Ben Stein's latest article puts the scope of this "crisis" into perspective. http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/yourlife/41148
The perspective of a conspiracy theorist, perhaps. One might also suggest that he just doesn't grasp the seriousness of the situation. LC
Ben Stein a conspiracy theorist? I got a chuckle out of that one. Ben's the man. You gotta give props to a guy who can work in the white house, write a bunch of books, be a movie star, have his own game show, and do eye drop commercials. Wish I had half his brains or experiences... SM
Excellent advice. The only condition I might add to that list is: The consensus on Elitetrader is bearish on or totally silent about real estate. Obviously we are still very far from this situation.
but ET has been bearish on the housing mkt since 2004....many called the top then just to see prices increase further and have buidlers about 1/2 year from their 52 week hi....
Foreign investment might just turn it sooner than you think........ 2.03 for every £1, with prices averaging $500-600k for a 1 bed apt in London and you say HOUSES are going for $200k in florida.......where do I sign? Seriously though, for investment where would YOU start buying up some property? Sure you may not call it spot on and it's probably going to be sitting empty for years, but their must be some hot spots?
Don't let the guy's on here who are broke fool you. While Coastal property (and I don't mean literallyon the beach) in Florida will see further declines it's in many ways pretty darn cheap. My neighbor just vacationed in some place called Bethany Beach Delaware. He said (and I looked on Realtor.com) that modest homes within a few blocks of the beach start at half a mil. That's no more expensive than SoFla. I know first hand that Florida is a bit cheaper than even Chicago. I'm not saying that 450-600k for a home is within most peoples reach but I am saying that in the global community of expensive, Florida is low on the list.
Depends on what the props are supposed to be for. He may have a degree in economics, but since when do economists have any idea how the market operates? LC