Ok, so after 26 years of selling real estate, this is the first time I am watching the market, not just in real estate but everywhere fall apart. Oil prices through the roof, interest rates flat, saving rates flat, foreclosures WAY up, election year and buyer that for almost no matter what the price is, are not pulling their checkbooks out of their pockets (talk about run on sentences!).
Now what? I have no clue. Some part of the economy has to stabilize and give a boost to the other. This recession/depression is world wide. Europe values are dropping and while China and the rest of the world watch, they know that once American consumers tighten their belts, so go oversea jobs. Shipping costs are soaring, and while the internet was the supposed to be the savior of the economy in the 80's, it's all consumer driven and even that has slowed.
The war machine has only kept some of the economy at work, but at such a high cost that we shall be paying for it for years and years. Go and read the history of the Vietnam war. We went in to bail out the French and got left in a mess for years. ... and the bill from that war took a generation to pay. The War on Terror is almost scarier than the Terror that was unleashed on American 9-11. Almost. Bush, McCain, Obama... Politicians that can only hope to make a change and steer this great country ahead in the rough times we are all facing. May we chose the best person for the job.... but Jobs are what is needed right now. Not Government jobs but private sector jobs that pay a reasonable wage so that honest working people can afford shelter, food and transportation, and oh, Affordable health care. .. Jobs that some think are leaving America and going overseas. Guess what. Rough times in America hit EVERYWHERE.
Yes, Oversea jobs will be effected by what goes on in America.... as well as American jobs. It's not just the banks, but the mortgage people, the mortgage companies, the realtors, the attorneys, the surveyors, the furniture stores, the hardware stores, the home good stores, the .... well you get the picture. With the economy slowing down here, we cannot buy foreign goods, so we cannot order foreign goods and/or ship out jobs when we have too much inventory and few buyers. EVERYWHERE is slow. And all it will take is some group to start buying and working again to open the gates. But with the slowdown hitting everywhere, every sector, every country, those gates are going to open VERY slowly.
This slowdown, I believe is based on Greed of Wall Street, more than the support of the American and worldwide Governments in making the dream of home owner ship possible to all. Cheap credit does not always guarantee good credit worthiness or value. Buying home is a gift and not an automatic right to own a home. Greed of the fast flip of the home, cheap available credit and buyers buying what they cannot afford is only part of the problem.... but I digress.
This is one of the BEST times to buy a home, if you feel comfortable enough with your work, and your place in life. Home prices have dropped to the early 90's values and rates are still low. YOU, the consumer may be the hope of the entire economy. Spend, but spend wisely, buy, but buy wisely, choose but choose wisely (hey, didn't we hear that in Indiana Jones search for the holy Grail?)
Watch this LONG video and hopefully it is still active, it helps explain some of the subprime mess that has effected so many people. By the way, credit to the author in Google, I did not create the video but it helped me to better understand what the papers were saying and who really is to blame.
Good night and may G-d bless us all.
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