So, if you haven’t heard, theres been some forclosures going on across the nation. Long story short, lenders made some bad decisions, renters made some bad decisions (and bought homes). Now while the numbers of foreclosures are staggering compared to normal rates of foreclosure, it’s really not THAT high of a percentage of homeowners that have a mortgage. Regardless, the number of foreclosures is higher than anyone expected and it led to a liquidity problem with the banks that might have invested in these higher risk, higher potential yeild securities.
Fear not fair Banks and investors!!!! I have single handedly found the solution to your liquidity woes. More of a carrot versus the stick:
Why aren’t banks offering a principal matching program to the mortgagors who aren’t having any financial woes? Like “Hey, pay an extra mortgage payment this month and we’ll match 20% of it towards your principal!”
Sure it won’t stop the foreclosures. But homeownership isn’t for everyone. Nor is the “day-trading” mentality that moved from the stockmarket to the Real Estate market in 2002….. I suddenly have utter fears about the mentality soon moving to the futures market with the whole green revolution.
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And the newest Real Estate data from the Standard and Poors Case Shiller index is out. Because of the delay, the data is up through February of 2008.
What this means is that the difference in sales prices from twice prior sold single family homes only, has decreased across the board in the chosen cities above for the month of February. Unfortunately it’s not just the above city’s that saw a decrease, but every single city measured by the S&P:CS saw a decrease in prices in the month of Feb. Detroit has even fallen below it’s 2000 levels.
Considering the bad news that came in March, I don’t expect next months release to look much better…
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OMFG!!!! The economy is in the dumps, our highly intelligent and impeccably educated President has already said that we are in recession (even though others are still afraid to admit the old R word), and housing is heading back to 1999 prices….
Allright, you can’t exactly believe EVERYTHING you read. Bush is clearly not highly intelligent… And as far as housing heading back to 1999 prices… I’m not biting.
So I decided to take a look at some of the numebrs for Brookline Real Estate data:
Everything is up.
Market volume is up $46,636,400 (up from $15,036,500 the month before)
Average Prices are wayyyyy up $914,439 (up from $556,907 the month before).
Median Prices are slightly up $512,500 (up from $496,000 the month before).
Ok… well not EVERYTHING is up …. average days on market are down to 85 (down from 134 last month).
So things are looking pretty good for Brookline on average. Just to make sure, I thought I’d dig a little deeper and compare granny smith to granny smith, as opposed to granny smith to golden delicious. So I wanted to compare how we’re doing this month to the same time periods of earlier years.
In conclusion… still looking good Brookline, keep up the good work.
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Uggghhhh …. doomers.
If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s kind of like a modern day bubblehead (bubbleheads are soooooo 2005), with the additional ego derived from the fact that home prices have been falling. Doomers can be easily identified by their lack of reasoning or logic, and endless plastering of “copy and pasted” negative Real Estate propaganda. Granted, if you live in Phoenix, Las Vegas, or California, it’s not negative RE propaganda, it’s completely realistic RE media.
The data above (from S&P CS here) goes through January of 2008. The Case Shiller index is compiled monthly and the data is not made public for another 2 months. I would argue that there is another delay between the time that “the market” occurs (purchase and sale) and when it’s recorded and public information (closing). So arguably, there’s a 4-6 month delay in this graph and where the market is today.
So the good news, is that it’s not so far behind, that it’s failing to account for the credit crunch. For a little tounge in cheek, lets say the credit crunch started July 19 when the fed said the subprime crisis was still contained. The bad news is that doesn’t include the “March Madness” Bear Stearns fiasco we’ve recently seen, as well as the even more recent employment numbers (and employment number negative corrections for January and February …. WOOPS).
I honestly believe that 3 months from now, this same graph (with new data), will look worse than it does now. But I’m willing to put in print that short of some brand new unforseen fiasco, we are currently looking at the worst of the market, the rest of the year will remain slow, and we will see a rebound in Real Estate prices across the board in the spring of ‘09…. or maybe that’s just the cheerleader in me.
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Extra, Extra! Read all about it!
Hot off the press.. and just in time for summer ‘08!
Spotlight Realty, in conjunction with the Property Monger real estate blog is pleased to announce the launch of the much anticipated, and aptly named Boston Real Estate Forum (BREF). Where you take part in discussions, and take advantage of the many opportunities that the Boston area real estate market presents. The Property Monger believes that forums just may be the biggest thing to hit the internet since the blog. In fact, we appreciate the forum concept so much, we are jumping in with both feet and want you to come with us.
Staying true to the needs of it’s consumers, the Boston Real Estate Forum promises to be a fully interactive, user-friendly community benefiting all who use it. So, just who will benefit from the Boston Real Estate Forum, you ask? Everyone. Buyers, sellers, landlords, tenants, builders, individuals in the mortgage and finance industry, carpenters and craftsman, the service industry, you name it.
If you are a real estate professional, then the Boston Real Estate Forum is for you. Whether you are a local realtor looking for an edge, or an out of state agent looking for a referral, you find it all in the Boston Real Estate Forum.
Own your own business? Looking for work? Visit our classified section and get your name out there. Boston Real Estate Forum encourages everyone to stop in for a visit. Register, introduce yourself, and get networking!
~BREF Staff
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