Comments on: Double Bubble: California Compared to the United States. Vacancy Rates up Homeownership Down.

By: sure it will

sure it will — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:14:58 +0000

Greg-sure you think its hit the bottom - that’s your new motto if you want to keep that job of yours. I’ll stick to good ole economics and wait for the math to make sense again. One point that is missing in all this - better standards for math education so even average educated folks don’t be made a fool of.

By: greg Moser

greg Moser — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 17:30:31 +0000

I am a realtor and feel that we have seen the bottom in the realty market. Real estate will come back in 09. greg moser

By: Westside Bubble

Westside Bubble — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:35:24 +0000

OT, but you’ll enjoy this Real Homes of Genius 33% haircut in Panorama City.

By: jon samuelson

jon samuelson — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:56:02 +0000

Doc-
Have you heard anything about what the future might look like for commercial real estate? A few “birdies” I know seem to think this might be the next melt down point. Keep up the great work!

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:29:39 +0000

Expat, I think the US consumer’s reckless spending was the result of the FED trying to end the business cycle. An awful lot of people got used to ever rising stock markets, housing prices and low unemployment since the last severe recession of 1980-82. If 9/11 both scared us and showed that America wasn’t immune to catastrophic events, the Fed and banks soon lulled the consumer to sleep again with low interest rates and generous credit. Now as the baby boomers face retirement and less generous returns on stocks and bonds and a falling real estate market and the problems of Social Security and Medicare are not in some distant decade I think the party is ending and people are realizing that.My guess is that savings rates will go up because people will come to the conclusion the government simply doesn’t have the resources to provide for our old age. Oh AnnScott re: boats. When I was living in Sausalito back in the 1990’s
a number of folks I knew lived on them. Not a bad way to beat the high cost of housing ( even then). You got no appreciation, in fact you had high maintenance
costs and berths were about $10/foot but you had a boat and million dollar views of the San Francisco bay. It wasn’t just poorer folks that lived on them either. There was a fellow who owned one of the local independant TV stations who lived on his 65 footer and a retired Pan Am pilot and drinking partner who lived on his 46 foot Grand Banks. Others managed to live on little 30-40 foot sailboats. I often wondered why more people didn’t go that route. Instead of paying a fortune for a conventional house in Northern Marin or Southern Sonoma County, fighting the traffic on 101 everyday spend a third of what you paid for your house on a 40-50 foot boat and live just across the Golden Gate from San Francisco. You could ride your bike to the ferry and be in the City in 20 minutes.