risk to the institution is too high. The good news is that he can sell those mortgages...including jumbos (they are not limited to just Fannie or Freddie).

    1) Just WHO is buying these new/re-fi'd mortgages which "aren't good enough" for DH's bank (presumably due to yield)?

    Many banks, including DH's, have lowered their interest rates on MMs & CDs to ridiculously low levels to discourage more inflows of cash.

    2) Since banks are paying depositors next to nothing, and getting money for near 0% from Uncle Sugar's Fed discount window, WHY can't they "risk" holding onto 5% mortgages? Especially since the underlying house is now, supposedly, "above water"???

    Now that the shock has worn off, lenders are getting serious about unloading these properties via mass auction or to investors. Investors are again coming back to the market & lenders are selling blocks of REOs.

    Not here in FLL-Miami. Banks are still "dribbling" them out, a few at a time, trying to not "swamp" (collapse) the market... lol. i.e. the tax rolls show MANY properties owned by "Bank of _____", but when I drive by said properties, a large % have no signage at all... just the unkempt lawn, and other "signs" of foreclosure.

    Same with SHORT SALES; some say so, right on the realtor yard sign, but many others you "have to ask"... hoping against hope.

  • triciae
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    fixizin,

    Unemployment will not improve until after we've bottomed. It's a lagging indicator.

    Most banks already have clarity in their balance sheets. I so wish people on this forum would stop referring to "banks" as if, somehow, they are all just divisions of each other. Most, as in the vast majority, have healthy balance sheets. They are lending. They don't understand all the talk about "tight credit" because their originators & underwriters are chugging right along. In April, so far, purchase money mortgage applications are running ahead of refinances.

    Well, it's true. We are close to the "elephant". DH is still sitting on that darn Advisory Board. We'll both be glad when his term is over. In the meantime, he receives whatever national numbers are available as soon as they are available.

    I'm not allowed to tell you who is purchasing the jumbos DH's staff is originating. I can say that these investors are NOT using taxpayer funds.

    Rate Risk:

    DH does NOT BORROW from the Fed Window. They rely on deposits from their customers. If rates rise & they have to start paying 5.5% on CDs & their loan portfolio was paying 5.25% (these numbers are just for example)...they could not pay the light bill. The Fed rates have some relevance but very little. DH does LEND overnight funds through the Fed but that's not the issue. The issue is just simply what they have to pay for funds versus what they can earn. They work on a very narrow margin. Remember, if a bank earns 1% ROA they have done very well. I'm back to my earlier comments about most banks still operating like they always have...there's no "Sugar Daddy" involved.

    We are not the only ones seeing improving trend lines near the epicenter as evidenced by the article linked below, dated today. This article basically repeats what I said here two weeks ago.

    There will NOT be a "This is the Bottom" public announcement over the loudspeakers. If you call it within 5%...that's darn good. Recoveries are not straight up. They also don't happen over the entire country at the strike of midnight on the same day. It's more of a wave motion.

    Stress Testing:

    Gawd, how I wish the Feds would not have suddenly thrown this term on the public! Now, everybody seems to think it's something new & sinister.

    DH stress tests his interest rate risk monthly & always has (and always will). Credit risk is tested more like quarterly with mini-runs in between. The TARP banks being stressed now by the Feds are beefed up versions of normal stress testing, we're presuming since DH isn't a TARP institution he's not receiving direct info on the testing.

    Credit risk has been increasing...there's no doubt about that. I noted earlier that this increase is being reflected by late payments. But, the "Over 30 Days" delinquencies are holding steady.

    DH has been doing frequent media interviews (TV, radio talk shows, print, etc.). There's a "tone" difference in Q&A noticeable back in early March. The fear factor seems to be subsiding. Less fear should translate into better decision-making both public & corporate. For about six months the country was practically frozen from fear. That seems to have broken with folks knuckling down & restructuring.

    I'm not saying there's not going to be bad news that's yet to come. What I'm saying is that we are very nearly through the worst of this mess. Recovery is hard to define? I'm not really even thinking about recovery. I'm focused on where the elevator's at! You've heard practically nothing from me in the past six months because the fog was so thick I didn't have any faith even in what DID seem visible. Now, I'm optomistic. We're going to be fine...different, but fine. Six months ago, I was truly worried about a rolling collapse of the financial system. That's not going to happen. We've got thousands of perfectly healthy financial institutions that want to lend. I'm also not saying that the money-center banks will come out of this looking the same as going in...I fully expect to see new leaders. Some bankers made very bad decisions. Very bad & they will pay for those decisions. They already have. Personally, I'd like to see the Feds give some assistance to smaller institutions to take up the slack. But, if DH is any indicator...he doesn't want the Feds anywhere near his office! :)

    /t

  • fixizin
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    First off, let me state a simple truism that applies (I bet) to most on this forum: I'm NOT in the banking biz... so thanks in advance for your forbearance, and educational insights.

    Unemployment will not improve until after we've bottomed. It's a lagging indicator.

    Well, that's the mantra, chanted so often that it becomes "truth". The problem is that it suggests that UNemployed peeps can get mortgages... as many did in 2005. Surely DH's bank is not ready to let those "good times" roll again? =:O

    Admittedly, that is simple-minded, and ass-umes only owner-occupied buying, not other capital sources, e.g. REITs, which might well cause a housing upturn before general employment turns upward. I B gittin' smarter as I type this...lol. So... am I close? Is that a mechanism at work?

    I'm not allowed to tell you who is purchasing the jumbos DH's staff is originating.

    Umm... Homeland Security? ;') What if I'm a stockholder, no, better yet, senior BONDholder, in DH's bank... THEN can I see the secret squirrel info? Seems like it should be public info, just like my sale price and closing date.

    Anyway, where I'm somewhat lost, is on the one hand you're saying DH is selling off every mortgage he originates out the side door--presumably for a lump sum--while "discouraging" depositors from bringing cash in the front door...? Now sure, the lump sums are free and clear, while deposits come with an interest-bearing obligation, but that rate of return is FIXED, for the term of the CD (and quite LOW right now), yes/no? I don't see any "runaway" risk there. Rates go to 6%, DHub is still paying 1.25% on those April 2009 CDs... paid off with those 5.25% April 2009 originated non-meth-addict mortgages... oui/non?

    Besides, there are firm laws of economics at work, all the time. When have banks EVER been "forced" to make loans for LESS than they're paying out to depositors?? If memory serves, when CDs go to 5.5%, it's because mortgages are at 10.75%!

    We are close to the "elephant". DH is still sitting on that darn Advisory Board... In the meantime, he receives whatever national numbers are available as soon as they are available.

    Did his latest data include the fact that both the Fannie and Freddie (aka Phony and Fraudy) moratoriums on foreclosures (quietly) ended on March 31, 2009? Don't you find it a tad "funny" that these programs started with such enormous fanfare back in Nov., but ended with a whimper, buried below the fold, back on p. 17-G?? Hmmmm... I smell the wimpish-ness of Turbo Tax Timmy again.

    Could this not be a huge reason why: Lastly, DH feared that 2009 would bring huge increases in foreclosures. That hasn't materialized... ?? Or, no... hold it... does DH even CARE about FNMA and FHLMC paper, or just what HIS bank is holding? What scope of data were you referring to in that reportage?

    Stress Testing:

    Gawd, how I wish the Feds would not have suddenly thrown this term on the public! Now, everybody seems to think it's something new & sinister.

    No, no... no. It's not the concept, the name, or even the test itself that's sinister, but ONCE AGAIN... (*insert ghost of Richard M. Nixon here*) it's the shameless COVERUP (of the results)! The absolutely patronizing way "Daddy" Gov thinks that withholding bad news from the "children" is "good for them".

    Trouble is, there ain't no kiddies working on Wall St., just hardnose SOBs who MUST be able to quantify risk. This requires HONEST balance sheets. If .gov won't use its mandated authority to "show the books" in a civilized way, then the market is forced to do it in a much more crude fashion--SHORT 'em 'til they fess up!

    A pox on Obama, and his choice of an invertebrate for SecTreas in these trying times.

  • jeri
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Fixizin If I could Rec your post I would. :-)

  • fixizin
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Fixizin If I could Rec your post I would. :-)

    If by "Rec" you mean record(?), as in save the text, there are several ways to do so: cut&paste, or click on 'File' and then 'Save As'... or... am I TOTALLY missing the mark? ;') Sorry, I was dropped on my head in college, and now I rent properties for 2x the mortgage, lol.

    Thanks for the NYTimes link... VEDDY interesting take by Goldman Sachs on Miami-FLL-Boca area. I'm in no hurry either. Besides, as in EVERY other RE downturn I know of, there's no "bounce" at the bottom--it STAYS down for YEARS (e.g. 1992-2000). No hurries indeed. OTOH, the rental market is great!

  • jeri
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tee Hee Rec as in Recommend your post to be read by others. :-)

    I take it your not a Fool? Motley Fool (fool.com) Recs are a BIG thing in the message boards over there.

    Basically, I wanted you to know that I support and appreciate your posts. :-)

    Jeri

  • fixizin
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks much, and for the NYTimes link. I drifted away from ragingbull and m-fool some time back... the chaff-to-wheat ratio got a bit high... data fog... or maybe I just got cranky, LOL.

    We have to stay zoomed out and grasping the REALLY BIG PICTURE, which is, we have a financial system that is so highly centralized, and so fragile, (and so CORRUPT), that perhaps as few as 100 gov/private/GSE oligarchs can literally destroy the civilized world!

    PS: Hope Tricia is OK.

  • triciae
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi, I'm back. Spent a few days in NY making the rounds of doctors/labs, etc. I've got a new disease to add to my "collection". Now, I've been diagnosed with this weird thing called Sjogren's Disease. It's not fun. I'm depressed & cranky. I've already got a neuro problem, thyroid disease, lupus, & I'm a cancer survivor. Now this. Geesh, I'm falling APART! Told DH he made a serious mistake by NOT purchasing an extended warranty on me! :)

    Look, the bottom line is we can look for snakes under the rocks or we can look for rainbows. Take your pick. I'm an optomist & I see signs of the housing market bottoming. Again though with the caveat that a "bottom" is not a event...it's a process.

    My comment on the stress testing was meant to convey that stress testing is not new. Those 19 banks have been stress testing all along this journey. The media is making it sound like somebody just thought up this procedure in response to the financial implosion. That's the part that's untrue. The way the Feds & the administration have handled the stress testing has put them in a "h@ll if you do & h@ll if you don't" situation regarding the release of stress test data. Personally, I see no need for release.

    /tricia

  • User
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Triciae,

    Those miserable autoimmune diseases! What a rotten deal. I hope that you are getting the very best of care.

    As to releasing the "stress test" results, the majority of commentators argue that until the murk is cleared away investment will remain paralyzed. Second, IMO, is the need to rationalize to the public (and very probably the Congress) whatever action is to be taken regarding the nonsalvageble insolvents.