Monday, June 23, 2008

I should have gone to Harvard

Check out this study that these yahoos did at Harvard:

Tighter Lending Stalls Housing Recovery

Rising foreclosures and tightening credit standards are making it more difficult for the housing market to recover from the current downturn than it has been for the market to rebound from previous slowdowns, according to a Harvard University study."Historically, housing markets recover only after the economy has entered a recession and a combination of falling mortgage interest rates and house prices have improved housing affordability," Nicolas P. Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, said in a statement.

I think a 4 year old could piece together that the CAUSE of the market crash was loose credit standards and as rates rose homes started foreclosing left and right. So for the market to recover, one could assume we needed the foreclosures to end... right?

This is almost as good as the Princeton study (tax payer funded) that found that parents who talk to their babies typically help them start speaking earlier. Amazing. I'm glad I could help fund that.

2008 mid year reports will be available in one week. Don't be caught not knowing what the market is doing (what would you do!). To request a free copy email me at me@dougnielsen.com.

In better news, I am told Harry Potter will be coming out in November. I am planning on renting out the theater for ya'll. Stay tuned...

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Hey, Doug! How's the Market?

Here are some stats you can spit off at your next family get together:

*1st quarter 08 home sales in SL county are DOWN 67% from 1st quarter 07. Sales are lower than 2003 numbers.

*Homes have seen a 36% increase in value since 2003.

*28% of homes on the market are selling. Or, for the pessimist, 72% of homes are not selling. Contrary to popular belief, this is actually normal. THE MARKET HAS GONE BACK TO NORMAL. NOT COLLAPSE.

*During the boom, about 70% of homes were selling.

*The average home price fell to $267K. Down 7% from last quarter. I thought is was a law that real estate values always went up?

*Congress is full of idiots.

*There are currently more than 8200 homes for sale. About 2000 too many.

*SL county has a 8.7 month supply of homes. Buyer's market, baby. Buyer's market. Draper has a 13.1 month supply. Mega buyer's market.

*Did I mention congress is full of idiots?