New Bulletin Boards Launch: FSBO, Others
We’ve launched a bunch of bulletin boards over on the Brooklyn Record. Some of them–including the FSBO boards and the Architectural Salvage board–will be of particular interest to Brownstoner readers. There are also boards for events, sales, kids and nabes. The trick with this kind of thing is getting people to use them in the…
We’ve launched a bunch of bulletin boards over on the Brooklyn Record. Some of them–including the FSBO boards and the Architectural Salvage board–will be of particular interest to Brownstoner readers. There are also boards for events, sales, kids and nabes. The trick with this kind of thing is getting people to use them in the beginning before there’s a whole lot there, so we’d certainly appreciate some early posts from the old-timers on Brownstoner!
Our New Brooklyn Boards [Brooklyn Record]
Dean Baker is a very knowledgeable Economist, however, when it comes to the housing market he is a little bit off track. He has been making arguments for a hard landing since 2002 (http://www.cepr.net/publications/housing_2002_08.htm). It appears to me that he is just sticking to his arguments without realizing that his predictions are not marerializing.
1. Mortgage rates are not being solely determined by interest rate policies of the FED. The tightening cycle by the FED is almost coming to an end, but mortgage rates are still around 6.25%, which shows that they are influenced by foreign investor’s interest in long-term US bonds. This will continue and therefore people won’t be driven into bankruptcy as Baker predicts.
2. When house prices go down some people may go into default, but not at a scale as Baker is predicting.
3. Yes, he is right that inventories of new constructions are rising. But developers won’t stop their projects, they will just rent the units they can not sell. Given the current low inventories in the rental market in New York, this will be a good thing.
4. While the time for investors who want to make quick money is over (and that’s good), long-term prospects are not so bad. You just have to be willing to live in your property for several years before seeing a rise in value.