NYT: Housing Not Out of the Woods Yet
“Plenty of pain yet to come,” is how one economist summed it up in an article in the New York Times this morning about the country’s housing market. The article’s main point is that the improving data we’ve seen over the past three months may very well be a head-fake rather than the first leg…
“Plenty of pain yet to come,” is how one economist summed it up in an article in the New York Times this morning about the country’s housing market. The article’s main point is that the improving data we’ve seen over the past three months may very well be a head-fake rather than the first leg of a recovery:
Artificially low interest rates and a government tax credit are luring buyers, but both those inducements are scheduled to end. Defaults and distress sales are rising in the middle and upper price ranges. And millions of people have lost so much equity that they are locked into their homes for years, a modern variation of the Victorian debtor’s prison that is freezing a large swath of the market.
Closer to home, the data from Case-Shiller show that New York City is still holding up relatively well, with prices down just 10 percent over the last year, as compared to 30 percent in Las Vegas and 15 percent in Seattle.
Fears of a New Chill in Home Sales [NY Times]
Graph from the New York Times
> the bastards are going to find a way to get paid no matter what…
True that, joe, true that.
Meant of course to say above that all the folks I know with kids own…
snark, yeah it’s going to be partly deferred but I think the takeaway is that this year is proving that the bastards are going to find a way to get paid no matter what..
stevieb my business was arranging credit derivative trades. I understand if you want to withdraw your sympathy. As you can imagine, there’s not a lot of new business in that area. you know…a few bad apples…
MM–For whatever reason, the folks that I know with kids all rent. There may be some people that I know (I am sure this is likely) casually through my daughter’s pre-school rent, but in terms of my close social circle with kids, they all own. And it is true neighborhood may have something to do with it as I only know one family with kids in the Slope (and they own a condo). Most of the others are in Clinton Hill, with a smattering of other neighborhoods in the mix (Windsor Terrace, Jackson Heights etc).
> $140Bill of bonus money is a lot of firepower
Isn’t most of this deferred, in the form of stocks and such that will not actually vest for a few years?
> Still, you’re right, it will support park slope.
Joe, I am sorry to hear about your business. What industry are you in? I think the reason that your business got crushed is because you have not yet found a way to blackmail american tax payers into handing over their money. May if you could be a bit more thuggish or find a way to use scare tactics effectively, you could get some of that money as well.
That being said, $140Bill of bonus money is a lot of firepower and will support Park Slope.
> BHO was referencing family size apts and houses in the suburbs…
Ah yes. As Emily Litella used to say, “Never mind.”
Wow Wasder, that’s amazing that you don’t know any renters with kids. I wonder if it has to do with the neighborhoods. For sure, tons of families rent in Park Slope because of the great schools. I imagine the same must be true of other neighborhoods with good schools i.e. PS29, etc. Maybe, if a neighborhood does NOT have great schools, the people that move there with kids have basically decided that they are moving there for the real estate opportunities and thus decide to buy – and then maybe hope the local public schools improve over time, or else they send their kids to private school?
“Workers at 23 top investment banks, hedge funds, asset managers…. ”
stevieb maybe a broader swath of people is getting paid than I thought. my business is still crushed, so I may be a little biased. That raw number is high, I can’t argue that — but I would still point out that hedge funds don’t have very many employees, i-banks only made so much because they had less compitition, and a lot of the pay is going to be in shares and deferred comp. Still, you’re right, it will support park slope.