patrick.net

Vicente says

The Middle Class has been impoverished by a policy that enriches the banks by inflating housing. Even as our wages have stagnated, housing has taken a gradually larger share of that.

Vicente! about when do you think the banks started this policy of inflating home prices ? And how did they manage to convince buyers that a $200K should really be worth $600K.

or was it more likely some older family member, even a parent convinced their children buy a home in California no matter what the price is ? Uncle Henry always said real estate was and is a sure bet!

I see the Easy Credit problem plainly apparent in the 80's. I'm sure someone else is more versed in the actual history but I know that mid 80's is when I noticed credit card companies bracketing the student center convincing undergrads to take on their cards. Handing out cards along with some schwag to seal the deal on their future debt obligation. The Credit Card industry is one of their better long-term scams. I see it as part of the greater problem. Banks want to convince you "how much a month" is all that matters, and please ignore this yoke we are placing around your neck.....

Student loans, car loans, credit cards, NINJA loans for house, it's all part of the same thing.

To the way of thinking of bankers, they were making a better life "affordable", and just oh-so-coincidentally it lined their pockets as well. They rationalize behavior that is ultimately destructive to society because they must.

Uncle Henry repeats this mantra about "building equity" because everyone else does. One of my neighbor too talks of the great importance of BUILDING EQUITY, makes it sounds like it's the most important thing there is even more than saving money or investing. I doubt he could explain rationally why this is so, and I'm damned if I know why so many people are programmed to believe it's critical. My feeling is the banks and real-estate agents work in partnership to plant this meme and reinforce it at every turn, just like diamond cartel has implanted the idea of "engagement diamond" in the last century when it didn't exist before.

If I could vote again, I'd have voted for McCain.

Not because I like him.

I'd have voted for him because right now we'd be in the exact same position, and it would show all of these fake "fiscal conservatives" for what they really are -- people who just want to maintain the status quo.

And how did they manage to convince buyers that a $200K should really be worth $600K.

I, too, find this fascinating. Suggestion is a powerful thing, especially when it is complementary to the notion of equity wealth/free money. People who *want* to believe are the easiest to convince, and who wouldn't want to believe they had an ATM where their house used to sit? That's why it has become etched into the present-day public mindset that 250K, which 9 or 10 years ago afforded one a veritable spread in most parts of the country, is somehow now the "low end" of housing. I still see places on Zillow that sold for 190 in 2000 that are assessed at almost 350K. Suggestion.

Things will be back to normal (or something approximating it) when the public buys houses/property for one of three reasons:

Tired of the vacillation often inherent with renting
They really love a particular place for its design
They are at a point where it makes more financial sense to buy and they don't mind constant upkeep or being locked in to one region

There are so many more interesting and even gratifying pits to throw your money into, that I could never get into the whole investment angle of real estate, even when friends of mine were hammering it into me during the bubble. It seems like so many other smash-n-grab ventures that the chronically unimaginative seek out to try and magnify their lots in life rather than slowly building something from nothing. In hindsight, I likely could have played hot potato even briefly and made out like a bandit. But the pangs of regret are just not there. It just seemed so...cheap and larcenist. So lame. It still does, even with Uncle Sam's vehement stamp of approval. Vicente has the right idea. Invest in some upstart. Even if you have your ass handed back to you, it will be far more enriching than gambling.

I agree that the crap was going to hit the fan no matter who was in office. Bush's bailout was a bad omen. But, Bush is not a fiscal coservative.

Allowing the reduction of money lending standards to a point where an illegal invader from mexico can sign for a $300K "stated income" loan to over-pay for some stucco-wrapped POS started this garbage .. and NONE of us (conservos or libs or xxxxxx) would have ever voted for that. Not one. That is the vote we needed.

Where is Code Pink?

Here's a cartoon I like that illustrates my point about Quantitative Easing:

The ultimate point of all this Fed Money being shoveled out to the big banks, is that it will "trickle down" to the citizens. How did that "trickle down" theory work out the last few decades? Seems like at best a light mist now and then.

Similarly I don't see the mechanism for massive inflation, or ANY inflation really. If Bernanke mailed everyone a check for $50K sure we'd have inflation tomorrow, but that's not what they are doing. Everything they do seems targetted in fact at making sure it NEVER makes it into the hands of the peasants, as that might make it seem like a DOLE or something I guess. I dunno it's just watching those supposed "money supply" figures/charts seems meaningless because the money they "print" has no appreciable velocity. At best it's propping up a shrinking credit market during the Great Deleveraging.

I agree. The pig is constipated.

Bap33 says

I agree that the crap was going to hit the fan no matter who was in office. Bush’s bailout was a bad omen. But, Bush is not a fiscal coservative.

The point I'm making is that (the vast majority of) the people who think that fiscal conservativism are generally full of shit and just use it as an argument to complain about democrats. They never speak a word about ridiculous spending under every Republican president since Hoover, and they marginalize true fiscal conservatives like Ron Paul.

There would be no Tea Party movement if John McCain was president today. There would just be a bunch of angry people who would be looking for someone to blame.

Kevin says

There would be no Tea Party movement if John McCain was president today. There would just be a bunch of angry people who would be looking for someone to blame.

I agree, let's call these people Democrats.

Not that I would check the box by McCain either. A vote for Democrat or Republican is a wasted vote.

When a Democrat wins the "conservatives" get all riled up and the "liberals" turn a blind eye to all the things that their guy does which go against their liberal philosophy. And vice versa when a Republican takes office. This happens so much so, that it is a wonder anyone really cares who wins. They both do and would have done almost exactly the same things. "Conservatives" Ron Reagan and the Bushes were HUGE government expanders and deficit spenders. "Liberals" Bill Clinton and Barry Obama turned out to be huge war mongers and friends of corporate interests. Go figure. Pander to your base in your stump speeches, win over a few independents and govern as the bankers tell you to and you might get elected or re-elected and avoid assasination.

Austinhousingbubble says

I, too, find this fascinating.

Austin, and I am also amazed. Back in 2005 a family across the street migrated to Calif from Pennsylvania paying 1.5M for a home smaller than mine. They kept talking about how great the Los Gatos was and excited there were living the fine life in CA and price was right. They didnt seem to understand most of the homes were around 200-300K before the bubble started.

Well things didnt go well for them! A year ago the husband, IT director for a start-up was laid off due to acquisition by another company. I see he hasnt landed a full time gig yet. Not yet in foreclosure from what I see, but eventually it will happen. Reality eventually catches up to you.

rileybryan says

OK, so lets say I’m dead wrong about inflation, where do I put my money?

There are many near-cash equivalents. I have my retirement accounts in "inflation-protected bond" fund which is making a few percent. You can actually buy Treasuries direct from the government now, check their web site. There are also desperate banks offering higher CD rates than your local one, and they are FDIC-protected so as safe as well anything else is right now.

My only gold is one of these:
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/ultrahigh/index.cfm?flash=yes
Purchased as a keepsake for my son way down the line.

I do play around with some money in stock market. Largely idle now but I do occasional plays because like anyone else I have a tiny gambling streak in me and might as well let it out for a walk occasionally. I most enjoy tending my Roth IRA account in ETrade which has done fine, I like very much making it grow without having to fret over "if I do this, what are the tax implications" like I do with individual. Even when I was unemployed during last downturn, I funded my Roth. The first item to fund IMO should be your Roth and everything else afterwards.

THE GREAT RESET OF 2010

No money physically changes hands, but all housing related debt is erased, and, if a suitable appraisal is done, all loan balances get reset to that appraised amount if it's lower than what is owed.

Or just convert every housing related loan to non-recourse (other than physical foreclosure) and see what happens.

rileybryan says

GREAT pig pic.
OK, so lets say I’m dead wrong about inflation, where do I put my money? I can’t say cash is really safe, not in my neighborhood.

Where do you live, on the MOON.

Give me your no good rotten cash, I'll contain it properly for you.

Are listening to your self. You need to deprogram man, the Banksters have got you all twisted, to the point you belive the crap that money is bad. One thing I learned in Malaysia, is Money is money, and the currency pegged to your economy is relative.
My counter parts in Malaysia were making 80K ringets a year, that's 1/3 of 80K us D.
But that 80K ringets buys for them in Malaysia if not more, than my 80K buys me here.
Now sure I can take my 80K and go to Malaysia and live like large. But I'm not in Malaysia I'm in America. And to move there, I lose my income from here, and would end up working for Malaysia wages, and be no better off than I am here and now.

I'm saving my money in the bank. I'm not making huge lofty profits, no! But I am not hemorrhaging money from rotten investments of trying to keep up the the Jones'.

If you really want to make money, you've got to go off the grid. If you are perusing the same old tried and true opportunity offered to us lowly saps, you're only foraging over table scraps, the fat cats didn't find any value in.
Real opportunities are found in discoveries.

And make no mistake 90% of the 3 bedroom houses in America that are listing for 200K-300K are headed for 80K-150K(Max).

You can't have a 1800 sq ft house 3br listing for 200K-300K in every Burbdale neighborhood in America, that seems to follow the prices of what that comparable 3br house in the best comunity in those towns last sold for. The fundamentals are "LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION"

When I get frustrated looking in my Prime spot I'd like to buy, then start lowering my standard to look in surounding neighborhoods, that have always been historically 50% of those prime locations, now competing. I get the feeling "Somebody is lying!".

Who is it, which is it, they can't be the same because they are not. When I go to a bar, I don't get charged the same the thing that for any liquid that first in a 12 oz glass. It's based on the content of that glass. Was it Grey Goose or was it Pabst Blue Ribbon on tap?

That is essentially what is going on here. If you are trying to play by their rules, and want to participate, you will be the biggest loser, and will make a very stressed out investor, a very very happy man for dodging the knife.

The close we get to the Tax incentive expiring the more desperate these clowns are to convince you that you will never own a home if you don't buy now.

This too will pass, as silently as "Gitter done" was the catch phrase that summed up the Bush years. "Save the banks and home owners" will just be another embarrassing chapter in American history and lexicon.

See this reminds me of "housing always goes up!".

What is it with the absorbed meme that money must "be at work"?

I have nothing against the idea of investing in a growing business to help it grow. However what most people mean by "putting it to work" is that they want to give it to Bernard Madoff and get a guaranteed 10% whether the market is up or down. They don't really care what the money is doing while it's at summer camp so long as it grows. Money put into someone else's hands is not WORKING FOR YOU it's actually working for some other people. The guys in the middle are milking the cow and maybe you get a few sips after they are done. I used to have illusions I was "buying a piece of TiVO" or various other companies. I have no such illusions now. Wall Street is a big casino that I play and it's fun, but it's only loosely connected to the actual INVESTING in capital improvements that it's supposed to be about.

Is there a perfect answer? No. Stay informed and move it around as needed. To my mind there is ZERO benefit to being ahead of the game actually as you end up like Peter Schiff. Go look up Peter Schiff, he's an inflationista and a money manager. He was right on the the shape of our disaster years before it occurred, but a dismal failure as a money manager largely. His clients lost money. I read his book it had some good information but he's no Oracle.

I like Jim Rogers a lot but I think we all missed the commodities bubble.

If Warren Buffet weren't such an old man, I'd say just buy&hold Berkshire Hathaway. But eventually the old man will kick the bucket and then what happens to his empire?

IF there is an inflation crisis, it will not appear overnight and there will be ample signs for you to take actions. If you miss the first 10% of %1,000 hyperinflation well.... BFD!

Cash is king in deflation. People in my neighborhood for example think they are "investing" in real estate. Well they bought a house that cost $850K 5 years ago but now sells for say $500K. Meanwhile they have to pay it's property tax value still appraised at nearly $900K, appealing that of course for lower but they still have to pay it. They have all these carrying costs and the hope that someday they'll sell it for more than they paid for it. Every time I talk to them they can't do this or that, and can't save any money for retirement cause it's all going into the house. I'd say they are just feeding ....

The Money Hole

rileybryan says

Ok, banks are great but the thing is; they really aren’t. Your money should work for you, not sit there making 0.2% interest.

I'll take every pre depression dollar you have.

You're a victim and don't even know it.

The business mentality of the 90's were "Those bastards have our money and I want it, and I want it now." That sentiment was pounded into the American psyche until the point, that every American wants to be Phat and Living large chasing the Jones'. When 98% of them are not the Man they are the Mark. Trying to parley their hard earned cash, and dreaming of ways to swindle others others out of money for nothing, so much so. That they can't for the life of them selves, fathom, that the very same investment Mr Jones made a fat mint on, was a one of opportunity, he caught some lightening in the bottle. Then sold the very same people with your mentality the "bottle" no the lightening, just the bottle. Now the trick is, to stand out in the rain, and hope lightening strikes again.

I'll take my hard earned green backs thank you very much. As there is one undisputed fact.

Money attracts money. The more you save and have the more it attracts. People with MONEY are in a unique position to turn money into more money, over night transactions. That are a lot safer than placing your money in the market, and letting that lot sort it out.

Give me .02% any freaking day of the week over massive losses.
When the dollar rallies, I get happy, it makes no sense to hear American people bitch about a strong dollar. It seems to me, people have got their priorities messed up.

Patience makes money. The two can't exist with out the other, if you apply one more liberally than the other, you'll quickly run out of both.

I'm not saying I would not invest at some point, I'm just a hell of a lot safer saving, rather than trusting this market.
It's just as likely I will have 105K even if I didn't invest, than what you may end up with 25K in 30 years.

Looking at shadowstats.com, it appears the money supply has gone through the roof recently. http://www.shadowstats.com/article/hyperinflation-2010"

I've pointed this out before, but I really don't think anybody should take John Williams seriously. Just look more closely at his "SGS Alternate CPI":

Chart

(he won't let people repost images)

Just eyeballing it: Inflation according to him was running at around 9% a year since 2000. Really? I don't have access to his actual spread sheet for the precise number (requires paid subscription), but 9% inflation over 10 years is a 136% increase in prices.

136% inflation since 2000. Really?!?!?

Of what? You can maybe point to a few things that have gone up that much (like gas). But food, rent, cars, clothes, phone/cable bills... you know... the things people spend most of their money on?

Even medical expenditures have not gone up that much. And a lot of that is not inflation anyway, but just increased utilization of health services (whether useful or not). Twice as much money spent on hip replacements, MRIs, and Viagra is not 100% inflation. In fact it's 0% inflation if the cost per MRI/pill/surgery is unchanged.

Mr. Williams keeps pumping the same absurd story because he's made a nice career out of it. If you think prices have gone up 136% since 2000, then there is probably nothing I can do to convince you.

I would not be worrying about high inflation right now. Deflation is a much greater threat. The bond market is telling you right now that inflation is not a worry, and will not be for a long time. Commodities are a different story. I think we will likely see higher world commodity prices over the next decade, even as a debt induced hangover is a deflationary pull in many countries (like the US).

At 2% are the people able to afford the mortgage or is that still not enough of a cut?

Curious. Where any of the credit cards from the same banks? I'm guessing the banks figure they can make up the difference with the higher rate credit cards. Perhaps collecting up decent income from there?

Banks are probably hoping to create a more stable environment for themselves, with a more manageable number of people going bust each year, so they can maximize their returns on those properties. If everyone goes bust at once, they have to almost herd everyone through the same process and take massive lumps the entire way through, losing out on people who could have been convinced to keep paying and/or possible lawsuits.

I like your strategy as well, by collecting on this deal and then moving them to chapter 7. Well played if it works out!

When and where did he buy the house, and for how much $$$? How underwater was he?

When and where did he buy the house, and for how much $$$? How underwater was he?

rileybryan says

Thinking about it, it looks like it might make more sense to just pay off student loan debt at 5%

Yes! I assume people talking investment have already paid off debts. Discharge all debts as first priority.

"Poor people pay interest, rich people earn it."

However, the housing market also needs buyers to start moving in. Jontue and Diana Junior just bought a 4-bedroom home in Las Vegas - thanks to the $8,000 federal tax credit for first time homebuyers.

"We knew that once we got into the house -- with $8,000 -- if we managed our money right, we shouldn't lose the house," Jontue said.

But if you do, we'll gladly bail you out you fucking MORONS!

rileybryan says

Quick Search here shows the difference between Japan / US money supply, not sure of the credibility, and I know little about the Japan crisis, but it looks pretty different to me…

You'll notice that spurt of M2 was right after the Lehman collapse. It's called FLIGHT TO SAFETY. Mid 2008 I personally pulled over $100K out of money markets (M3) and put it in a CD (M2). BOOM! Just like that M2 went up $100K. And there were millions like me. What is the point of having money in a non FDIC insured deposit, when the upside is almost nothing?

By the way, what's USD money supply doing now?

In the broadest measure of money supply, M3, growth is NEGATIVE. Even according to the aforementioned Mr. John "hyperinflation" Williams:

M2 looking pretty darned anemic too. Some inflationists on Patrick.net used to rail on about how the money supply was still exploding, and that would lead to inflation (which has it completely backwards anyway, since the inflation happened WHILE the money supply was going up.) Haven't been on the board for a while, but I suspect they haven't had much to say on the subject recently.

rileybryan says

..... I know little about the Japan crisis, but it looks pretty different to me…

Yes Japan is very different.

However it is instructive to look at. Every central banker sells the idea that sustained deflation is UNPOSSIBLE because the benevolent banksters control all the printing presses and they know just which levers to throw to prevent it. EVERY single central banker for the last century has promulgated the idea that deflation is well-nigh extinct. Or at most it's a temporary condition until the central bankers get to work and manufacture up some nice inflation for ya. And yet.... in Japan there has been slow deflation for decades. It was most pronounced during the Lost Decade.

Jawboning inflation is nothing more than attempting to wish it into existence by engendering behavior consistent with "protecting" from it. The propaganda machine for inflation is deeply set. Here's a 1933 film where they tried to brainwash the public how inflation was TO THE PUBLIC BENEFIT rather than the slow wealth transfer it actually is:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3e0_1235601005

If you watch this 1933 film, you'd think that by 1934 at the latest the economy would have been right as rain. But it wasn't.

What do you guys think of shorting real estate ? The Symbol is SRS

SF ace says

Riley, I would not payoff the student loan and here is why. This is a good chance to learn what investment work and does not work. What you learn in investment options will be invaluable later on in life when your savings is far more significant. When you are talking about 10k or so, any mistake is really not that costly. When you work and save hundreds of thousands, the exp in your pocket will be helpful. As a finance guy, all I’m saying is don’t be lazy, passive to your approach.

What the hell are you talking about? How is paying 5% interest on a student loan when it is nearly impossible to beat that return anywhere "learning how investments work"? He's just throwing money away.

Riley,

Leverage is fine if the rate of return exceeds the cost of capital but as you pointed out, I can't think of any investment that's returning over 5%. Pay off your debt ASAP and then start saving money. Once you're saving you can start thinking about where to put that savings.

TMAC54 says

What do you guys think of shorting real estate ? The Symbol is SRS

I played SRS a while back for substantial profits. However short ETF are for suckers these days I think. Any and all insane efforts will be made to prop up Commercial Real Estate, or at least zombify it and give it the public APPEARANCE of life. Anyone making money short in this arena these days will be pros not retail guys like you and me.

Vicente & S.F. Ace.... Thank You both for your experienced insight.

I believe that upward spike (in SRS) was caused by the announcement of failures of subprime mortgages AIG, Bernie, etc.. The peak and immediate crash of srs was caused by a $ 700 billion bailout. Ommitting a new glut of money, ( like the invention of the computer ) wouldn't a particular area's median income establish that area's median sales price. The $ Trillion bailout has not returned Real Property values to where the median incomes start buying. Therefore an additional and significant reduction in sales prices is anticipated either rapidly as the public realizes freddie and fannie are black holing billions, or over the next decade with additional sales gimmicks and continued government bait & switch programs. ie I give you an $ 8000 tax credit if you buy a house that will be worth $ 100,000 less next year .......

On the risk side , I see a long term floor at about $ 7.00.. Are Real Estate prices on their way UP ???

There are 2 separate issues.

CRE prices are out of whack yes. However efforts are being made to overlook late/low payments as long as possible. Tax credits, funny new accounting rules, etc. See Japan. Did RE there march right down to a comfort-zone for the incomes? No it did not, it took a very long time. We're only 5 years past the bubble pop, people are calling bottom MUCH too early. They are more used to stock bubbles which might stabilize in a mere 5 years, but not RE which is less liquid and slower-moving.

(blue=Japan,red=US overlay)

ETF went from almost nothing in a few years to trillion-dollar market. At this point it's flooded with whacky products. I got burnt fingers playing FAZ (3x short financials). ETF in any case only sort of loosely couple to actual index. Go compare SRS to DJUSRE which it is supposed to be 2x inverse of and you'll see it doesn't track very well at times. Also lots of overhead and simple "burn" as it's about daily changes so it's not a "buy & hold" entity.

Here's a decent recent article summarizing problems with ETF:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/funds/2010-02-12-etfs12_CV_N.htm

I spend much more time watching MACRO-ECONOMY sources than particular stocks or indices. For me what I'm going to do with money, is all about knowing WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON and what are the likely outcomes of that. I'm still watching Nouriel Roubini, and however much I think he's wrong about "how to fix things" he's been dead-on about WHAT IS HAPPENING despite all the ADD-afflicted chuckleheads in financial media that he has to contend with. Here's a good 7-minute video with him from today:

http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2010/02/video-nouriel-roubini-crushes-kool-aid.html

I would say the Japanese real estate bubble was far different from what we've got here. Especially in how they handled this. I unfortunately don't remember the larger differences right now, I just remember reading about how the cultural aspect played into their very long decline vs a more abrupt decline and bottoming. They knew what was going to happen, and they didn't want to change this due to cultural norms that would be broken.

@SFace
I'm betting that some of the stock advice given here is probably better than most available anywhere else. There is more hype going on elsewhere, anyone who has written a book has had millions subscribe to their methods and likely changed the course of stocks. That or they're just crackpots, extolling about their great systems. There are too many sales people in the stock business. It's often difficult to get around all the sales fluff. Much like the real estate market, for most, it's hard to find good solid information, because so many are in the business of selling homes, realtors, banks, appraisers.

pkennedy says

[Japan] knew what was going to happen, and they didn’t want to change this due to cultural norms that would be broken.

Exactly same as in US. Has anyone in the oligarchy announced the end of "The Ownership Society" and said publicly we should just forget the whole thing and restore normalcy in any reasonable timeframe? Hank Paulson tell people just jingle-mail in their keys and let's get on with it? Did banks offer to en-masse write down loan balances to actual supportable values? NO!

We have a ridiculous set of programs that fraudulently claim to be about "keeping people in their homes". We want peasants to eat Mac & Cheese and crawl bleeding through the snow, because that is THE AMERICAN DREAM.

Weinerschnitzel garfunkel der kablunket droppel.......mitte auspuffunlaung der fritzen drammner zeiss braun heineken mechen ze bumzen.

Vicente says

Exactly same as in US. Has anyone in the oligarchy announced the end of “The Ownership Society” and said publicly we should just forget the whole thing and restore normalcy in any reasonable timeframe? Hank Paulson tell people just jingle-mail in their keys and let’s get on with it? Did banks offer to en-masse write down loan balances to actual supportable values? NO!

Hank Paulson did in fact on several occasions state publically and in testimony to Congress..’ the Government should not impede the on going housing correction’.

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp1142.htm

"We are working to minimize the impact of the housing correction on the rest of the economy, but we do not want to impede its progress --- because the sooner we turn the corner on housing, the sooner we will see home values stabilize, the sooner we will see more people buying homes, and the sooner housing will again contribute to economic growth."

Bzzzt! From Hank Paulson remarks before Congress, March 3rd 2008:

Third, the current public discussion often conflates the number of so-called "underwater" homeowners – that is, those with mortgages greater than the value of their house – with projections of foreclosures. Let's be precise: being underwater does not affect your ability to pay your mortgage, nor create a government responsibility for assistance. Homeowners who can afford their mortgage should honor their obligations --- and most do.

Obviously, being underwater is not insignificant to homeowners in that position. But negative equity does not necessarily result in foreclosure. Most people buy homes as a long-term investment, as a place to raise a family and put down roots in a community. Homeowners who can afford their payments and don't have to move, can choose to stay in their house. And let me emphasize, any homeowner who can afford his mortgage payment but chooses to walk away from an underwater property is simply a speculator – and one who is not honoring his obligations.

In other words, you dirty peasants need to keep that yoke on and pull my plow. What should be a BUSINESS decision becomes a matter of HONOR if you are on the oligarchy end of things.

"The Banks also could have lowered the interest rates and increased the length of the loans to 40 or 50 years and most people would probably have stayed in their homes or at least have been able to rent the houses out. So I can only conclude that the Banks want all this to happen. The question is - what is it that they want down the road."

I think part of the answer was leaked by a Citi exec. when discussing the recent “cash for keys” program being implemented by them:
"“We are concerned that if there is a foreclosure glut at some point in the cycle it would have to have a negative impact on house prices,” and Citi’s pilot program should help prevent a build-up in foreclosed homes, said Sanjiv Das, the chief executive of CitiMortgage in an interview."

In other words, Citi wants to start dumping REO's on the real estate market as fast as possible before the other banks/lenders beat them to it. I think we will see the pace of declining prices in housing pick up in the second half of 2010, if not sooner. They see the massive mountains of defaults piling up with more to come and don't want to get caught holding the bag when prices nosedive. I can see real panic selling on the horizon - probably lasting a year or more. I wouldn't be surprised to see Q3 2011 home prices off by 30% from today's levels.

The second dip in a bubble correction is almost always the largest one. The first dip is usually the smallest. So far we have the first dip with a small correction last year that didn't seem to have much steam and was totally govmnt induced. This created a little buying pressure for lenders to sell into as prices bounced modestly. Get the last few suckers to buy-in thinking they are getting a bargain before the sheet hits the fan.

Aside from deflation in housing, we have had deflation in computers and consumer electronics for years. Stocks have had 2 large deflationary periods in the last decade (with possibly another to come). I see deflation coming in many areas except maybe necessities. Personally, I think this is a good thing and long overdue. When prices drop to reasonable levels buyers will come back into the market and the economy will pick up again.

We bought a house in Fairfield Ct ( on Westport border/Sturges Highway) for $1, 650,000 in 2006 because we moved here from out of state and bought after quickly selling our house in Boston. We have seen estimates and comps now that show that the house is worth between 1 and 1.2 million and it would probably be on the market for years. We aren't looking to sell it now. However, the mortgage is approx. 1 million which makes us uncomfortable if the value continues to drop. Needless to say, we are making no renovations or upgrades in the house after losing (on paper) at least half a million in a few years. About Zillow, it is bizarre: it values our house at $1.9 to 2.3 million. Not the real world.

Bap: You are no longer the winner of the unintelligible grammar contest. Not only do we hae no idea what the hell this post is about, the grammar bees really awful and. :)

@sybrib: I missed your post until today. Re: "middle class, ad naseum", I can only respond: well said. I agree that the "middle class" entitlement attitude has dug a huge hole in this country. The problem is that once people think the world owes them something, they start thinking that you owe them something... like those assets in your bank account. The net result is to make things harder on the responsible people, too, because you end up dragging everyone else forward.

This country used to have an Ant mentality. Through various means, we are far along the path to Locust.