5 Key Housing Stats: Examining the U.S. Housing Market in May 2008.
The debate has shifted in the last few months with many now feeling that the credit crisis is behind us. Many are now looking forward thinking that the worst in the housing market is here and we are now nearing a short-term bottom. However, others have likened the current environment to being in the eye of a hurricane; that is, the calm right now is very temporary and we still have a large storm heading our way. In this article we want to examine 5 key housing stats that still show major weakness in the U.S. housing market:
Owners’ Equivalent of Rent: The Fed and BLS Gaming the System.
It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that consumer prices are rising at an incredibly rapid pace. If you were to only look at the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) CPI numbers you would think that inflation is hovering around 3 to 4 percent. Of course this is utterly devoid of any reality given that food, energy, and even housing prices are growing exponentially. For the average family housing is the most expensive monthly cost to their budget. Given that 67 percent of Americans own their home and the rapid rise in housing prices over the past decade, why has inflation been low?
Rebate Checks Go Out Tonight: Too Little Too Late.
The much anticipated rebate checks start going out today. In fact, over the next few weeks $110 billion will be sent out to the American public. This week, only electronic deposits will occur with paper checks being sent out later. There seems to be a contingency of people who believe that this is enough to turn the economy positive and avoid a recession. I’m not sure how that will be the case since our employment situation is precarious at best.
How Many People are Really Walking Away From Mortgages? Looking for the Invisible Group.
I’ve been reading many articles talking about those that are currently “walking away” from their homes. It is now common knowledge that some people are intentionally walking away from their mortgage commitments. When we talk about walking away, we are talking about a very specific group that can pay but is choosing not to do so. Of course choosing to pay can be an argument in itself; are we talking about someone who just had their rate reset and is going to pay 80 percent of their net income to their housing payment or are we talking about a speculator who realizes he cannot sell his home and is now simply letting the mortgage go into foreclosure?