Quote from jmccain:
You probably did not get my original point. That's ok.
Quote from Smart Money:
That is interesting...foreclosures down but backlog is up. I wonder what a "normal" backlog is? On this thread, I've seen a lot of folks making statements like, "the backlog is 5 times what it was a year ago". Ok, but how did "a year ago" compare to the historical average? How does today compare to the historical average. I know in my neck of the woods, last year, houses would get listed and tell in less than 2 weeks. I bought one that was only on the market for 4 hours once.
What is the historical "average" time that it takes to sell a house?
I guess my position is that I recognize that sales have slowed down, and some areas did get ridiculously overpriced, but I also know that 5 years ago I would have killed to get the kind of interest rates you can get today without paying any points. I truly wonder if the pain coming from those "frothy" areas (on balance) can derail an economy that is (apparently) hard to slow by those holding the reins.
Quote from RoughTrader:
My original post only suggests that you sound bitter. The posters on this forum are only interested in discussing the future possibilities of real estate in the US. They are not necessarily bitter because they might have missed the real estate boom of the past several years. Yet another assumption you make that is most probably quite incorrect.
Grow up, "rich man".
RoughTrader
===============Quote from onewaypockets:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/07/23/bloomberg/bxhome.php
âBonds of U.S. home builders, profitable through April, have turned into the biggest losers this year in the market for debt with ratings below-investment grade. Debt sold by D.R. Horton, KB Home and other construction companies have fallen an average 3 percent since May 1, according to Merrill Lynch. That is the worst performance of 37 industries tracked by the investment bank.â
ââYou have to ask yourself if the worst is over or yet to come,â said Timothy company, head of corporate bond strategy at Allegiant Asset Management.â
âD.R. Horton said last week that it would sell 50,000 houses in the year that ends Sept. 30, below the 58,000 estimate it gave on April 18. âEvery downturn is longer and deeper than people expect,â Hortonâs CEO, Donald Tomnitz, said Thursday after the company reported the first quarterly loss in its 28-year history. âWe are assuming the worst.ââ
Quote from crackedback:
I laughed when I saw the gas bag economist for the NAR on TV tonight. The same guy that said trends were strong and prices would not decrease. Listening to him backpeddle was great.
My cousin has been looking for a house as they sold their current home. They have looked at houses in the OC area of CA and primarily listings on the market more than 120 days. They have made some offers in the 85-90% of asking and the counters are back at full price. One home has fallen out of escrow twice and has been vacant for 9 months. He just laughs and moves on. The sellers psychology is the market is still similar to last year and it's not. The old "my neighbor sold their place for 800 last year, I should get 825-850 for mine this year". Reality they are lucky to get 750.