Don't nobody freepmail me if you want off or on this list because by the time you try to tell me it will be tooooo late!
Posted on 08/07/2006 8:31:12 AM PDT by Hydroshock
NEW YORK -- Home prices in some parts of the country are falling. Builders are scaling back. Bubble or not, the biggest housing boom in recent U.S. history is coming to an end.
Now here is the big question: How bad will the aftermath be? At this point, most economists expect a "soft landing," a gradual decline that won't derail the nation's economic expansion, now in its fifth year.
But there is a good chance they are being too optimistic. The boom has depended heavily on the upbeat psychology of consumers, builders and lenders. As moods swing, the landing could be very hard indeed.
"We could be underestimating the dark side," says Mark Zandi, chief U.S. economist at Moody's Economy.com and among the first to seek to quantify the housing boom's broader effects. "Euphoria could turn into abject pessimism very quickly."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
ping
Interest rates are still declining. The housing crash better hurry before they go down some more.
"We could be underestimating the dark side," says Mark Zandi, chief U.S. economist at Moody's Economy.com and among the first to seek to quantify the housing boom's broader effects. "Euphoria could turn into abject pessimism very quickly."
I guess that is driven a lot by how the MSM will play it. If they think it will hurt Bush, count on doom-and-gloom non-stop.
there are a lot of people (50%??) that have interest loans only. if the interest rate goes up what is going to happen then??
I think the fed will up the rate tomorrow.
Soem will be able to make the increased payments. Some will lose everything.
A lot of those people with interest only loans are speculators(small investors)who are holding 2 or 3 mortgages with the expectation of flipping the property for a quick profit.It's a great way to make money when the market is hot.Unfortunately if(when)the market sours,these folks are left holding the bag.
As far as what the Fed does tommorrow, the people who put their money where their mouth is say there is a less than 20% chance that rates will be raised.
My sense of the market right now is they are passing out the bags as we speak.
I heard 50/50 on my way in this morning on the radio. But even with the rates going down adn they are low, the market is cooling rapidly. At best we will see a price correction, at worst a crash in home values in many areas.
Their heads explode?
these stories are not covering all the regions that are not even close to the end of growth. For example, in Houston last week a group of architects in a seminar remarked on the comment by one man, "I've never had this much business." Most agreed and thought that there is no end this year or next. That is the way it is in Dallas as well. The boom is just starting down here. Anyone want to guess what will happen if New Orleans has a mild hurricane season?
Don't nobody freepmail me if you want off or on this list because by the time you try to tell me it will be tooooo late!
Why do I have a feeling I'm going to continue to keep reading about it for another 2 years?
That's because this sudden unexpected roaring surge in mortgage rates has been going on now for two years.
There was some famous communist who was asked about the fact that none of Marx' predictions have ever happened, and he said that this proved how far Marx could see into the future. I swear I didn't make that up!
That's funny!
Now that you've pinged your arch-nemesis I'll be getting out the popcorn and watching the blood, ink, ichor ... what ever spill.
This is just a rehash of the same story the past four years, the economy is slowing down. When it was bad, it was getting worse not better, but it was getting better and did get better. And besides, how can the economy be slowing down??? I was under the impression it was still bad and had been bad the past since 2000. That's what all the liberals say. They say it was never good the past six years, so how can a bad economy slow down? Only good economies slow down. Are Democrats now admitting that the economy has been good the past few years? The economy isn't slowing down, and hasn't the past four years. Just another bogus attempt by liberals to skew reality and say things are bad when things are good.
It's called bankruptcy .... kinda mortgaging a house for a tulip bulb in Holland.
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