Housing Market

[Nicolette Morgandy]

Do you think the value of homes will:

• increase in value

• decrease in value

• or, will the value remain the same within the next 6 months?

[charlestudor2005]

Remain the same or get worse.

I heard a report today (CBS News/Couric) that a lot of small banks are still in trouble because they made a lot of income on mortgages. They are not making their income any longer because so many houses are in foreclosure. Report also said that the foreclosure situation could take 5 years to turn around or get stable.

I think the RE short term outlook is pretty dismal.

[Fast Gunn]

My reading is that things have not yet shaken out in the housing market, but I think the housing market will start to pick up later this year.

You can probably find more precise info on the internet if you search for housing market trends.

There are people out there dedicated to charting these trends and you could probably subscribe to their newsletters if that is where you're looking to make money.

But this really has nothing to do with the hobby, does it?

[Katy Alexander]

I think it depends a lot on where you are.I am in an area where the amount of land left to build new homes on is pretty limited , so I would think that an area like that will probably recover faster than an area with plenty of new homes still being built.

If you have the money I think that now would be a great time to buy a home.No one has a crystal ball as far as knowing how soon , or how fast things will recover, but when it comes to real estate as long as you are in it for the long run I believe that you will always end up ahead.

Originally Posted by Nicolette Morgandy

Do you think the value of homes will:

• increase in value

• decrease in value

• or, will the value remain the same within the next 6 months?

[Guest083011]

Originally Posted by Becky

If you have the money I think that now would be a great time to buy a home. No one has a crystal ball as far as knowing how soon, or how fast things will recover, but when it comes to real estate as long as you are in it for the long run I believe that you will always end up ahead.

Becky and Edward are correct. Now is not a bad time to move forward, especially if you do not have to sell anything to buy (that's you renters kids!). But the only cloud out there right now that concerns me is the commercial mortgages failing. It was on 60 Minutes a year ago, that 2010 and 2011 may have problems as deep as what we saw in residential mortgage paper. What may stem the tide is if we (the collective we) can handle the failures better since we just went through a wave of bad paper.

[EmilyHemingway]

Long term: I think we're looking at a 20% devaluation in home prices before this ends. I also think housing and Bernanke will lead us into a double-dip recession. Neither the boom market nor the banking woes have yet been corrected into sustainability, so the options are variations on correction (ouch) or "Second verse, same as the first!" (ouch again).

Short term: Who knows. Economics is akin to mathematically predicting what a herd of cats will do next.

[Guest083011]

Yeah, that too.

[OneHotMale]

The area that I live in did take a hit but not nearly to the extreme that other areas did. It seems as though more custom builders were busier compared to others. My home has appreciated in value it seems every year but only because I have acreage that it is built on while everyone else is selling off their land and they are building all around. And damn it used to be so nice and quite out in what once were the boonies but no longer. Personally I think that it will be years if ever before the market recovers.

[guest041110]

The housing market is very dependent upon the location in regards to your questions. In general, the market is not going to see a significant upturn until late next year due to the underlying economic issues currently not being addressed by those in government. The re-securitization of mortgages, which is a major reason why we are currently in the financial straits we find ourselves in, is due to the deregulation of the banking industry. As for the questions you asked of an increase or decrease, in general, I see most markets decreasing until the economy recovers.

[WTF]

Originally Posted by Nicolette Morgandy

Do you think the value of homes will:

• increase in value

• decrease in value

• or, will the value remain the same within the next 6 months?

Depends. . .

[Katy Alexander]

Wow, you guys sure are a depressing bunch

Suze Orman says things will get better .It may just take a while

[charlestudor2005]

Originally Posted by Becky

Wow, you guys sure are a depressing bunch

Suze Orman says things will get better .It may just take a while

Optimistic predictions and pessimistic predictions can both be correct...depending on the amount of time it takes to reach either. Like someone said (think it was Samuel Clemens), "If you don't like the weather, just wait."

[WTF]

Originally Posted by Becky

Wow, you guys sure are a depressing bunch

Suze Orman says things will get better .It may just take a while

I like her and Dave Ramsey....but I also like my Aunt. Does not mean I would take their advice on money matters.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...utOfTouch.aspx


THE GOOD
For starters, she has helped an awful lot of people, particularly when it comes to facing up to the personal and self-esteem issues that surround money. If she can help someone deal with financial fears and gain control, she has put them on the path toward a comfortable financial future.
THE REALITY
Her push for paying off mortgages to the exclusion of everything but retirement-plan savings matched by employers could leave consumers with too big a chunk of their net worth tied up in real estate.

Orman estimated her liquid net worth at about $25 million, with an additional $7 million worth of houses. With just $1 million of that in stocks, it means that just 4% of her liquid net worth is in the stock market.

What does Orman do with the rest of her money? Solomon asked, and was told: "Save it and build it in municipal bonds. I buy zero-coupon municipal bonds, and all the bonds I buy are triple-A-rated and insured so that even if the city goes under, I get my money. I take a little lower interest rate to make sure my bonds are 100% safe and sound. "
As for playing the stock market, Orman said "I have a million dollars in the stock market, because if I lose a million dollars, I don't personally care."
In short, the person being trusted as everyone's financial adviser has a portfolio that few people could live with.

[pjorourke]

Originally Posted by Nicolette Morgandy

Do you think the value of homes will:

• increase in value

• decrease in value

• or, will the value remain the same within the next 6 months?

Depends where in the country you are. Those areas (e.g., middle America) where prices didnt run up as much as they did on the coasts haven't dropped that much and propbably wont fall any further. Some places (e.g., California, South Florida) still have lots of inventory to work off. Of course, house prices in Washington DC are rising. Surprise! Surprise!!

[WTF]

Originally Posted by pjorourke

Depends where in the country you are.

Doesn't it depend more on where your house is?