Existing home sales plunge 9.6% in February

posted at 2:15 pm on March 21, 2011 by Ed Morrissey

Reuters gets to break out the “U” word, but not because bad news wasn’t expected.  Their economists just missed the mark in how bad it was going to be:

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell unexpectedly sharply in February and prices fell to their lowest in nearly nine years, an industry group said Monday.

The National Association of Realtors said sales fell 9.6 percent month over month to an annual rate of 4.88 million units, snapping three straight months of gains. The percentage decline was the largest since July.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected February sales to fall 4.0 percent to a 5.15 million-unit pace from the previously reported 5.36 million unit rate in January, which was revised slightly up to 5.40 million.

The New York Post notes that prices have now hit 2002 levels, and dropped all around the country:

The median price of homes sold fell 5.2 percent from last year to $156,100, the lowest since April 2002. Price retreated in all four major regions of the US.

Inventory rose even while prices fell.  The existing resale inventory now amounts to 3.49 million, or almost 9 months of sales at the current rate.  That will force prices even lower in the short term, and without an influx of qualified buyers, over the long term as well.

Prices needed to fall back to at least an inflation-adjusted level corresponding to the start of the bubble in 1998.  We’re getting close to that now.  The problem now is no longer irrational valuation, but  the high unemployment that keeps so many Americans from being able to enter the market.  Short-term fixes to housing woes might incentivize those who already have the money to buy, but if they have to sell to get into another home, they’re almost certain to stay put and try to ride out the valuation decline first rather than lose money in the transaction — assuming they can sell at all.

Until we start creating jobs, we should have no expectations that the housing markets will improve.  We can stow the “U” word accordingly.

Blowback

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Unless you’re working in the oil fields right now, I can’t see much relief in sight.
There’s jobs to be had.
But I think a large number of unemployed are expected entitlements to see them through.
Like Food stamps, medicare/caid, unemployment, worker’s comp maybe, etc.
People are really going to have to start making decisions about employment.
It may no longer be possible for some to stay where they live.
You may have to learn anoterh vocation.
You may have to get desperate.
That is life.
Bcs there ARE jobs out there.
I’m not saying that they’re great or pay a lot or even enough when compared to drawing welfare, but something’s gotta change.
I know the Indian reservation school is hiring a lot of teachers.
There’s a job for someone qualified.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 2:21 PM

My wife and I are in the market. We are waiting another 12-24 months to buy.

Becuase the market isnt coming back any time soon, and the additional cash down payment being saved up due to renting, will save roughly $40-$50k.

We came to this conclusion after seeing the same properties listed, while decreasing, net net for the past 12 months. I did a quick calculation of 3 homes we considered… on average, we have already saved about $30k.

Odie1941 on March 21, 2011 at 2:22 PM

Recovery summer is finally here. I can’t wait to recover that 100K I spent remodeling my house four years ago.

sdd on March 21, 2011 at 2:32 PM

Meanwhile, from MarketWatch:

The Treasury Department said Monday that it will begin to sell its portfolio of $142 billion in agency-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities. A senior Treasury official said the department plans to sell up to $10 billion in MBS per month subject to market conditions. The sales could generate a profit for taxpayers of about $15-$20 billion as market conditions have improved, the official said. Congress gave Treasury the power to purchase the securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide stability to financial markets during the financial crisis of 2008. The official said the sales were not related to the looming debt ceiling.

This must be part of an Obamanomics “buy high, sell low” strategy.

J_Crater on March 21, 2011 at 2:38 PM

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 2:21 PM

Maybe you missed the message that up to 80% of all jobs available are for people who currently are working. Unemployed need not apply. Yes, there are jobs out there, but unless you are fortunate to already have one, good luck securing one. I got lucky, and went from unemployed to employed, but it took a full year to get so much as a callback from any employers.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 2:39 PM

Until we start creating jobs, we should have no expectations that the housing markets will improve.

In CA the houses are considered “cheap” when two small incomes can swing the payment. When I bought in the 80s, it was one income. So wife or husband loses job, end of mortgage.

PattyJ on March 21, 2011 at 2:39 PM

We are remodeling our house that we paid too much for a couple years ago. The remodeling is because we intend to stay right here for as long as possible.
My point is that the only people buying are people being transferred for employment reasons. Otherwise, buying,selling makes absolutely no sense.

ORconservative on March 21, 2011 at 2:41 PM

It’s all Bush’s fault….wait…what????

SPGuy on March 21, 2011 at 2:41 PM

Unemployed need not apply. Yes, there are jobs out there, but unless you are fortunate to already have one, good luck securing one. I got lucky, and went from unemployed to employed, but it took a full year to get so much as a callback from any employers.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 2:39 PM

Well if you move to ND, ANYONE who is not on drugs & lazy can get a job.
YES! You too can get a job in North Dakota!
You might have to get creative about housing in some places here, but there are jobs.
And they don’t care about your employment history.
They are desperate for people to work in some places.
The company my daughter works for, formerly REMCO, needs people. And they pay well for no experience required.
But I guess if a person is stupid & unwilling to learn new things & produce, then it may not be the job for them.
Farmers here in ND need people.
Trucking companies need drivers.
Learn to drive a truck if you can.
They need roughnecks & all kinds of ancillary personnell in ND.
It’s true.
There is work out there.
You just gotta go find it.
And be willing to move, retrain, go back to school, take less $$, work in conditions you may not totally enjoy, etc.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 2:44 PM

We were going to be first-time homebuyers this past month, but two things stopped us: We found a house we love on base, and we were worried about the recovery of the housing market in Omaha. Could we sell the house we were looking at for more than we bought it in 6-8 years? No one could give us a definitive “yes,” so we’re renters again and using the down payment money to pay off student loans.

pookysgirl on March 21, 2011 at 2:44 PM

Prices needed to fall back to at least an inflation-adjusted level corresponding to the start of the bubble in 1998. We’re getting close to that now.

Last time I looked (inflation adjusted Case Shiller), prices were still 15-25% above the start of the bubble, depending on the region. That is not close in my book. It is still enough to wipe out a 20% down payment before we hit bottom, assuming the market doesn’t overshoot.

cool breeze on March 21, 2011 at 2:45 PM

I think the notion that people are not getting jobs bcs they are unemployed may be true in some cases.
But as I said above, get creative.
I’ve been desperate before.
I know it isn’t easy.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 2:46 PM

When you have to admit that for the last 2 years just about every economic data point you published was “unexpected” it’s time to get new economists.

Fred 2 on March 21, 2011 at 2:47 PM

Our home has lost at least $125,000 in value during the past few years. Fortunately, we are far from being underwater on our loan. Unfortunately, our last child is graduating from high school and we could be considering downsizing into something smaller and maybe not having a mortgage after a while. I think we’ll just focus on paying off this house instead.

Common Sense on March 21, 2011 at 2:53 PM

The company my daughter works for, formerly REMCO, needs people. And they pay well for no experience required.

I am going to go with troll for your first name.

You say they are hiring and then give a former name of the company, no city where to look for them.

Yes, there are jobs. Yes, some of them do not care if your employed. Are they advertized where an unemployed person will have access to them? A large number of available jobs are not even posted at state unemployment offices, because they do not want to hire the unemployed.

Moving sounds great, until you look at the cost of making a move. Do you have cash on hand to pay for it? Access to credit? Some huge item you can sell to make the move?

Your preaching to choir when it comes to me. I moved 12 times in my years as an employed person. It requires savings, it requires a certainty of a job at the other end, a job that has some level of reliability. Arriving there having spent $3,000 to move and working for 3 weeks earning $3,000 and getting laid off is not going to do anyone any good, except the employer that screwed you perhaps.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 2:56 PM

Remember the foreclosure mess and the title chain issue?

It dropped into the “memory hole”, even though it’s still ongoing with about two years of “shadow inventory”.

You know something’s really really bad, when practically all news organizations are refusing to cover it.

Rebar on March 21, 2011 at 2:58 PM

Best thing that ever happened was two years ago, when we paid off our mortgage. Now the only thing we have to contend with every year is the insane property tax in our county, which happens to be Dupage County, and yes, it is expensive.

pilamaye on March 21, 2011 at 2:59 PM

We were going to be first-time homebuyers this past month, but two things stopped us: We found a house we love on base, and we were worried about the recovery of the housing market in Omaha. Could we sell the house we were looking at for more than we bought it in 6-8 years? No one could give us a definitive “yes,” so we’re renters again and using the down payment money to pay off student loans.

pookysgirl on March 21, 2011 at 2:44 PM

As a real estate broker I guess you’d expect me to tell ya to buy buy buy, but as an American, a father, and a guy that likes to sleep at night, I think you are doing the right thing and are wise to wait.

As far as prices “bottoming out”, we have a ways to go y’all.

Tim Zank on March 21, 2011 at 3:01 PM

The price should keep dropping until:
1. unemployment rate goes down.
2. Home is affordable. Right now is way too much. It should be one wage earner able to pay for the mortgage.
3. The majority of the 19+ vacant homes must be bought before the price start raising back.

With mortgage rate at an all time low due to the actions of the Fed and housing price keep falling. This doesn’t look good by any means.

jdun on March 21, 2011 at 3:07 PM

Tim Zank on March 21, 2011 at 3:01 PM

We were getting a lot of pressure from some quarters, but our family is happy and proud of the choice we made. And if they weren’t… Well, Pooky is qualified for all sorts of weaponry. :-D

pookysgirl on March 21, 2011 at 3:13 PM

We moved to Utah this year for a job- there are lots of jobs here in Utah. Lots of buildings with We’re Hiring! banners on the side of them. Anyway, it took us a year to sell our house in Ohio, meanwhile we had the renter from hell. We’ve been renting a shack. We are finally in the market for a new house, but credit is so tight, we can’t get a loan. Our credit is better than it was when we bought our last house, and we have no debt. We can’t be the only ones in this situation. But all y’all are making me think it’s ok to rent our shack for a little while longer- at least we are racking up down payment money.

Kristamatic on March 21, 2011 at 3:16 PM

Tim Zank on March 21, 2011 at 3:01 PM
We were getting a lot of pressure from some quarters, but our family is happy and proud of the choice we made. And if they weren’t… Well, Pooky is qualified for all sorts of weaponry. :-D

pookysgirl on March 21, 2011 at 3:13 PM

Ha! Good for you guys! My thanks to Pooky for his service too (or both of you if that’s the case!)

Tim Zank on March 21, 2011 at 3:18 PM

As a real estate broker I guess you’d expect me to tell ya to buy buy buy, but as an American, a father, and a guy that likes to sleep at night, I think you are doing the right thing and are wise to wait.

As far as prices “bottoming out”, we have a ways to go y’all.

Tim Zank on March 21, 2011 at 3:01 PM

As a mortgage banker, I’ll second this.

The price should keep dropping until:
1. unemployment rate goes down.
2. Home is affordable. Right now is way too much. It should be one wage earner able to pay for the mortgage.
3. The majority of the 19+ vacant homes must be bought before the price start raising back.

With mortgage rate at an all time low due to the actions of the Fed and housing price keep falling. This doesn’t look good by any means.

jdun on March 21, 2011 at 3:07 PM

Allof the above PLUS:

4. Banks are mandated to mark their assets to market not to fantasy. The number of properties still sitting in the shadow inventories would make the Banks insolvent if they were to be put on the market. Hence, the “too big to fail mantra”.

There will be no sustainable recovery in housing until the
shadow inventories are released and housing prices are allowed to fall to their true level.

singer on March 21, 2011 at 3:20 PM

Best thing that ever happened was two years ago, when we paid off our mortgage. Now the only thing we have to contend with every year is the insane property tax in our county, which happens to be Dupage County, and yes, it is expensive.

pilamaye on March 21, 2011 at 2:59 PM

Appeal it!! I’m on my third appeal, first two were successful….at this rate my taxes will be below 1998 levels…and BTW I’m in Lake County not far from you.

PatriotRider on March 21, 2011 at 3:20 PM

If prices need to be at 3 times household income (isn’t that kind of the traditional measure) I think we’re there, and then some.

Isn’t average household income around $60k? Yes, an average house costing over $200k is too high, but on the other hand, prices near $150k are probably too low.

MNHawk on March 21, 2011 at 3:26 PM

Until we start creating jobs, we should have no expectations that the housing markets will improve.

Yeah, funny how that works. No job. No mortgage. Maybe someone should tell The Won, Pelosi, Reid and Frank.

GarandFan on March 21, 2011 at 3:27 PM

@Badger40 Sounds like Alberta a decade ago, when the growth really just took off. Now the pace of new projects has slowed, and housing inventory and infrastructure has mostly caught up.

holdfast on March 21, 2011 at 3:30 PM

Until we start creating jobs, we should have no expectations that the housing markets will improve.

ed, are you aware that the new Fed Loan Officer compensation rule (cuts LO pay in half basically) goes into effect on April 1 and that we expect it to create a huge disruption in the mortgage industry? brokered loans will be a thing of the past, consumer choices severely restricted, and so many loan officers will leave the business that many members of congress expect heavy job loss and the closure of many smaller brokerages to occur.

this will make mortgage credit even harder to obtain, limit access to capital for low and moderate income borrowers and make the foreclosed home absorbtion problem even worse.

DrW on March 21, 2011 at 3:30 PM

Babies born in 1946 started retiring. They are going to start selling those 3br 2ba homes they bought in the 1960′s for $20,000 and selling them for whatever they can get for them.

As the boomers start moving out of the market in droves (will really get bad 2 years from now), we are going to see inventories of existing homes climbing at an amazing rate.

We should have been razing any homes over 10 years old that went into foreclosure starting in 2008 in order to reduce inventories and support prices of existing inventory.

crosspatch on March 21, 2011 at 3:32 PM

Tim Zank on March 21, 2011 at 3:18 PM

Thank you! I’m the paperwork guru while Pooky keeps the world from totally imploding. ;)

pookysgirl on March 21, 2011 at 3:41 PM

crosspatch on March 21, 2011 at 3:32 PM

Very capitalistic of you. Nothing like a rigged market to play around in, eh?

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 3:42 PM

I am going to go with troll for your first name.
You say they are hiring and then give a former name of the company, no city where to look for them.

Yes, there are jobs. Yes, some of them do not care if your employed. Are they advertized where an unemployed person will have access to them? A large number of available jobs are not even posted at state unemployment offices, because they do not want to hire the unemployed.

Moving sounds great, until you look at the cost of making a move. Do you have cash on hand to pay for it? Access to credit? Some huge item you can sell to make the move?

Your preaching to choir when it comes to me. I moved 12 times in my years as an employed person. It requires savings, it requires a certainty of a job at the other end, a job that has some level of reliability. Arriving there having spent $3,000 to move and working for 3 weeks earning $3,000 and getting laid off is not going to do anyone any good, except the employer that screwed you perhaps.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 2:56 PM

Well then you don’t know anything about me here at HA at all.
I am no f$%^&*g troll you douchebag.
The company was bought out by a company recently from AZ & I cannot remember it’s new name.
And yes they are hiring.
Lots of people in ND are hiring.
I didn’t say all of these jobs are great & I said it might not be what you want.
God you’re an effing whiner.
WTF did people do years ago when they lost their farms, jobs, homes?
They took jobs earning less $$ & we’re effing happy to do it bcs they weren’t getting welfare payments or food stamps.
I see people in Dickinson ND coming from MI, CO, CA etc that are living in their CARS bcs there’s no housing & they want a JOB.
I moved from TX to WA on a wing & a prayer.
I’ve lived in a TENT in the state of WA bcs rent was so expensive. So I did this to save $$ so I could move to WY for college.
I have lived in my car & have worked all kinds of jobs & I only took welfare for 3 months once bcs I felt I had no other choices.
It can be done.
There are ways.
Unless you want to f$%^&g sit on your collective a$$ & whine how things are just too hard.
Then live in mommy’s basement & be a leech.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 3:49 PM

We should have been razing any homes over 10 years old that went into foreclosure starting in 2008 in order to reduce inventories and support prices of existing inventory.

crosspatch on March 21, 2011 at 3:32 PM

OK that’s ridiculous.
Those foreclosed homes belonged to the banks.
I don’t think we should be siezing property & destroying it to make some sort of artificial demand.
People were paying inflated prices for various reasons, one being in that the feds got involved & made & coerced banks to lend $$ to people who could not pay it back.
Notice that when the govt becomes a competitor for services that prices for those services get out of control i.e. healthcare services.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 3:52 PM

Unless you want to f$%^&g sit on your collective a$$ & whine how things are just too hard.
Then live in mommy’s basement & be a leech.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 3:49 PM

When answering me, telling me that I should do what I have already done, then saying that if I do not do what I have already done is being a whiney… living in my mommies basement… Yes, that tends to make you out a troll acting in trollish manners.

You try to give advice, and do it in such a way as to insult everyone you are supposedly trying to convince to do something good for themselves. Think they will listen or tune you out? Again, trollish activities.

I agreed with almost everything you said, but I just simply put what you stated into the context of what you are arguing for. Such as, move in order to get a job. If you move to a new job, that new job has to produce more wealth than the move costs, else it is factually destructive to the economy. Go ahead and complain about my context all y ou like, but facts remain facts. If you are moving to a new job, you have to have the means of transportation to get to the new job locality, then enough money to have some place to stay that allows you to be presentable for the job, and transportation from that place to the job that again allows you to arrive at work presentable to an employer. Most companies do not hire out of town workers unless they meet in person, again, you need the means to accomplish this in person meeting if required.

So stop your trollish bitching about how upset you are that some people are not capable of getting a job at this point in time. You seem to be projecting alot of hatred towards people you have no clue about.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 4:00 PM

Unless you want to f$%^&g sit on your collective a$$ & whine how things are just too hard.
Then live in mommy’s basement & be a leech.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 3:49 PM

When answering me, telling me that I should do what I have already done, then saying that if I do not do what I have already done is being a whiney… living in my mommies basement… Yes, that tends to make you out a troll acting in trollish manners.

You try to give advice, and do it in such a way as to insult everyone you are supposedly trying to convince to do something good for themselves. Think they will listen or tune you out? Again, trollish activities.

I agreed with almost everything you said, but I just simply put what you stated into the context of what you are arguing for. Such as, move in order to get a job. If you move to a new job, that new job has to produce more wealth than the move costs, else it is factually destructive to the economy. Go ahead and complain about my context all y ou like, but facts remain facts. If you are moving to a new job, you have to have the means of transportation to get to the new job locality, then enough money to have some place to stay that allows you to be presentable for the job, and transportation from that place to the job that again allows you to arrive at work presentable to an employer. Most companies do not hire out of town workers unless they meet in person, again, you need the means to accomplish this in person meeting if required.

So stop your trollish b!tching about how upset you are that some people are not capable of getting a job at this point in time. You seem to be projecting alot of hatred towards people you have no clue about.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 4:02 PM

OK that’s ridiculous.
Those foreclosed homes belonged to the banks.
I don’t think we should be siezing property & destroying it to make some sort of artificial demand.

I guess I didn’t go into too much detail in a short post. Yes, the house would belong to the bank. But look at what happens. If they sell it at auction it sells as a single family home. The sale price impacts the regional “median home price” which in turn impacts things such as tax appraisals, etc.

If you raze the house and sell the property as a building lot, it would not be sold as a single family home and so it does not impact the regional median home price.

It also works in favor of the bank and the community. First of all, if that house sold at auction at less than the current median price, it would push that median lower which increases the number of mortgages in the community that are under water or pushes them deeper under water. Selling it as a building lot does not do that.

Secondly, anyone purchasing that building lot would be doing so with the idea of building a new home there. That would act to stimulate the local economy.

It *is* extremely capitalistic. It is pure supply and demand. If there is an oversupply of something, you reduce it. As it stands now, you end up with an empty home sitting on a lot deteriorating. It actually decreases the value of the surrounding homes. An empty lot does not do this.

What you do is set the stage for a building boom once things ease up and you reduce the glut of housing on the market.

The basic problem is that we have the largest generation in American history moving out of such housing in droves. We don’t need all those houses anymore.

crosspatch on March 21, 2011 at 4:03 PM

Utah is not some magical oasis. I do business there regularly, and while there are jobs there, you will be competing in a highly educated and morally motivated workforce. Which means if you’re going to make a go of it there, you better have your ducks in a row, and you better like your job because you’re gonna be spending a lot of hours working it if you want to hold your own.
Say what you will about being a conservative with religious values, but the fact remains its a highly competitive workforce there.

KMC1 on March 21, 2011 at 4:05 PM

In fact, it would be in the bank’s best interest to simply raze the home before they sell the lot as in many cases, a home more than 10 years old, particularly one that has been unoccupied for a long time, can actually decrease the value of the lot if it is in a desirable location.

crosspatch on March 21, 2011 at 4:06 PM

We should have been razing any homes over 10 years old that went into foreclosure starting in 2008 in order to reduce inventories and support prices of existing inventory.

crosspatch on March 21, 2011 at 3:32 PM

How in the world would you do that legally?

Very capitalistic of you.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 3:42 PM

I really hope you dropped your /sarc tag, because razing houses isn’t “capitalistic” at all. The only entity that could do it would be a government entity under some sort of eminent domain, and I’ve asked crosspatch to explain that, because so far as I know, even after Kelo, the gov’t has to show need for a specific project that would use the land.

Notice that when the govt becomes a competitor for services that prices for those services get out of control i.e. healthcare services.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 3:52 PM

+100

Mary in LA on March 21, 2011 at 4:08 PM

So stop your trollish b!tching about how upset you are that some people are not capable of getting a job at this point in time. You seem to be projecting alot of hatred towards people you have no clue about.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 4:02 PM

ACtually you POS I wasn’t complaining about why some poeple can’t get a job.
I was only pointing out that there ARE jobs available in this country still.
I wasn’t even saying that ALL people who do not have jobs are lazy or incompetent.
But I do know people who REFUSE to get a job bcs they are ‘disabled’ in some way, or ‘not capable’ bcs of made up reasons, when in reality they are just CHOOSING to remain unemployed.
If that offends you, then perhaps it hits too close to home.
That is not projecting hatred.
I am trying to show the other side of this equation.
There are jobs in America & can be done by those who are willing to do them.
And while there are some cases that businesses are not hiring unemployed people, I, in ND, do not find that this is the case.
Go effing crawl back under your rock.
You are the one who called me a troll.
And that is the very last thing that I am.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 4:10 PM

In fact, it would be in the bank’s best interest to simply raze the home before they sell the lot as in many cases, a home more than 10 years old, particularly one that has been unoccupied for a long time, can actually decrease the value of the lot if it is in a desirable location.

crosspatch on March 21, 2011 at 4:06 PM

Okay, if that’s so, why aren’t the banks doing that now?

Mary in LA on March 21, 2011 at 4:10 PM

The basic problem is that we have the largest generation in American history moving out of such housing in droves. We don’t need all those houses anymore.

crosspatch on March 21, 2011 at 4:03 PM

I understand where you’re coming from.
But you know here in ND there have been a lot of houses that were perfectly habitable that have been completely abandoned over the years bcs of farms & ranches consolidating & people moving to the cities.
Now see people are coming back from the cities to live here, buying some of these houses & fixing them up.
It’s still supply & demand bcs now there’s a glut of houses.
If somebody really wanted to sell them, then they’d drop the price enough bcs someone will come & buy them.
People still do have jobs.
Maybe not the best in the world & with all the other stuff rising in cost, it may be hard for most people to buy.
But someone will buy them eventually.
Or the entities that own them will find something else to do with them.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 4:14 PM

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 4:10 PM

Your not helping your cause here with your constant ranting.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 4:17 PM

you have to have the means of transportation to get to the new job locality, then enough money to have some place to stay that allows you to be presentable for the job, and transportation from that place to the job that again allows you to arrive at work presentable to an employer. Most companies do not hire out of town workers unless they meet in person, again, you need the means to accomplish this in person meeting if required.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 4:02 PM

All you are doing is making excuses about why people cannot pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
What about the bum on the street who gets a local church to help him get presentable & procure a job?
What about the young divorced mother with no work history, no car, barely a place to live, and no education who competes & gets the job bcs of her attitude.
That woman was me BTW & what I didn’t have in experience I made up for in other ways.
I did things anyone can do, if you try.
I am not a superhero bcs I did these things, either.
I put myself through school doing yard & tree work & any other odd job I could find, while getting child support erratically. I did not go on welfare, but I did take out students loans togo to college & I am now paying them off.
I knew a woman who was in marketing who went back to college & graduated at the age of 50 with her BS in geology & became a consultant.
People can still do these things in America.
Whatever road blocks, people can get around them.
But if you sit there and make these whining excuses like you have been here, it serves no purpose other than to justify what oftentimes is nothing but laziness.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 4:20 PM

No bank will take a house appraised at $200k, and turn it into a $5k lot.

That simply will not happen.

Rebar on March 21, 2011 at 4:23 PM

Your not helping your cause here with your constant ranting.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 4:17 PM

If you are not receptive to what I am saying, then you are certainly free to stop responding to me.
No one is forcing you to talk to me here.
And you Sir/Madame, are the troll.
The evidently liberal troll who whines that people with problems & bad luck, no job, no money, are evidently incapable of providing for themselves.
In your scenarios, there is NOTHING these people can EVER do bcs the just is just too stacked against them.
While it may be hard, i am only providing information that there are jobs & where there’s a will there’s a way.
It just isn’t easy.
Which I never said it was.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 4:23 PM

No bank will take a house appraised at $200k, and turn it into a $5k lot.

That simply will not happen.

Rebar on March 21, 2011 at 4:23 PM

I agree. They can probably hold out long enough, or maybe get bailed out, & still keep the asset.
One day it will be worth something.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 4:24 PM

When answering me, telling me that I should do what I have already done, then saying that if I do not do what I have already done is being a whiney… living in my mommies basement… Yes, that tends to make you out a troll acting in trollish manners.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 4:02 PM

I think it’s interesting you think the things I was talking about are somehow directly related to you personally.
I am speaking broadly, of the very people who are refusing to actually do something aobut their situation, when they are only making excuses about why they cannot do things to better their lives.

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 4:26 PM

It is artificial demand that got us into this mess. It is artificial demand that is prolonging this mess.

Keynesian economic has never work before and it will never work to fix the current mess we are in.

jdun on March 21, 2011 at 4:28 PM

This is terrible for home sellers and for people who have upside down mortgages, but for someone like me with a single income who hasn’t been able to buy a house, it’s like a ray of hope at the end of a long dark tunnel. Housing prices in my area have dropped to almost affordable, and I’m hoping I can pull it off down the road.

Bob's Kid on March 21, 2011 at 4:54 PM

Bob’s Kid on March 21, 2011 at 4:54 PM

I wish you luck & offer prayers for your success.
I may only be the owner of an early 70s model double-wide trailer. And while it may be expensive to own a home, even one like ours, bcs of the upkeep, it is such a breath of freedom to own your own home.
Course mine is paid for & worth nothing much if I were to sell it, but at least it’s mine! LOL!

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 5:31 PM

Badger40 on March 21, 2011 at 4:26 PM

When you write a response directly to me and use the term “you” then, yes you are speaking about me. Maybe your not a troll. Perhaps you just have a flimsy grasp of the English language and perpetually say things that are generically offensive.

You took great care to get your name in the top spot on the thread. The thread is about the housing market being in a slump, your response,

Unless you’re working in the oil fields right now, I can’t see much relief in sight.

Nothing about housing, but about jobs, and a pretty lame jab at the oil industry, as if making a profit is evil, and doing so because of government interference in your field that the company outright opposes just smacks of trolliness and liberal proregressive stupidity.

There’s jobs to be had.
But I think a large number of unemployed are expected entitlements to see them through.

That has something to do with housing markets? I fail to grasp here. I think this is better sent to a thread based on unemployment, lack of grasp of the English language as well as a lack of grasp of the topic.

Like Food stamps, medicare/caid, unemployment, worker’s comp maybe, etc.

Again, nothing to do with the thread topic, just a hijacking, and again, simply to attack, not to inform, not to persuade, just simply an attack.

People are really going to have to start making decisions about employment.

Yes, they are, and they also have to make those decisions based on the situation that they happen to find themselves in. If they started off broke and with no valuables, they are going to be in a terrible position to pick up and move from state to state. That sucks for them, but many people do in fact find themselves in that position. With that in mind, it is their responsibility to provide for themselves and any family they have.

It may no longer be possible for some to stay where they live.

That was true centuries ago, decades ago, years ago, and today. Nothing new here, although it may possibly be you actually touching remotely on the actual topic, which is housing, so these people who are forced to migrate may have to sell a house? You certainly did not put much effort into making it known you were on topic here.

You may have to learn anoterh vocation.

Again, about housing? Tangentially maybe. Desperate enough to walk away from a half paid for house or an underwater mortgage perhaps, but personally, it seems that your a bitter person that there are so many unemployed in the country and you think it is each individuals total fault this is the case. I think I can sum up the whole reason we have high unemployment for you, moral hazard and the president that promotes it to totality.

You may have to get desperate.
That is life.

Yeah, so very true.

Bcs there ARE jobs out there.

yes, and I already explained that 80% of them are for those who are already hired. You also forgot about the opportunities of selling vegetables and fruits at highly congested traffic stops, the drug smuggling opportunities available just south of the border, the opportunities to turn your underwater mortgage home into an underground meth lab of pot growing business, these opportunities are out there along with becoming a gay prostitute. Somehow, not every human being is made out to be able to do every type of job that is out there. I certainly would never be able to lumberjack, nor could I realistically be a sewer cleaner, and I also cannot work anywhere where there is very bright lighting.

I’m not saying that they’re great or pay a lot or even enough when compared to drawing welfare, but something’s gotta change.

Or even enough. See, there you go again with your attacks against people, on a thread about housing. very lame.

I know the Indian reservation school is hiring a lot of teachers.
There’s a job for someone qualified.

Qualified, and you finally, at the very end said something productive. A person has to be qualified for the job available. Since not everyone can be a jack of all trades, it means either spending money you do not have to get trained to be qualified or get lucky that a company will train you, but with unemployment this high, employers have no incentive to train anyone when there are millions of potential people to slowly pick and chose from and get the absolute very best that is out there, and going back to my point one, the very best are very much more likely to be currently already working, so that is where they will draw the people that they will hire from.

Not the lazy welfare losers who are not responsible enough to so much as show up for work nor desperate enough to be forced into a job they may not like and stick with it long enough to make it worth the employer’s effort of hiring and training them, especially when the welfare person is likely to lose the job and cause that employer to pay higher and higher unemployment tax rates.

Yeah, there are jobs out there, good luck getting one.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 7:35 PM

Bob’s Kid on March 21, 2011 at 4:54 PM

Straight up. Me and my wife just got our first house. I had been looking since 2000, but was always priced out of the market. Picked this house up for a song.

astonerii on March 21, 2011 at 7:36 PM

.

Perhaps you just have a flimsy grasp of the English language

—————————————————–

Me and my wife just got our first house.

Heh

CWforFreedom on March 22, 2011 at 4:32 PM