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It will drag and drag until the transition is over. If there is enough "oomph" to compensate for the drag, then the economy doesn't stall. No, I'm not saying that they should take on more debt, but give them an opportunity to replace the debt. If people are up to their eyeballs in debt, and...

Do a sensitivity in your market. Figure out what the payment would be on a piece of property you might actually buy. Then figure out what the payment would be if the interest rate went a half point either direction. Then figure out what the payment would be if the house went up or down in...

Mymini, That was a great post...one that I'll print out and read in detail. IMHO, bubbles are only bad if they "pop". If they slowly deflate, and give people who REALLY need out, an opportunity to get out, it can minimize the carnage. In my overly simplistic way of viewing things, I...

Yeah, but you're underestimating the stupidity of the average consumer. You're assuming they will act rationally, when it is irrationality that lead them to taking bad loans to begin with. I'll bet you the average joe on the street doesn't even know the difference between recession and...

I agree with you, but you might get a "thank god, now we can go long" rally.

One thing I've learned is that whenever there is a politically motivated bailout, it is too little, too late, but then it will sometimes overshoot. Like the assistance for the Katrina victims. Another is the tax cut for Florida. By the time this BIG property tax cut is fully implemented...

Bubbles aren't a problem unless they "pop". But if they deflate slowly, the don't cause much pain. I think thats the idea here. BTW, why are you reading a thread about rates if you don't want to hear about them? :)

I meant, "If people are scared enough to stop hiring, they are scared enough to stop shopping"

I was on the fence about whether a cut was needed or coming, but the recent employment numbers are making me think twice. If people are scared enough to stop hiring, they are scared enough to stop hiring, and both are bad for the economy. I'm leaning toward there being a "pre-emptive...

OK, I'm a real estate bull and many folks know that. I can definitely see that happening in the upper end of the market. Jumbo loans are getting expensive due to more rigid standards and stated loans are out the window now. Also, a disproportionate number of the high end places were financed...

Nah. Never seen a bank rent out a foreclosure, but even if you were right, there are far, far, many more people who would like to buy houses but no longer can due to the more rigid lending standards. Folks who could have bought only a year ago, now have no choice but to rent. And as more...

The irony is that for the best deal, you had to purchase before things tightened up. Pyramiding up while the market was hot would have helped too, using the lower fixed rates. But if you did that, then you'd have an edge over the other landlords in a market of increasing demand. Its already...

From what I could tell from my location in a flyover state, people were doing it by trading up. they bought during the last downturn, or they bought a shack, rode it up in value, then traded up, and kept doing it. Kinda wonder if a regular guy couldn't move out there, but something modest...

That seems like a brilliant move. It allows the financial markets access to cheap cash, but does not allow the typical homeowner access to cheaper funds because the Fed knows that the homeowners will use it to borrow more money...and that got us into this mess. For this reason, I don't hold...

I honestly think he's trying. I think Greenspan tried to unwind it too. By moving interest rates up very slowly, and then holding them there right at "the edge of pain", most people, except those with their head in the sand or those who were in way over their head, we able to see that rates...

***more detail in this article. NAR puts their spin on it and notes that more areas showed price gains over the past year when compared to the last quarter. Hmmmm....*** Existing Home Sales Fall in 41 States Wednesday August 15, 10:49 am ET By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer...

Home Sales Fall Nearly 11 Percent in 2Q Wednesday August 15, 10:18 am ET Existing Home Sales Fall by Nearly 11 Percent in Second Quarter, Home Prices Drop WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. existing home sales fell nearly 11 percent in the second quarter from last year's levels as the residential...

Funny you say that. Ya'll know I'm a tireless real estate bull. Putting all that aside, I was talking to a mortgage broker friend of mine who feels all but certain that the Fed will have to step in and cut rates in an emergency move. He gave me a bunch of reasons why, like the latest round of...

http://bankrate.com/brm/news/mtga/Aug0907_mortgage_analysisa1.asp

Mortgage rates are up since July 27th? I saw that Jumbo loans went up, but those are for big houses. I think regular loans hit a two month low before last weeks turmoil...don't know about right now