So Maybe The Housing Slump Is Not Causing A Depression
There are some out there who are hoping for a new depression to come out of the housing slowdown. Well kids, after reading the tea leaves, things are not going to be so bad. When all the experts were stating we were in a recession, the economy grew .6 percent.
So it is a rosy time? No. But with a Republican President leaving office the media always talks down the economy to boost the chances of the Democrats. Not trying to be political but the press corp is about 85 percent Democratic and they do have a dog in the fight so the newsrooms are full of people talking about how bad the economy is and how the only thing that will save us is a Democratic landslide in the next election. Needless to say, the bad mouthing of the economy will end in November with rosy projections coming later.
Gerald Baker captured some of these feelings in a editorial in the London Times today.
I don’t know about you but I feel a bit cheated. There we all were, led to believe by so many commentators that the sub-prime crisis was going to force the United States into a new era of dust bowls and breadlines, a slump that would call into question the very functioning of the capitalist system in the world’s largest economy. Carried away on the surging wave of their own economically dubious verbosity, the pundits even speculated that this unavoidable calamity might presage some 1930s-style global political cataclysm to match.
Well, it’s early days, to be fair, but so far the Great Depression 2008 is shaping up to be a Great Disappointment. Not so much The Grapes of Wrath as Raisins of Mild Inconvenience. Last week the Commerce Department reported that the US economy – battered by the credit crunch, pummelled by a housing market collapse and generally devastated by the wild stampede of animal spirits – actually grew in the first three months of the year. via Times Online
Very funny comparison. However you don't need to pay property tax on Barbies 3 Story Dream House. With the unemployment ...
My wife has actually decided to study for and get her real eatate licence just so we dont ever have ...
I like your analogy in this article. The real estate economy really is like a patient who you cannot ...
Real Estate is hyper-local. Every market is different. Phoenix has already hit bottom and is starting to recover. We have ...
Great to hear that the big boys
are predicting recovery sooner than
most think.
Thanks for the value! 
I agree--good analogy. You have to crawl before you can walk. Right now, at least in Austin, many people would ...
I live in the Philippines and I am glad we are not on the lists... 
I have a few Litograghs of Presidents homes , made by Richard V. Sebring. yr. 1990 Do they have any ...
Comment by Suzanne Gantner, GRI on 7 May 2008:
You are so right on…the media blows everything out of proportion. Housing’s bad, politic’s bad, money bad…total sensational reporting. We need to keep things in a reality check. There are many good things going on in the world, let’s hear more about them.
Comment by JT Bramlette on 7 May 2008:
I believe this housing bubble will turn around soon it is just an economic bubble that occurs in local or global real estate markets. It is characterized by rapid increases in the valuations of real property until unsustainable levels are reached relative to incomes, price-to-rent ratios, and other economic indicators of affordability. This, in turn, is followed by decreases in home prices that can result in many owners holding negative equity—a mortgage debt higher than the value of the property. The housing bubble in the U.S. was caused by historically-low interest rates, lax lending standards, and a speculative fever. This bubble is related to the stock market or dot-com bubble of the 1990s. I think we have seen the worst and the economy is resilient and will soon make its rebound. – JT Bramlette
Comment by JT Bramlette on 7 May 2008:
A housing bubble is an economic bubble that occurs in local or global real estate markets. It is characterized by rapid increases in the valuations of real property until unsustainable levels are reached relative to incomes, price-to-rent ratios, and other economic indicators of affordability. This, in turn, is followed by decreases in home prices that can result in many owners holding negative equity—a mortgage debt higher than the value of the property. The housing bubble in the U.S. was caused by historically-low interest rates, lax lending standards, and a speculative fever. This bubble is related to the stock market or dot-com bubble of the 1990s
– JT Bramlette
Comment by Aaron Wernli on 11 July 2008:
I think we have seen the worst of what is going to happen. This market is obviously at the bottom and is going to hang around down here for a little bit longer. Hopefully we can all make it out alive.
- Aaron Wernli
Comment by dave miller on 4 September 2009:
J.T. when are they going to put you in prison?