patrick.net

Sometimes I think I would be better off not knowing this stuff.

TRUTH!!! Housing is doomed!!! Thanks for the post.

I slaved my life away and built real, useful stuff and Uncle Sam took a lot of it. Uncle Sam promised, that when I got old, he'd send me slips of paper other people would need to pay their property taxes and I could trade those for services and real stuff. I was young and trusting. Turns out Uncle Sam and his friends bought themselves private jets, yachts, huge estates, and offshore factories and bank accounts.

In the chart showing the 'shadow' inventory, what does the large area called "existing" refer to?

@E-man
Bank-owned and foreclosed properties have a major distinction: They are sold differently. A foreclosed property may or may not be sold at a sheriff’s auction. In fact, most foreclosure auctions do not even result in bids or a successful sale...
In those cases, the ownership of the property reverts to the mortgage holding bank, which will sell the home ...

Billybigrig says

In those cases, the ownership of the property reverts to the mortgage holding bank, which will sell the home ...

Not likely. Might sell a few so they still appear to be a bank, but hoarding real estate that might actually be worth something is the new bankster hedge against worthless currency.

taxee says

hoarding real estate that might actually be worth something

..and eventully sells the home to a speculator, FHA welfare reccipient or too a $500,000 purchase or more that delivers an automatic VISA...

Billybigrig says

hoarding real estate that might actually be worth something

..and eventully sells the home to a speculator, FHA welfare reccipient or too a $500,000 purchase or more that delivers an automatic VISA...

good reason for at least a $100 million bonus. Twice that if you sell it under the table to a hedge fund.

Doesn't this shadow inventory almost guarantee that home prices are going to plummet? I remember looking at the housing data in 2006 and it looks similar to what we are seeing now.

It could take a while before they have to sell. Monopoly power can manipulate markets for a long time: De Beers is well known for its monopolistic practices throughout the 20th century, whereby it used its dominant position to manipulate the international diamond market.[6][18] The company used several methods to exercise this control over the market: Firstly, it convinced independent producers to join its single channel monopoly, it flooded the market with diamonds similar to those of producers who refused to join the cartel, and lastly, it purchased and stockpiled diamonds produced by other manufacturers in order to control prices through supply.[19]
In 2000, the De Beers model changed,[19] due to factors such as the decision by producers in Russia, Canada and Australia, to distribute diamonds outside of the De Beers channel, thus effectively ending the monopoly.[6][18]
In November 2011 the Oppenheimer family announced their intention to sell the entirety of their 40% stake in De Beers to Anglo American plc thereby increasing Anglo American's ownership of the company to 85%.[20] The transaction is worth £3.2 billion ($5.1bn) in cash and will end the Oppenheimer dynasty's eighty year ownership in the world's largest diamond miner, if successful.[21][22]

Real Estate is the largest asset class, thus its total collapse would send the world economy into a global depression.

One must remember that the "housing bubble" was not limitted to the U.S., but spread to many economies. Spain, Ireland, the U.K., and Iceland are examples. Only Iceland took the right path out.

Billybigrig says

@E-man

Bank-owned and foreclosed properties have a major distinction: They are sold differently. A foreclosed property may or may not be sold at a sheriff’s auction. In fact, most foreclosure auctions do not even result in bids or a successful sale...

In those cases, the ownership of the property reverts to the mortgage holding bank, which will sell the home ...

Billy,

I'm reading your definition, and it appears that you don't have a very deep understanding of foreclosed and bank owned properties. The term sheriff sale is applied to judicial states. Since you're in CA, do you know the difference between foreclosed and bank owned properties. Did you know that we don't call it sheriff sale in CA?

Billy, I am worried about your chances for a passing grade from Professor E-man. Have you been attending properly to his lectures?

Billy is gone now.

no more neg news. what to do?