[
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2008, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]
4.244.84.231
In Reply to: RE: US property market to get worse through till next year posted by dave c on May 07, 2008 at 18:48:15
Buyers willing/eager to overextend themselves combined with lending institutions/mortgage brokers (charlatans IME) eager to underwrite risky loans is largely responsible for our current woes. Now we are talking about at least a partial government bailout; people who know me personally usually give me a hard time about being too far "left" (my brother and parents, bless their misguided hearts, are firmly in Republican/"right" neanderthal territory) but on this issue, I feel that those who are currently taking a bath financially (overextended buyers as well as lending institutions who made these questionable loans) can go to Hell and lie in the bed they made. I feel so strongly because I bought a new home during this period and chose to rationally look at my financial situation and buy accordingly, despite high pressure from the mortgage broker to accept one of the higher-risk loans to enable me to "buy more house"-I simply feel no sympathy for, nor sense of responsibility to "help" those who GOT THEMSELVES into trouble.
Another issue is the widely variable prices for homes, depending on geographical location. In my location in "fly-over country" (the Midwest), the housing market has stayed pretty stable. My home continues to appreciate (has slowed a little over the past year) concomitant with significant depreciation in other markets (east/west coasts). It just does not take a genius to understand that a cheaply-built post-WWII frame house with 1000 square feet selling for $400,000+ (in CA for example) is NOT SUSTAINABLE. In sharp contrast, $400,000 in my area will buy 4000+ square feet with excellent build quality (brick/stone, 2X8 exterior walls, concrete second floors, and nice interior materials such as granite and hardwood flooring); homes like this in CA, FL, NY, MA, and CT would easily cost $1.2 million+. A friend of mine moved from San Diego; he was living in an 800 sq. ft. "shotgun" house built in the 1930's which he sold in 2005 for $395,000 (paid $190,000 in the mid 90's)-he paid $315,000 for a new-construction 3200 sq. ft. home in my area when he moved here in early 2006.
Fortunately I love my home and consider it first and foremost as a PLACE TO LIVE, rather than an "investment" and plan on staying put for the foreseeable future so hopefully my family will weather this "storm" with minimal damage.
It appears to me that the speaker at your seminar was basically SPOT ON regarding the reasons for our crisis. Remember however that there are many areas in the U.S. that are only minimally negatively impacted by all of this.
What we need is smart, rational regulation of our mortgage industry-very unlikely under the Shrub regime.
Follow Ups:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2008, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]