patrick.net

errc says

Take a 20 dollar bill back to 1999 and buy a gallon of milk, a gallon of gas, a bottle of water, a pack of chokes, a meal for one, send a letter with a stamp, make a phone call, go to the movies,,,,,

OK, here's a site that shows some of the prices in 1999.

http://www.1990sflashback.com/1999/Economy.asp

As you can see, milk was $3.32 and stamps were $.33. So, stamps have increased $.11 and milk has remained about the same. Obviously no price doubling there... Gallon of gas has gone from $1.17 to ~2.80ish depending on where you live. No surprise there.

movie ticket prices can be found here:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/about/adjuster.htm
1999 ave. price was $5.08 and 2009 est ave. price is $7.18. Certainly not doubled.

I think you get the picture. Like I said--other than oil/gas, inflation hasn't been high over the last 10 years...

tatupu70,

I have done those kinds of analyses myself, ad naseum, to form an opinion about purchasing power. Looking at "stuff" and also discretionary expenses like flights, I got similar picture that you shared.

But that is not a complete picture. Please include, in your analysis, these expenses:

taxes, weighted to the tax jurisdictions where you live or spend;
medical expenses. This'd include the premiums you pay;
if you have kids or might have them, or if you plan to go back to school yourself- tuition;
(if you use it or plan to)- child care.

Then decide if the purchasing power of your dollars hasn't gone down all that much.

@sybrib--

I don't think taxes have increased in the last 10 years overall, but it is very situation dependent. But, I agree that child care and medical expenses have increased faster than inflation over the last decade. But there are also many expenses that haven't increased as fast as inflation. There will obviously be some higher than average, and some lower than average...

Quoting only those that increased faster and disregarding the others gives a distorted view.

staynumz says

Kevin says

Clearly, since it’s a french company making the vaccine, it’s a conspiracy by the french islamofascistliberalterrorists to take over the US and turn us all into gay french muslims.

The french do not have to help us with that. We already have the left in this country doing thier best to make men, less manly. Take you, for example. Just sayin.

Yea, numz. You appear less manly as a result of his posts... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/01/skokie-vaccinated-offers_n_375037.html http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/clayton_state_has_h1n1_vaccine_surplus_112409 http://blogs.journalism.wisc.edu/badgerreport/h1n1-vaccine-surplus http://cbs2.com/swineflu/Swine.Flu.Vaccine.2.1309346.html http://www.silobreaker.com/canadas-h1n1-vaccine-surplus-being-sent-abroad-5_2262716706797387818 http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/health&id=7119084 http://www.abc4.com/news/local/story/Thousands-line-up-for-H1N1-vaccine-in-Davis-County/hzo0RxEpv0-meZX6Bv2_-w.cspx

Nomograph says

none2 says

This is the most insane blog entry I’ve seen in a while.

Staynumz simply repeats what he heard on AM talk radio that day. He is not a man who thinks for himself.

thats odd, I felt that you and staynumz had similar arch-conservative ideas....along with BAP33...what gives? Have I mis-read your policy stances?

Nomograph says

Most people hold some beliefs that might be classified as conservative and some beliefs that might be classified as liberal. In other words, most folks aren’t married to an ideological stand.

Strictly speaking, does that mean that in some manner most people swing both ways? Ideologically, I mean...

tatupu70 says

Quoting only those that increased faster and disregarding the others gives a distorted view.

lol .. and THAT never happens here!! lmao. THought you'd laugh too.

Count me in.

You're a doctor, couldn't you make him your type? :)

Happiness and Family

great list
#10 is #1

1) even if he had ever been right, he was so offensive that no one listened to him.

2) imho, even tho prices did drop, they're still so far out of line with reality - and the foreclosures march on - that they'll drop again.

Anything under the FHA limit -- $729,750 -- will have buoyancy in these times.

3% down on $700K is $17,000, the government gift covers half of that, plus you can chisel closing cash from the seller in this buyer's market.

4.5% interest rates give us an actual monthly carrying cost of $2800.

That cash flows compared to rents so prices are NOT out of line at the moment.

Now, buying now is hazardous since if/when rates go back to 7% and stay there prices will have to adjust down to $500,000 or so.

Troy,

3% down on $700k is $21k.

FHA requires 3.5%...so it is $24.5 down, so the gov gift would closer to a third.

Also, I calculate $700k with $24.5k down @ 4.5% gives a monthly of $3424. Not sure where your numbers came from.

I agree that buying now is hazardous, just not with your math.

Speaking of people Long Gone but not forgotten, I wonder whatever happened to BearMarket... he was on the extreme other side of the spectrum, predicting 50% to 80% price drops, and extolling the virtues of Oil City, PA.

Prices may have stabilized, but how much of that is due to government intervention? When the stimulus stops then what... it's like a global game of musical chairs.... just be sure you not left standing when the music stops.

now that's funny!

There's no way you die as a bear and come back as a duck.

Bearmarket lost his virginity at the Oil City bus stop, then applied to Phoenix University.

Don't you love the people that can't think of anything that has increased in price? Off the top of my head, oil, nat gas, electrciity, sugar, chocolate, wheat, coffee, rice, gold, silver, copper, nickel, aluminum, coal, wood, train tickets, plane tickets, tolls, COLLEGE TUITION, HEALTH CARE.

elvis says

Our politicians are destroying the economy. They are hijacking private business and are stealing our money and our children’s future.

you're writing words but are expressing emotions, unsupportable falsehoods, and vague agit-prop ("Won't anyone think of the children!")

The economy has been imploding since NAFTA -- Perot was right. After transfering our manufacturing to our trading partners we're going to have to devalue our currency in response, since AFAICT making the balance of payments differential in services is a pipe dream.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/MZM

The GUI and internet revolutions increased local productivity in the 90s, deferring the bill, but this decade should have been one of retrenchment, until the powers-that-be got the bright idea of blowing the mother of all asset bubbles in real estate (assuming the various policy changes and monetary policies were intentional and not just one big honking accident), ca 2002-2006.

Once that bubble souffled we're left in a situation somewhat like Japan, 1990. I'm no macroeconomist and I don't know anything -- "I don't have any solution but I certainly admire the problem" as Ashleigh Brilliant says.

Private business is screwed. We are living beyond our means. 5-10% of the population owns 50-60% of the wealth. Things are going to have to change and be changed: higher taxes, lower real estate prices and rents, more wealth creation and less rentierism.

Well, if I were King that's what I would push.

Troy says

Perot was right.

I voted for Ross.

Syncopation says

I calculate $700k with $24.5k down @ 4.5% gives a monthly of $3424. Not sure where your numbers came from.

I don't count principal repayment as part of the carrying cost, and the tax credit on the mortgage interest & prop tax is ~$1400/mo.

As for the DP discrepancy, that's the kickback from buying via eg. ziprealty.

Troy says

I don’t count principal repayment

Where are you getting your interest only loans these days?

"The price dropped almost $150/sq ft since then! It has since rebounded a slight bit, but the overall price went from $500 to $375 per square foot representing a 25% drop...Two points: (1) OTS was dead wrong; (2) prices appear to be rising."

LOL! I wonder if OTS ever figure out prices of homes ran around $125/sqft before the bubble per 1998, or median prices were $200-225K around the Bay Area. A single snap shot of 'market volatility' as Robert Shiller described the recent blip, is hardly a turn in the market. This is the 'catching the falling knife' phase of the bubble. Further declines are in order.

totallyscrewed123 says

Where are you getting your interest only loans these days?

principal repayment is a form of savings, so I don't count it as a carrying cost in my calculations.

This is assuming the appreciation of the land at least matches depreciation on the fixed asset plus deferred maintenance costs.

"was on the extreme other side of the spectrum, predicting 50% to 80% price drops"

yes some places have seen this already. Not so extreme after all. Somewhat right on the money.
Marco median home prices drop 62 percent in past year; biggest fall in Florida
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/feb/26/marco-island-median-home-price-falls-62-january-bi/

Florida FHFA Home Price Appreciation Tracker
http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/Florida.html

http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/Florida2.html

http://www.housingbubblebust.com/OFHEO/Major/SoCal.html

The last correction lasted a very long time in SoCal 4+ years until it 'bottomed'..
currently SD is only 2.5 years into the decline. Quarter over quarter still declining.

All this plastic crap we're buying is actually consumer and (some) capital goods, a form of wealth. Unfortunately, this wealth is somewhat ephemeral in that its service life is generally measured in years not decades.

The Chinese are practicing labor arbitrage quite well, we don't live or work like Chinese laborers so their lower costs have enabled them to hollow out our light industry.

The Feds collectively owe $800B to the Chinese and $750B to the Japanese. Perhaps we can cover the debt by selling Alaska to China and Hawaii to Japan.

I don't know what's going on with Japan this century. They're in demographic decline and while very wealthy this wealth is cross-held against a massive government debt and deficit.

As for China, AFAICT we've got to see the yuan go to 4 or 3, this will cut that 100% profit margin on ducks down to size, but even so that adjustment will double the Chinese ability to compete for natural resources against the dollar and euro blocs, assuming the yuan becomes a third global currency.

I wonder if WW3 is in the cards. Not sure what we'd be fighting for but IMO much of the Cold War BS was actually a currency-bloc conflict, with Russia and the US proxy fighting to keep countries in their respective currency blocs.

The 19th century was the century of the Sterling, the 20th was the Dollar, perhaps the 21st will be the Yuan.

OFHEO is same-property (longitudinal), not median. Median just says how much buyers can afford, not what they're buying. OFHEO also doesn't count non-conforming, which changes the data somewhat.

Troy says

The GUI and internet revolutions increased local productivity in the 90s, deferring the bill, but this decade should have been one of retrenchment

I have been thinking about this too. Since the explosion of PCs and office automation, many of the business related jobs have become redundant. I expect the same thing to happen in the healthcare industry soon. We are losing manufacturing and business support jobs. This was temporarily filled by real-estate/finance related jobs but what is our future? I don't know if California survive as an idea economy like is has been claimed.

Also ... I wasn't paying attention during NAFTA debates ... and just assumed it allowed free trade within north America. Does it also impact trade between us and other emerging economies?

^ I think NAFTA got the ball rolling, and it rolled right over to Guangdong.

Troy says

^ I think NAFTA got the ball rolling,

Nah! in the SF Bay Area it started back in the late 80s. Much of the HW production moved to South East Asia and helped create 'Asian Tiger' nations to boom. Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan.

totallyscrewed123 says

he GUI and internet revolutions increased local productivity in the 90s, deferring the bill, but this decade should have been one of retrenchment

You give too little credit to the Mainframes which started back in the 60-70s. Not to mention explosion in Software, like ASK ManMan ERP, or the host of Email / Collaboration. Even back in the 80s we had chats and IMs ....Clunky but it was the same stuff you see today.

c:/*.* d:\data\file\*.* Look familiar

Past tense, we already lost our manufacturing/support many years ago.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fha3-2009dec03,0,5834812.story

Reporting from Los Angeles and Washington Alejandro Lazo -- Thousands of Southern California home buyers, and millions nationwide, will have to come up with more cash and reach higher minimum credit scores to get a government-backed mortgage under changes unveiled by the Federal Housing Administration.

Some loans might require more than the current 3.5% minimum down payment, but the Obama administration is resisting calls for an across-the-board hike. Instead, it is looking at other ways to increase the amount of cash at closing, such as requiring borrowers to pay more of their mortgage insurance premiums up front.

The FHA, which insures mortgages with low down payments, is scrambling to balance its increasingly important role in propping up the housing market with faltering finances of its own that could require a government bailout.

The agency's share of home loans has surged from 3% in 2006 to nearly 30% this year as credit has tightened and borrowers' bank accounts have been depleted. But that increased exposure has led to more defaults, driving the FHA's reserves below their mandated levels.

"We've learned from recent history that the market is fragile, and we have to plan for the unexpected," Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, who oversees the agency, said at a House hearing Wednesday.

What I saw happening all over CA was the new version of flipping.
Only low cash offers were taken.
Example....Offer 75k for a 200k place that would normally go to a 'loan'.
Overnight flip it to the next guy/entity for 175k.
Then the property goes back on the market for the original higher price.
The 1st person just made a killing.
Why not repeat that.
Do it a few times and now youve made a sizeable chunk to put towards a big McMeaty place.
Movin' on up.

Its not just happening in Fla 'insider' repo market...it is happening all over.
Meanwhile, the inventory piles up.

"Banks" arent making loans....they will take your cash tho.

speaking of old characters, i wonder what happened to this guy http://sdcia.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=1854186&trail=30
and casey serin?

There were a lot of Alt-A mortgages taken out on the peninsula in the last few years before the peak. Many were Interest Only. By definition, the vast preponderance of the people who took these loans out could not afford a healthy mortgage. What makes you think that three years+ later that they'll be able to afford a higher mortgage payment?? (from their Interest Only loans recasting to regularly amoritizing loans) I've got two relatives in this situation in highly sought after areas on the peninsula and the one family will not likely run into serious problems until 2016. They paid $950,000 for a 53-year old POS, and now comps are going for $100k - $200k less. And this is with interest rates hovering at historic lows. Wait until rates begin going up (they will). And they act like they have no concern (knowledge?) of the graveness of their situation. Instead, they are having another baby.

The nicer areas of the Bay Area have much trouble ahead.

Once again I STRONGLY disagree that rates going up will force the price of real estate down. Not only does most historical precedent say otherwise

God*DAMN*it. :)

You can't compare the 1970s to the 2010s. 50 million indians weren't on the ARPANET back then and phone calls from the third world to & from here weren't free, either. 1.3 billion Chinese weren't fully integrated into our economy. The baby boomers were turning 30 not 70. Unions still had pull to raise wages. Two-income families was still something of a novelty when Mary Tyler Moore was on. Tax rates were beginning to move DOWN from historical highs not UP from historical lows as now. The country was running something of a rational Federal budget in the 1960s and there was an actual trade surplus in the early 1970s.

All things being equal, it should be incontrovertible that higher rates will put downward pressure on prices. Housing is MUCH more precarious now because every factor listed in the previous paragraph is running in REVERSE now.

Quant HF Mgr says

There were a lot of Alt-A mortgages taken out on the peninsula in the last few years before the peak. Many were Interest Only.

Yes. Given prices doubled by 2000 30 year fixed were unworkable. Even with low rates the payments were unworkable for homebuyers.

One relative bought near the peak for $1,070,000 in San Ramon. Late last month a neighbor's house that sold for $1,169,000 at the peak sold [back to the bank via NOTS] for $762,000 and is now for sale for $752,400. That's 35% off, and prices will not stop there. That entire neighborhood of homes like that will go back to $500k-$600k, and I may be being generous here.

Too, I see a lot of people citing "how it used to be" in the 80s or another decade, or citing averages going back a few decades, and acting like that is a sure fire bet for mean reversion (and no further) now. That's not much data. I like the European housing market study (Holland, I think) that studies home prices over 300+ years....home prices only keep up with wage inflation. Guess where home prices are going again? The Bay Area has been in a bubble since the early 80s....all bets are off now. Think long term mean reversion and fundamentals. Wage inflation = house appreciation in the long run.

Quant HF Mgr says

Too, I see a lot of people citing “how it used to be” in the 80s or another decade, or citing averages going back a few decades, and acting like that is a sure fire bet for mean reversion (and no further) now. That’s not much data.

Wow.. not even I would use 80s numbers.. Our last balanced, normal years was 1997. Using the same logic regarding inflation and median prices 3.5-4x incomes.