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Another Housing Bottom This Year (Maybe)
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2012 Jun 29, 5:53am 51,423 views 89 comments
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As for your point of the "top quartile" of Americans doing well, I didn't respond to it because the amount of households that make $150,000+ is about 5% according to IRS data.
Is that what you feel is normal? 5% of the nation being perfectly okay with stagnant wages? I'm not sure what your point was to be honest.
The top 20% of Americans have not had stagnant wages. Those 20% are the ones that are buying homes, especially in metro coastal areas. Furthermore, it's that 20% that are investing either as small investors or in pools of money that are buying up multiple homes. We're trending towards more homes being held by fewer people.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/business/economy/new-indications-housing-recovery-is-under-way.html?_r=1&hpw
Okay, this is my first posted Real Estate Discussion, please feel free to tear apart at will. I expect nothing less.
Articles like this irritate me, so I thought I would take quotes from the article and write my housing bear thoughts, which the article did evoke.
1.) "Joe {Last Name}, a real estate agent in the Minneapolis suburb of Eden Prairie, said he recently concluded a streak of 13 consecutive bidding wars over homes that his clients wanted to buy. Each sold above the asking price."
-- I just don't buy these stories and every time there is an opportunity to search for the sales record I can't find it.
2.) "Millions of people remain underwater" & "Millions of families still face forclosure"
-- So how in the hell is there a housing recovery and / or bottom?
3.) "Our sense is that the market is recovering"
-- Well, isn't that reassuring. Data? A thread of evidence?
4.) "The trend is clear in the data. The widely respected S.&P./Case-Shiller index reported earlier this week that sales prices for existing homes rose in April for the first time this year." & "Indeed, in a growing number of areas demand for homes is outstripping supply."
-- Yes, that is true. There is no inventory. Why? Please refer to # 2
5.) "This is the fourth consecutive year that the housing market has shown signs of revival, and each previous episode ended with prices renewing their downward slide."
-- And this year is different because?
6.) "Government efforts to help homeowners have intensified, allowing more borrowers to refinance or avoid foreclosure."
-- Yes.
7.) "The influx of investors is a major reason that the market is looking stronger"
-- Really? Ok, in what way? True, Wall Street is a cash cow for a few.
8.) "And the rise in prices is happening despite the vast number of vacant houses awaiting buyers, up to two million more than the normal level, with several million more houses still at risk of being foreclosed."
-- Again, this indicates a recovery?
9.) "There are still reasons for caution."
-- Agreed.
#housing