Is this really true??? I cannot fathom for a second that this story is so accurate. So they cant sell their home to move to a smaller more affordable one so they cut down on expenses such as food, entertainment and clothing?????? I don't know who they interviewed for this survey, but damn if this survey was true I don't think same store sales at nearly every major retailer would have been up these past few months, some up double digits. Movies have had some record breaking box office hits over the last 3 months with IMAX theaters actually RAISING movie prices at their theaters. What about restaurants like PF CHANGS, Brinker International which owns a handful of franchises across the United States, Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, MCD and YUM brands ALL AT OR NEAR 52 week highs. So is the homeowner really hurting when it comes to spending money, I highly doubt it, those economic numbers and forecasts are painting an entirely different picture at the moment, you can even take a look at the stock market, its showing everything is peaches and cream again. Here is a hint to all those who have to make sacrifices in this "TOUGH" economy, take all your money, everything, sell your car, borrow against your credit cards and if you can use your house as a big gigantic piggy bank like everyone was doing in 2007, do it and pour every fucking dime and penny you have straight into the stock market and just sit back and collect as much free money as you can, its a guarantee you will never have to struggle again paying the bills or eating a nice steak dinner, the stock market will wash away all those monetary problems that come your way moving forward. ITs risk free. Homeowners making sacrifices in tough economy By ADRIAN SAINZ (AP) â 14 hours ago MIAMI â More than two thirds of Americans who've been unable to sell their home and buy one that better fits their needs have cut back on household expenses such as food, entertainment and clothing in order to pay their mortgage, a survey released Tuesday shows. Homeowners who have fallen on financial hard times have made other sacrifices and lifestyle changes: About a third have downsized to a smaller home or delayed expanding their family as planned. And, a quarter of homeowners who want to sell their current home and buy another say they need to make the move in order to lower their monthly expenses due to financial problems. The survey, conducted for Move Inc., found wide-ranging concerns about the financial condition of homeowners in a challenging economy, but also unearthed evidence of increased demand among investors in residential real estate. "Concerns around employment and their overall economic situation are causing many people to wait until the economy improves before they commit to one of the largest purchases they'll most likely make in their lives," said Errol Samuelson, chief revenue officer for Move, which runs the Realtor.com and Move.com Web sites. A stronger housing market will be an important part of the nation's economic recovery. As home sales and prices rise, consumer optimism usually follows suit, leading homeowners to feel wealthier and make them more comfortable spending. Despite economic concerns, investor interest in the housing market is growing, according to the survey. About 17 percent of potential home buyers say they plan to purchase a home in the near future as an investment. That's three times the investor interest seen in March 2009. Also, investor interest in purchasing a foreclosed property to fix up and resell rose from 11.3 percent in October 2009 to 16 percent in March, a 42 percent increase. Strong demand persists among first time homebuyers, the survey showed. One in five consumers say they plan to purchase a home in the next 12 months to five years. Of those, half are first-time buyers, with men being somewhat more interested in entering the housing market as a first-time buyer than women. First-time buyers have until April 30 to sign a contract for a home purchase and qualify for a tax credit of up to $8,000. The telephone poll, which included 1,004 interviews, was conducted in March by GfK Custom Research North America. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Can people post some fucking links please when they copy and paste articles so we know they're written by genuine people and not just retarded political mouthpieces?
lolz if I'm not getting a link from a trustworthy news source then I'm not believing any bs that's posted by the posters here, period.
I think the links that are not allowed are those that promotes someone or something but if they are news I think they allow it.
Thanks, not that freaking hard and I could care less, if the moderators are willing to ban people over posting news sources then none of us should even be here really :S
I seriously doubt the homeowner is making any serious sacrifices except to default on the mortgage and live rent free and spend that money to buy more crap they don't need. Check out Diana Olick's blog entry: http://www.cnbc.com/id/36422316 Mortgage Defaults May Be Driving Consumer Spending . . . Okay, so 7.9 million Americans are not paying their mortgages. Are we really thinking about the implications of that? I've already reported studies that show Americans are now far more likely to pay their other bills first before their mortgage (which is a big turnaround historically speaking.) That means they pay off their credit cards, cable bills, car loans in place of their home loans. Some are forced to, while others are doing so strategically. Don't get me started again on strategic defaults... Paul Jackson, publisher of Housingwire.com, wrote a fascinating article last week that put this into real cash perspective. He cites an older stat of 7.4 million delinquent loans, but you'll get the picture. First he describes a case study of someone who applied for the government's Home Affordable Modification Program. The person had an $1,880.00 monthly mortgage payment on which they'd defaulted, but said person's monthly bank statement showed payments to a tanning salon, nail spa, liquor stores, DirecTV bill with premium charges, and $1,700.00 in retail purchases from The Gap, Old Navy, Home Depot, Sears, etc. Writes Jackson: Even if you assume that just half of the current 7.4 million currently delinquent mortgages fit this sort of âspending profileâ (that is, they are spending their mortgage) and you assume a $1,000 median monthly mortgage payment for most U.S. homeowners â you get a $3.7 billion boost per month to consumer spending. Itâs certainly enough spending to matter in the overall scheme of things.
Since when do the Mods ban people for posting links to news sources? And getting banned from ET ain't exactly the end of the world.
I think the more people submit to the idea that banning or silencing people who supposedly say the wrong things is a good thing in itself is pretty much the end of the world personally.
To me, it's a no brainer that this has been fueling consumer spending in a large way. Let's face it, it's largely the middle class that binges on many of these consumer items and I'd venture to guess that as a percentage they represent the largest swath of the strategic default class. The extended unemployment benefits don't hurt either.