The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new home sales dropped 11.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 309,000 units, the lowest level on records going back nearly a half century. The big drop was a surprise to economists who had expected sales would rise about 5 percent over December's pace
Combine that with the government housing stimulus ending; huge numbers of REOs being held by banks; foreclosures about to EXPLODE; unemployment INCREASING; and massive government spending - and I predict that housing prices are ready to DROP LIKE A STONE! These next couple of years will be quite exciting!
You’ll note that the experts were expecting a 5 percent increase - they were only off 16 %!!! These are the same idiots that are saying the recession is over! Wake up - we’re headed for the mother of all economic collapses!
New Home builders have basically PACKED IT IN…I can not tell you of ONE new housing developement currently underway in my area…So what’s the SURPRISE???
Previously owned homes sales are UP BIG here…HUGE!!
I put a house on CRAIGLIST this weekend that I just closed on Friday…
28 emails so far 5 offers OVER asking…3 of THEM ALL CASH!!!
INVESTORS are BUYING!!!
If that’s who’s BUYING…THAT’S WHO I’M SELLING TO!!!
Closing up shop and burying your head in the sand is a HUGE MISTAKE here…I’ve made more money so far this year than in ANY other year…E V E R!!!
Previously owned homes sales are UP BIG here....HUGE!!
They might be up where you are, but you are the exception to the rule. Existing home sales plummetted 16.7% in December, which (like the new home sales) was the largest drop ever recorded (all the way back to 1968)! Here’s the article:
The recovery is dying and the deals will keep getting BETTER (i.e. lower home prices). FDJake has the right idea - quick in and quick out. I wouldn’t be buying ANYTHING with the hope of long term appreciation! Get your money NOW, either in rental cash flow or quick flipping profits.
BTW, in case no-one has noticed - inflation is alive and well - far above the numbers being published (manipulated) by the government? Been shopping lately?
Mike…You could end up being 100% right on your call.
Believe it or not…What worries ME more than anything right now is CHINA…they have a RAGING real estate BUBBLE there…WHEN, not IF it busts…WATCH OUT BELOW!!!
Yes, China is a concern, but what about Europe? Europe is one step ahead of us in terms of being socialistic and in terms of unsustainable debt. When Europe collapses (soon), how will that affect the USA? Will the collapse simply cascade around the world? Will European money temporarily flee to US Treasuries, buying us a little more time?
Rioters are clashing with police in Greece today! That’s what happens when the government can no longer provide freebies to all the lazy masses! What’s going to happen here when Americans wake up to the fact that their retirement is gone; their Section 8 is gone; their foodstamps are gone; their Medicare/Medicaid is gone; and their social security is gone??? I predict the breakdown of society - the mother of all riots!
Once again our friend Mike gives half the story…As usual :banghead…A little article that was in todays wall street jornal…FRONT PAGE “U.S. banks posted last year their sharpest decline in lending since 1942, suggesting that the industry’s continued slide is making it harder for the economy to recover.”
In a way…THAT is why I’m as bullish as I am on the U.S. If CHINA and Europe crash???
MONEY has to go SOMEWHERE…It has to…It’s not ALL gone, it MOVES…In a China/Euro Bust…America could be the last SAFE HAVEN. Liquid markets, laws that protect capital (unlike Venezuela and others)
One thing I know for sure…
It NEVER goes exactly the way you think it will. :beer
I think all these articles point to ONE conclusion…
You can make DATA justify ANY argument…
Of coarse LENDING is WAY DOWN…Americans are NOT borrowing MONEY for 2 reasons…Either their credit SUCKS or their paying down EXISTING DEBT…Either way, that’s NOT condusive to lending DEMAND!..We just came out of a DRUNKEN SAILOR SPENDING SPREE that went on for DECADES…For people here like Mike, Rookie, and Myself…WE have access to capital BECAUSE we didn’t participate in the foolishness…But for the MAJORITY of Americans, They’re STILL recovering from their DRUNKEN SPENDING SPREE…They’re paying down debt and tightening their belts…
This is an ECONOMIC CYCLE…It happens in EVERY RECESSION…Those Recessions ALL eventually END when that debt ratio hits a certain point, then people are COMFORTABLE spending AGAIN!! they get TIRED of SAVING and the entire PROCESS repeats itself…It’s a TREADMILL.
While top-tier banks are recovering at a faster clip, the rest of the industry is still suffering, according to a quarterly report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Banks fighting for survival, especially those plagued by losses on commercial real estate, are less willing to extend loans, siphoning credit from businesses and consumers.
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You’re right Rookie, lending is having an impact on home sales and it will only get worse. Small banks are not in good shape and big banks are only in good shape (making a profit) because they’re STEALING IT FROM THE MIDDLE CLASS through the Fed’s Ponzi Scheme (loaning money to the big banks at near zero interest and then paying them interest to borrow the same money (money that doesn’t even really exist).
Just so you guys know, I have changed my mind about buying more property. I am saving $100 in Susan B. Anthony Dollars. I figure by 2012, that $100 should buy 100 houses!!! LOL!
This is an ECONOMIC CYCLE....It happens in EVERY RECESSION...Those Recessions ALL eventually END when that debt ratio mets at certain point where people are COMFORTABLE spending AGAIN!! It's a TREADMILL.
I agree that it’s a cycle, but not an economic cycle. It is the cycle (lifespan) of a nation. All nation’s have beginnings and endings. Our overspending and wreckless actions have brought us to the end of the USA!
It’s getting VERY personal in Greece and it will in the USA also. When the government finally runs out of money and is forced to curtail all the handouts - people get angry. There was rioting in Greece yesterday, along with other strikes and demonstrations. The average lazy moron receiving government “freebies” can’t possibly understand why the government can’t keep giving them everything. They get even more angry when they FINALLY realize that the money has been STOLEN from them. That’s going to happen in the United States when the middle class finally understands that the Fed and a few big Wall Street Banks have stolen TRILLIONS of dollars with their ponzi scheme. This is a crime against humanity of the same scope as the extermination of the Jews during WWII. You might say that the Fed and the Big Wall Street Banks haven’t killed anyone - and I would respond YET! No, I don’t believe that they will march people into concentration camps, but what WILL happen is that tens of millions (or even hundreds of millions) of people will die once the collapse occurs. People with no freebies, no food, no retirement, no free housing, and no healthcare are going to die by the millions. This isn’t going to be a recession or even a depression - it’s going to be something much worse - a TOTAL COLLAPSE! The Fed and Big Wall Street Bankers will be just as popular as the Nazis were after WWII and will probably meet the same fate.
All one needs to do is study a little history and you’ll see what happens when countries fail. The American people are VERY SLOWLY awakening as the pain increases. I see this everyday in my tenants. People who owned a home for decades are now renting. People who lived as a couple in their own house now are not only renting, but they have relatives living with them so that they can pay the bills. Once these people awaken and understand that their lives have been STOLEN by the Fed and Big Wall Street Bankers, there’s going to be hell to pay.
By the way, this has all already happened here in America if you look at history. In colonial days, the currency also collapsed (and for the same reasons) and there was a popular phrase at the time “not worth a continental”, which referred to the fact that the currency at the time was virtually worthless. We’ll be seeing that again soon.s
Mike,
I thoroughly enjoy your ranting on how Wall street ruined everyones life…Its actually quite comical,not factual or true but has a nice ring…The Fed stealing from the middle class LOL…In 2 short years houses will be worth $100 a piece…Mike…Mike…Mike…My question is this…Isnt your multimillion dollar rental portfolio surely better off being sold before its reduced to ashes or as you say Susan B Anthony’s?..Please dont answer that you derive income from the properties so their worth means nothing,because you know that its nonsense…You couldve sold before this financial meltdown and still can and invest in many places to derive income…So Im curious how you are hedging your portfolio if your doomsday scenario comes true…I find the wording in my post put in a respectful mannernot disrespectful whatsoever…So I expect an honest detailed answer how you deem yourself impervious to all these scenarios you constantly post…Not being sarcastic but how on earth do you sell books labeled “1minuteto PropertyRentalRiches” if you feel that houses will be worthless in the next 2 years…Im curious if you suspended publication of this book or renamed it “1minutetoPropertyRentalFinancialRuin”???..You play both sides of the fence and maybe Im the only one smart enough to see it…