Posted on 03/23/2006 7:10:32 AM PST by SoFloFreeper
BC-APNewsAlert WASHINGTON (AP) -- A real estate trade group reports that sales of existing homes rose by an unexpected 5.2 percent in February as warm weather boosted demand.
ex-Texan and Willie Green are deeply saddened.
In fact, many claim that rising mortgage rates cause an increase in home sales. When rates are falling, people think they can wait. When rates start to rise, people think they'd better buy right away.
Shhh...don't tell Ex-Texan.
The MSM media does create misleading headlines. Do you think this good news will get "headline" treatment anywhere? Just because there is a report in the MSM doesn't mean it is a "headline" in the MSM. These kind of "alert" reports are part of the regular business in news reporting. Notice the "bad news caveat" the reporter put in the piece?
FReepers are dead on accurate when it comes to assessing the MSM as liberal to the core.
Jobless claims inch lower; labor market looks solid
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of newly laid off Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell a larger-than-expected 11,000 last week in a signal that the job market remains healthy.
The Labor Department reported that a total of 302,000 laid off workers applied for jobless benefits. It was the first decline in four weeks and left benefit claims at a level consistent with strong labor market growth in coming months....
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Someone told me the other day that that the foreclosing on homes was at an all time high--does anyone know if this is true? I don't think so. Where can you find out facts like this to dispute people that come up with this stuff?
DUmocrats are gonna have a bad day! ROFL!
BLAME BUSH !!!!!
In that case, we're DOOMED!
;)
Home buyers are much more willing to go out to look at homes for sale on a winter day that is unseasonably warm and sunny. Very few home buyers want to go out house hunting on a bitterly cold and snowy winter day.
T'was bein'sarcastic. LOL.
If foreclosures are up, it is likely because "interest only" or once-low variable rate loans are coming due as balloon payments.
"Someone told me the other day that that the foreclosing on homes was at an all time high--does anyone know if this is true?"
I can't verify it, but will say that there are any number of ways to manufacture bad news, if that's what you want or need to do. Home ownership is at an all-time high, too. How many new homes have been built in the past five years? The number of mortgages is also at an all-time high, so even with average levels of default, you can "find" the negative, and report just that.
It won't change anything. We have supposively been on the verge of a housing bubble for over 3 years. How can you ever disprove it? After hundreds of articles and thousands of doom and gloom posts, we have experienced remarkable housing appreciation. If the market droped 50% tommorow, people who listened to those doom and gloomers would still be behind those who purchased a home over 3 years ago. But maybe one day they will prove to be 'right' and we will see some isolated places where housing falls 10-20%.
Of course the real cause of 'housing bubbles' is a combination of regional employment losses and overdevelpment. Rising interest rates, believe it or not, have not been a major factor.
The only places that might see a decline in real estate prices are those places that are already overpriced in the first place (Boston, NYC, SF, LA, etc.)
Maybe because the weather wasn't too miserably cold and sloppy, so people were more inclined to be out looking at homes. That would be my take on it, anyway.
Although I'm sure they're trying to downplay the fact that the economy is actually doing well under a Republican, there is a bit of truth in that.
Warmer weather gets people thinking of doing things, like buying homes.
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