Comments on: Free-for-all Black Friday!

By: Panda

Panda — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:55:00 +0000

F & M, risk is a red herring with apples to apples since you could buy a basket of dividend paying stocks, whose dividends are very solid and should over the long haul grow faster than rents and and would pay enough to rent out a place today. On the other hand, yes, tax is an issue that still requires accounting.

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By: fun and mental

fun and mental — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:12:00 +0000

drachen4% return is risk free. 8% isn'tthe equity in your home is not risk free. the roof over your head is (if it's clear title)apples to apples.i wouldn't compare opportunity cost of a clear title home to an 8% return on mutual funds, especially if i were giving advice to a friend. and we haven't even factored in taxes on that 8% return.my only point was that re-diculous tried to compare equity to opportunity cost without providing an alternative (comparible) bed to sleep in.

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By: tulip-Mania2

tulip-Mania2 — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:30:00 +0000

Speaking of US link, here is one very close to home.Seattle townhouse prices were down from the prior year in six of the first 10 months of 2007, with October's median townhouse price of $358,594 down 13.6 percent from October 2006,"What we are seeing is these huge price reductions, where a guy's asking $600,000 one week, then $550,000 the next week and $500,000 the week after that," said Ryan Thompson, an agent with John L. Scott Real Estate.

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By: Michael Randallbard

Michael Randallbard — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:17:00 +0000

EU industrial orders fell 1.6pc in September. Spanish, French, South Italian, and Irish house prices are already all falling.from above articleBTW GOLD IS THE ONLY ANSWER

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By: Michael Randallbard

Michael Randallbard — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:09:00 +0000

He will have allies soon enough, once the housing bubbles collapse in Spain and across the Med....

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By: Drachen

Drachen — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:05:00 +0000

I don't think you can find a modest 3 bedroom in a modest neighbourhood around Vancouver for under $725k.Crappy neighbourhood or crappy condition but not modest. When Vancouver prices absolutely blow away SF BUBBLE prices it's time to sell (as if there's anyone here with any sense who hasn't sold already)

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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 17:00:00 +0000

â€¢ News FlashNovember 25, 2007 at 2:23 pm As inventory dropsâ€¦here come the US links.There you go:November 24, 2007Today's Housing Bubble Post - Marked Down From $725K To $495K, Still Not SellingA for-sale house around the corner from us (SF Bay peninsula) has gone through all the stages, and now even the "price reduced" sign is gone. The house is empty. The flyers are still there, however. Walking the dog the other day I picked one up to see what they're offering. The house, a modest three-bedroom in a modest neighborhood, was originally listed at $725,000. Now that is crossed off by hand on every flyer and $495,000 is written in.So, marked down from $725,000 to $495,000 it still isn't selling. No one is looking at it. It is still priced higher than the average person can or will pay for a house like this to live in this neighborhood. House prices around here still have a long way to fall, but you can't expect other houses around here to sell for a lot more than $495,000 now - not with that one sitting there. But most of them are still priced in the $600-700,000 range.That leaves a long way left to fallhttp://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2007/11/todays_housing_137.htm

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By: Michael Randallbard

Michael Randallbard — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:52:00 +0000

Anecdotally, in Florida some houses are being sold for half the pricethey were during the peak of the housing bubble two years ago. For banks and mortgagelenders, thatâ€™s scary stuff that is sending shock waves throughout the financial system. Yetstock markets have yet to clue inâ€¦ itâ€™s surreal.

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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 14:13:00 +0000

Unless today's open house has an unsecured wireless connection, we can expect a slowdown in the number of posts from the Re pumpers, on this blog and Chipman's.

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By: Drachen

Drachen — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:01:00 +0000

Fun and Mental:Yeah but 4% is a shockingly low rate of return for any proper investment, 8% is pretty realistic to expect. If it's 80,000 per year you're squandering $50,000 per year in your example. That's a LOT and there is no way that home appreciation can match it. This is part of the reason why the market can't just stall and return to normal appreciation levels. Anyone with a lick of sense knows that they're better off investing the money in a good mutual fund rather than letting it stagnate in a house that's bound to depreciate.

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