I don't think I'll ever view American advertising with the same sense of bright-eyed wonder and credibility again...
Posted on 02/23/2013 10:46:29 AM PST by whitedog57
I always enjoy reading Forbes’ list of best and worst, particularly when it comes to cities. For 2013, Forbes ranks Detroit and Flint as the most miserable cities in the US.
Most of the cities on Forbes top 20 list are in the northeast US and in the Inland Empire of California.
Here is a chart comparing Detroit, Chicago and, for comparison sake, Washington DC in terms of house prices. Since 2000, Detroit is actually worse off, Chicago is just above 2000 levels and Washington DC remains elevated. So, Detroit is indeed miserable in terms of housing.
If we compare the relative housing bubbles of Riverside California (my proxy for the miserable inland empire in blue), we can see that it wasn’t as bad as Phoenix AZ (gold) and worse than Los Angeles (green).
Florida, which missed the list of miserable cities, had a housing bubble similar to the southwest US with Miami (pink) having the biggest bubble.
We are seeing some increases in the worst housing markets (such as Phoenix and Miami) where foreclosed properties are have purchased by cash buyers, hedge funds, foreign investors and the other non-traditional homebuyers. Housing inventory held off the market continues to be high. The result? Lots of cash chasing a relatively small amount of inventory.
We shall see what 2013 brings in terms of The Fed keeping nominal interest rates near 0 (and real rates in negative territory). Will the government finance complex (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA/VA/Ginnie Mae) relax credit standards? Or will HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan get his wish of more and more people moving from suburbia into green multifamily projects in big cities? The homeownership rate seems to indicate some movement in that direction (homeownership rates back to 1981 levels.
Even though housing affordability is the lowest it has been since 1985 thanks to The Fed’s ZIRP policies and the massive house price correction. But as Mike Brown at Northwestern University has noted, do we really think housing is affordable in Washington DC, San Francisco, San Diego, etc? Its all relative.
At least the US is doing better than Spain.
They ALL do. It’s basically 3 in or around Detroit, 3 in or around Chicago, 3 in California, and New York. ALL liberal bastions for many decades.
I don't think I'll ever view American advertising with the same sense of bright-eyed wonder and credibility again...
Is Gary, Indiana still in the top 10?
Gary, IN is way down to #19.
Sez it was murder capital in the 90’s.
Fails to mention that was true going back to 70’s.
Actually the Inland Empire has been traditionally conservative. Although that has changed in the last few years to a little more liberal.
Yeah but if you think about it, the ads actually have a lot of truth in them regarding the “imported” part.
Detroit LOOKS like a run-down foreign city. Many of the people living there are living like feral packs of animals. I mean Robocop would be right at home in this version of Detroit. And I almost exclusively see certain demographics driving Chryslers. And wondering how they can afford new cars.
Are you indicating that the Inland Empire is conservative compared to the rest of the country? Are these areas immune from the devastating liberalism is the state of California and the City of LA over all?
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