“I sensed trouble when a homeless man told me he was studying for his real estate license.” – Peter Hong, “How We Cashed In Before The Housing Crash”, The Los Angeles Times, January 20, 2008 “Don’t believe the hype!” –…
“What you’re starting to see right now with the foreclosure inventory swelling is the banks are getting aggressive….. I think 2008 is going to be a year to remember.” – Mike Toste, a Lincoln based real estate agent On the…
Spineless adj.: without moral force, resolution or courage Denial n.: a defense mechanism characterized by refusal to acknowledge painful realities, thoughts or feelings It was just brought to my attention that David Lereah, former Chief Economist of the National Association of Realtors,…
One of the interesting features of the real estate boom was the way that outlying areas from major metros took off. As real estate got more and more expensive in the big metros (Bay Area, LA, etc…), a lot of…
Are you ready for the coming California recession? Because it’s coming. All over the country real estate prices are falling resulting in lost jobs, decreased wealth and lowered spending. But some more than others. The real estate boom in California…
“I was pressured for 2 weeks to change both my value and the conditions of my appraisal report …. of an appraisal I completed that did not come to their predetermined value for a ‘valued’ Wamu client.” – Appraiser (subscription…
The data tables in this front page Sacramento Bee article from yesterday are incredible. Default notices and foreclosures in the 8 county Sacramento area are absolutely surging: up 158% and 516%, respectively, from the year ago period. In fact, default…
5014 homes and condos traded hands in the 9 county Bay Area in September. That’s down 40% from last September and the weakest September on record in DataQuick’s database, which goes back to 1988. Interestingly, prices seem to be holding…
On the strength of upgrades yesterday from Citigroup Homebulder Analyst Stephen King and then an “interesting” interpretation of today’s pending home sales number, homebuilders have staged a nice 7% bounce over the past 2 days (Chart). The bulls sure are…
There was an article in Barron’s this weekend that resonates with my view of what’s going on in housing and how it will play out in the coming years including its effects on the overall economy. The article, “Getting Ready…