Housing Bubble Bursting?

[murray stroupe]

Real Estate; Red China, Russian bear

What Red China is doing with all that American money is strengthing their military not buying inflated U.S. *matchstick* residential construction.

United States: Red China Says ‘Shut Up' / August 21, 2006
http://www.nysun.com/article/38231

Get Serious About China's Rising Military / May 25, 2006
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/24/AR2006052402431.html

China's Calls Second Manned Space Mission a Success / Oct 17, 2005
http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/news/2005/space-051017-voa01.htm

How China can burst U.S. housing bubble / August 14, 2005
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/14/INGN3E5T5D1.DTL

Does the Future Belong to China? May 9, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7693580/site/newsweek/

Analysts Missed Chinese (Military) Buildup / June 9, 2005
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050609-120336-4092r.htm

Ty;
Like you,wouldnt minimize red threat, especially since Red China gov threatened to nuke LA .
However the Russians also [''evil empire'' ] tried that, overweight military;
Ronald Reagan-star wars, helped dethrone that evil empire.

And of course that chinese lady i saw sunday could be a spy;
she did have a bilingual book.Like you, would avoid ''matchstick construction'', spruce , pine, oak, concrete =better

Guess my main points would include ;
diversified Real Estate has been a good investment, and while bird flu could be an epidemic , the trends are ,chinese & US people like Kentucky fried chicken,
and free range, healthy chickens.And NRA magazine [American Hunter]had a good medical DR perspective on low prabability of bird flu problem

As far as risk, would not even figure the evil empire[Russia] is no longer a threat;
even though the mainstream media paints it that way.

Take shares in 7 or 8 ventures;
Solomon,trader-investor

 

[JSmith43]

The Chinese leadership cannot escape their future, which is to be accountable to their people. One thing they did to hasten the day of reckoning was not offer to extend the lease of Hong Kong.

The internet access blocking will only **** off the people as will extravagant military spending as an intimidation effort against Taiwan, etc. In fact, if China leadership doesn't get off their arse and help bottle up NK, I believe the first place to go nuclear after Japan and SK will be Taiwan (with a little help, of course).

But that won't happen until China pi$$e$ away the maximum amount of $$ on the military build-up (for nothing, it will turn out).

 

[Couch Potato]

Roger, I think you underestimate the Chinese leadership. They are the worlds most powerful nation. Keep in mind the record of the US in wars where the Chinese worked for the other side is 0 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. The economic war in which we are currently involved is not going any better.

 

[JSmith43]

They are the worlds most powerful nation.

I guess that premise is enough to demonstrate to me the futility of arguing any point to the contrary

Put that obviously inaccurate statement aside, the point I am arguing is that the Chinese leadership will have to substantially morph it's policies or it will disappear at the hands of the Chinese people.

Your premise suggests we are in a war with the current Chinese leadership.
I thank them for the goods they send us at low prices that their government subsidizes. Americans shopping at Wal-mart effectively are getting transfer payments from China (the subsidized prices).

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Bidding War May Be Moving To Rental Front

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116052413793988711-rksM0twCw0_Cb2kMZdEfxXQmBWE_20061017.html?mod=mktw

Bidding War May Be Moving To Rental Front
[FONT=Times New Roman,Times,Serif]Applicants Begin to Employ
One-Upmanship Approach
As Apartments Gain Appeal[/FONT]
[FONT=times new roman,times,serif][FONT=times new roman,times,serif]By CHRISTINE HAUGHNEY
October 11, 2006; Page B6

[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Where home prices are falling, rising or just staying the same

Home sales ebb in Hawaii

Home sales are falling throughout Hawaii, according to an article posted by starbulletin.com. In September, Kauai saw the biggest change in median prices, with a 12.2% decrease in selling prices from $757,500 in September 2005 to $665,000 last month, the Web site says. Median prices remained fairly steady on the Big Island, starbulletin.com says, with median prices rising 0.6% between September 2005 and September 2006, from $425,000 to $427,500. The median price remained at $620,000 on Oahu, the article says. The Big Island continues to offer the most affordable homes in the state, the Web site says. Meanwhile, home prices on Maui jumped 12.8% from the year before, with the median price reaching $775,000, according to starbulletin.com. The biggest drops in the number of home sales were in Kauai, where homes sales were 49% below September 2005, and in Maui, where the number of homes sold in September was only half the total sold in September 2006, starbulletin.com says. Absent from this year's market are a large number of speculators and buyers who are anxious to buy, says a local real-estate agent quoted in the article.

Seattle sees record drop in price

Median Seattle home prices, although up 4.4% to $400,000 in September from September 2005, dropped from both July and August, says an article by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. That makes September the lowest yearly increase since January 2004, and August and September's monthly drops the first time prices fell two months in a row since January 2004, the newspaper says. Sales dropped almost 16% from the year before and the number of properties up for sale increased 30%, the article says. Area real-estate professionals report that while homes are taking longer to sell and some homeowners are being forced to cut their asking prices, properties that are priced right will sell, the article says. The paper quotes the director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research as saying that home sellers shouldn't panic, predicting that the Seattle housing market will eventually see median price increases that will match the rate of inflation, or 3%.

No boom -- or bust in Buffalo

While median U.S. home sale prices increased 83% between 1995 and 2005, residential real-estate prices in the Buffalo Niagara region in New York rose by just 22%, says a Buffalo News article. The city is the sixth least expensive housing market in the country, the article says. Adjusting for inflation, the paper says local homeowners saw a drop of 5% in real dollars, whereas homeowners across the country saw an increase of 43%. While area prices were 28% below the national average in 1995, they were 52% less in 2005, the article says. The good news is that the area's combination of low prices and slow appreciation in home values makes large drops in the area's real-estate prices unlikely, the Buffalo News says. "The real-estate bubble didn't grow here, but the bubble, if there is one, probably won't burst here either," the newspaper quotes a local economist as saying.

 

[Fred]

So much of this seems to go beyond half-full or half-empty. This is seeing a desert and no glass. Irrational Bubble-uberance.

Where does the article come up with a “record drop” in price.

Seattle sees record drop in price
Median Seattle home prices, although up 4.4% to $400,000 in September from September 2005, dropped from both July and August, says an article by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. That makes September the lowest yearly increase since January 2004, and August and September's monthly drops the first time prices fell two months in a row since January 2004, the newspaper says. Sales dropped almost 16% from the year before and the number of properties up for sale increased 30%, the article says. Area real-estate professionals report that while homes are taking longer to sell and some homeowners are being forced to cut their asking prices, properties that are priced right will sell, the article says. The paper quotes the director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research as saying that home sellers shouldn't panic, predicting that the Seattle housing market will eventually see median price increases that will match the rate of inflation, or 3%

One condo with everything that Cabalo wanted sold for $188,500 in 2004, she said. "Now if I were to find something comparable I would have to spend, I would say, at least $250,000."

Wow, prices up 35% since 2004? Look out below! The sky is falling.

 

[Fred]

The economic war in which we are currently involved is not going any better.

Really? How many times greater is our per capital income - 5 times? What percentage of Chinese citizens live in homes with electricity?

 

[Randolph Kinney]

I thought some would be interested in the rising rents.

Articles that you agree with I assume you have no comment.

edit: spelling

 

[Fred]

The article is titled record drop in prices and doesn't come up with it. I wouldn't have a clue how to "agree" or "disagree" with it.

If rents are rising, then all those "speculators" who bought houses recently will have an easier time offsetting holding costs and earning a return.