Just a 46-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH). Tornado warnings here yesterday. Of course, the hail and thunderstorms are just as unusual. Any time of year - much less June!
Our zip code attracts tornadoes. No idea why. So while everyone else was aghast at the region-wide warnings, I could comment that we've had a few tornadoes before. (Baby ones that damage property - but not much more than that). & of course the news reports confirmed that they expected them specifically in our zip code. As usual!
In the end, a tornado touched down up north - just open space. Phew! Though I'd usually think, "eh, baby tornadoes," while of course hoping it didn't cause damage to our house... With all this crazy weather, I was a tad more worried than otherwise. Who knows what these storms can produce.
Last I heard, more storms through the weekend - more snow in the mountains.
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I saw two articles today that made me roll my eyes:
Housing's Latest Double-Dip
New data says it's even worse than the 1930s.
So, what says you? Is real estate cheaper than it's been for 35 years? Adjusted for inflation?
I rolled my eyes, because from a regional perspective, there is nothing "cheapest in 35 years" about real estate here. I'd classify it as "more expensive than ever" - short/crazy bubble aside.
An excerpt:
"On the Case-Shiller measure, prices are now 33% below the 2006 peak and are back at a level last seen in the third quarter of 2002. This means that prices have now fallen by more than the 31% decline endured during the Great Depression."
Yes - my home lost 50% of it's value after the price doubled overnight. I'd theorize that insane borrowing accounted for insane prices, and that 30% - 50% and more losses in a short time frame sound horrible, but mean pretty much nothing in the big picture. It means prices are right where they started in 2002-ish (as article admits). Around here we could have bought our home for half as much just a few years prior. (Prior to 2002, to clarify).
So, did real estate go up 100% practically overnight, in the 1920s/1930s? If not, this decline comparison is useless.
But, makes me wonder if other regions are different. I constantly find my experiences very unique in the region I live in - in many different ways.
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Second article?
For Mortgage Defaulters, More Loans for the Taking
In yet another sign the credit crunch may be ending, some banks are offering loans to consumers with shaky credit.
http://www.smartmoney.com/borrow/home-loans/for-mortgage-def...
It wasn't the subject/title of the article that was so annoying to me, though. It was this quote:
"A lot of responsible people through no fault of their own found themselves in mortgages that weren't practical for them."
To which I can only roll my eyes. I know too many people who took on mortgages they could never realistically expect to repay. Hardly what I would call *responsible.* Which seems to be the bulk of the defaulters around here. There are the many who borrowed several times their booming income, and several who just borrowed six figures in equity to afford lifestyles they couldn't otherwise.
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Neighborhood Doings
Um, a short sale on our street sold in about a day. I wonder what bank it was. SMART bank. IT said "sale pending" from day 1 or day 2. Then it said "sold" after a few weeks. I wondered if that really meant SOLD! & then the movers came and it was so. That has got to be a record for a short sale.
Other neighbor just put house up for rent. With the glut of rentals, I am always amazed how this house is continually rented out with no vacancy. Still asking $1600/month - same as always (boom or bust). For reference, our PITI is about as much, but our home is much bigger. We live in a really nice neighborhood, so I imagine it's easier to fill vacancies. I told dh if we were on the other side of the freeway, how the heck do you stand out from all the rest??? There just seems to be endless empty homes. Everywhere.
Anyway, these renters were only here about a year. & I was shocked how quickly they found renters. Will see how it goes this time... I tell you - the rental market here defies logic. The only people really BUYING homes here are investors. I'd like to see the statistics of homes here - how many are rentals versus occupied by owners. Maybe it works because so many renters are being evicted as their landlords foreclose. Kind of a musical chairs? I wouldn't personally want to own real estate for rent here when it all settles down. Seems to me the rental market is on shaky ground. You can see it in the commercial real estate - has been hit VERY hard. & yet the landlords in our immediate neighborhood don't seem to have any problems covering their expenses with a constant flow of renters.
June 3rd, 2011 at 03:13 am 1307070820
June 3rd, 2011 at 05:31 am 1307079104
June 3rd, 2011 at 12:19 pm 1307103571
Interestingly, my neighborhood still bears the ligature marks of housing and poverty in the Depression. There are yards with second houses, little one or two room cottages not much more than a detached garage. When families needed to band together, sometimes they could do a little better than cram everyone into the same house. They could build a cottage with fireplace out back or move sister and her kids into the garage, adding a window or two to make it more humane. Lucky if that garage had a woodstove for winter.
June 3rd, 2011 at 03:54 pm 1307116469
June 4th, 2011 at 01:22 am 1307150543