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Home sales rise 9.4 pct. in Sept., beat forecast
After jumping 9.4 percent in September, home resales are up nearly 24 percent from the bottom in January, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.
That certainly covers the "high volume" part of my alarmist headline.
The median sales price last month was $174,900, down almost 9 percent from $191,200 a year earlier, and slightly lower than August's median of $177,300.
The median sales price fell 1.35% in just one month. That's a 17% annualized rate of fall. That certainly covers the "continues to crash" part of my alarmist headline.
By not even attempting to sugarcoat the news, I clearly continue to ruin my chances of ever landing the Chief Economist position at the National Association of Realtors. Oh well!
Real estate is still a great investment opportunity for households. Price appreciation will continue. It may not be at 20%. It may be at 10% to 15%, or may even go down to 5%. The returns are still going to be good, but not as great as they have been. Real estate should still be extremely competitive [in terms of] return on investment. — David Lereah, Former NAR Chief Economist, August 12, 2005
Real Estate Newsletter Articles this Week: Existing-Home Sales Increased to
4.15 million SAAR in November
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At the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter this week:
[image: Existing Home Sales]*Click on graph for larger image.*
• NAR: Existing-Home Sales Increase...
12 hours ago
13 comments:
Stag,
It would be one thing if the "house price appreciation is good" bullsh%t only came from shills like David Lereah. But it doesn't. Our Fed, our CONgress and our banks push the same institutional lie.
Sure, let's make everyone pay twice as much for housing and then pretend we're ALL rich. What aq CONcept. Unfreakin believable. It's the biggest scam in history.
Inflated house prices transfer wealth from the middle class to the wealthy and the government via greater aggregate interest payments and higher taxes. Bums on the street with a few coins in their pockets have higher net worths than home owers that played the asset inflation game. And yet, TPTB want the game to CONtinue.
Asset inflation is a wealth transfer mechanism. Exactly how is the majority going to be better served by over-paying?
We have become a nation of "educated" crooks and gullible idiots.
Thud! Thud! Thud! I need an ice bag for my forehead.
From your last post:
When the talking head said:
"The Microsoft and Amazon numbers were completely unexpected and would propel the market to higher highs"
If those numbers were so unexpected then how come nobody in finance knows what to expect at any time? Listen to us now, we are right this time? OK.
mab & GYSC,
"Thud! Thud! Thud! I need an ice bag for my forehead."
No worries! There's plenty of ice. It's coming in through the side of the ship's hull.
Stag,
It looks like China is hell bent on crashing on high volume:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26245590-643,00.html
China’s consumer price index declined by 0.8 per cent in September, from a fall of 1.2 per cent in August, while the producer price index fell by 7 per cent in September, from 7.9 per cent in August”
That's like turn it up to eleven high volume.
Trillions in new loans and yet consumer prices in China are still falling. Go figure. The way I see it, investment debt is deflationary while consumption debt is initially inflationary but, if taken to excess, eventually deflationary. Our recent CONsumer debt binge was clearly less inflationary due to China's investment debt binge.
“Deflationary pressures are subsiding,” Ms Ulrich said.
With all that new debt, they better hope deflation subsides.
What ever happened to GDP growing in proportion to incomes? Seriously. How can debts forever grow exponentially faster than income?
Mark,
Thanks for the infor about the grill. I want to go with the "Bubba Keg" grill and I want to go charcoal.
HOW BOUT THEM SAINTS!
Down 24-3, come back to win 46-34! Wild!
My verification word is "jammen", nice.
mab,
"That's like turn it up to eleven high volume."
OMG! They are spinal tapped out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbVKWCpNFhY
GYSC,
"I want to go with the "Bubba Keg" grill and I want to go charcoal."
For the record, Illusion of Prosperity would never actively endorse a "Bubba Keg" without first seeing proof of a small army that needs feeding, lol. ;)
Iceland says goodbye to the Big Mac
"Iceland's three McDonald's restaurants — all in the capital Reykjavik — will close next weekend, as the franchise owner gives in to falling profits caused by the collapse in the Icelandic krona."
http://tinyurl.com/yj9aeuh
Looks like McDonald's is making a McExit.
watchtower,
Perhaps McDonalds learned a lesson in 1999.
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/demowar.htm
"Unfortunately for world peace, the Big Mac Attack Rule finally broke down in 1999. On 24 March 1999, NATO began its air attack on Yugoslavia. Faced with angry nationalism, vandalism and boycotts, all the McDonalds in Yugoslavia shut their doors on 26 March. This means that for two full days, McDonaldland was wrenched asunder by its first intramural war ever. When McD finally reopened on 17 April, it was an occassion of public celebration almost matching the end of the Kosovo War itself."
Stag,
Looks like we are going to get more housing stimulus - the CONgress is extending (and expanding) the home debtor tax credit.
CONgress and the Fed exist to preserve the value of credit issued by banks. Especially fraudulently issued credit.
I'd be worried about our Gov't debt if we actually had to borrow the money. Fortunately, that's not an issue thanks to the fed. Come to think of it, homeowers really don't need to worry about actually borrowing money either. They are now part of the Fed's POMO plan.
It's un-freakin believable. We have more financial shenanigans than a bankrupt third world nation.
Mark
GYSC over at Economic Disconnect said he wouldn't be surprised if they have another 'cash for clunkers' in the wings.
He stated that this time Cars, boats, ovens, and alarm clocks could possibly be included.
He didn't say whether the ovens would be of the ordinary variety or the 'toaster' models that fit under the kitchen cabinets.
These models usually build up an enormous amount of burnt bread crumbs and who wouldn't want to trade one in on a new one instead of cleaning it?
I'm tellin' ya they could be a potential bonanza in the trade in department.
If the gubment was smart they would include both to really give this economy some traction.
I'm starting to think that we really can pull thru this.
Hey! My word verification is 'karcon'...sweet!
mab,
"We have more financial shenanigans than a bankrupt third world nation."
US Bank just sent me yet another AutoVantage letter offering me a "free" GPS system for signing up. Well, it is sort of free. I do have to do some work to get it.
"Find a Portable GPS Navigator under one of the gold scratch-offs at left and it's yours at no cost..."
I then opted to "Find The Gift Reserved For You".
1. Sorry. Try Again.
2. Portable GPS Navigator.
3. Sorry. Try Again.
I found it! What are the odds!
No, seriously. What are the odds? There doesn't seem to be any fine print saying what my odds of winning actually were. I guess $15.99 per month combined with "You'll also enjoy continuous benefits with convenient billing" means everyone can be a winner of their very own GPS system. How cool is that!
I just get a warm and fuzzy feeling inside every time my too big to fail bank is out actively preying on the ignorant. How can I be so sure?
"Return this card with your signed reply form."
Yeah, that's right. They want the scratch card back. Must keep up the appearances even when 1 out of every 1 cards is a winner (not that they say "winner" in any part of the letter, no doubt for legal reasons).
Why does something like this not insult the intelligence of EVERY bank customer? How did we get so desensitized? I'd switch banks based on it, but they are all pretty much the same.
watchtower,
"These models usually build up an enormous amount of burnt bread crumbs and who wouldn't want to trade one in on a new one instead of cleaning it?"
You make a great point. That could be said of my entire house at times, lol. Perhaps the government will expand the housing program to not just cover first time home buyers but me as well. Think of the money I could save on vacuum bags if I could simply dispose of my entire house every time it got dirty! Woohoo!
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