Comments on: Sales Drop Their Pants in Southern California. In More News, Median Prices Still Strong Like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

By: The North Coast

The North Coast — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:08:00 +0000

Expect there to be substantial contraction in all areas of the financial sector in the next few years.

That sector includes me, so I'm battening down the hatches and looking for a railroad job- I believe we are on the eve of a major rail expansion.

The end up the housing feeding frenzy will mark the end of a number of other things we have taken for granted.

Like excessive consumption via easy credit.

Like unlimited upward mobility. Let's face it, there have to be more indians than chiefs and that means that most people are going to spend their lives clustered around the "median" wage, regardless of educational level.

Like the idea that you can get something for nothing and make money just by holding an asset that is doing nothing, in and of itself.

Life will be different for a lot of people, yes.

By: playabarbie

playabarbie — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:14:00 +0000

Median home prices go up and go down, but few homes are selling and the fewer homes sold the eaiser it is for the median home prices to fluctuate.
I live/work in Nevada County in northern CA and last month at one point there were 65 pending sales and over 1,200 real estate agents……what does that tell you?
playabarbie

By: The North Coast

The North Coast — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 02:05:00 +0000

It is Stalemate Summer here in Chicago, too, and this market is just as insanely overpriced as CA in it’s way.

The trendy Bucktown and Wicker Park nabes defy belief. These ‘hoods can be as trendy as they want to be but they are still filled with gangs and cruddy bars, and the quality of the housing is abominable. These are 90 and 100-year old A-frame “worker’s cottages” built for working-class people, that have been rehabbed with stainless and slant hardwood floors. 1800 sq ft for $795K on streets you don’t want to park your car on, that are a mile from a train line.

Up on the north Lakefront, where I live, the architecture is a lot better and the prices are more moderate, and are dropping fast. It’s beautiful, but it’s not “trendy” and it still has some crime problems. Still, $200-280 is a bit rich for a neighborhood where the median income is $40K. To CA people, $140K for a vintage apt with 715 sq ft might seem cheap, but keep in mind that the same place would have sold for $75K in 1999.

The median household income for the City of Chicago is about $52K and the median house price is $325K, so the prices are still way out of whack. You can still rent way more cheaply than you can buy.

By: Peppermint Hippo

Peppermint Hippo — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:48:00 +0000

I am familiar with the Rancho Cucamonga market as well. There are many f*ed borrowers in this area hoping that the market miraculously recovers. I often wish we could just fast forward, see banks foreclose on all these homes, and slash prices to where we have market equilibrium again. I wonder which group will be the first to concede significant price reductions: sellers, lenders, or builders?

By: Quang

Quang — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:47:00 +0000

Many sellers are in a state of denial right now. As the summer sale season comes to an end and the housing inventory grows higher, reality will set in. I believe as long as the economy is strong, many FBs will hold on. What I mean is instead of slashing the prices, they will take the house off the market and pray for a better spring 08 sale season.