Is anyone else watching the Financial Entertainment Networks? The news wasn't as bad as expected so that means it is good news. Sad.

Yal, That is bad news indeed. There goes the last govt fiscal watchdog. I wonder where the pressure came from to push Walker out? Probably all sides.

Yal, That is bad news indeed. There goes the last govt fiscal watchdog. I wonder where the pressure came from to push Walker out? Probably all sides.

At least he didn't leave the country. That, to me, would be the ultimate sell signal.

Love how sales "slipped" 0.4 percent from December, and "are" 23.4 below last January.

How about a more active verb? Like collapsed. Nosedived. Cliff-dived. Plunged. Plummeted. Flamed out. Imploded. Self-annihilated.

Maybe "crashed into a fireball, scattering the smoking wreckage of a dying industry and the twisted hulk of the NAR talking point agenda."

C'mon, Yun's language is usually so creative.

Housing holds households. In 2001 there were 105 million households. In 2007 there were 127 million. house sales household adjusted is the proper way to compare data separated by this much time.

In my town in NNJ, the realtor's have listings that are on their websites, but not on the MLS.

Realtor's also have "unofficial" listings - home owners that have taken their houses off the market, but would entertain offers.

Rob Dawg,

You've picked up some bad stats somewhere. Number of households in 2007 was 110,306,000, vs. (nominally) 107,009,000 in 2001. To be sure, in 2002 Census revised its stat downwards more than 3.5 million, from 108,538,000 to 104,966,000, implying that by the current estimation method the 2001 number would have been around 103.5 million, the growth is still much less than by your numbers.

BTW, I'm pretty sure that these numbers factor in Census' best estimate of illegal immigrants -- i.e., that they try to measure reality.

Table 15. Household Estimates for the United States, by Age of Householder, by Family Status: 1982 to present 

If you read nothing else today, follow this link and start with the third paragraph ("But he spoke . . .") . . . Set in 1929. Highly recommend the book.

You can't go home again - Google Books

God damn, but it's resonant of today.

Was talking a a realtor at a church function yesterday and she said, briefly, "Nothing's moving."

And this is in a desirable area (Central California Coast) where supposedly the wealthy are still willing to shell out for what they want -- I thought so, anyway.

She said she had one new client who was looking in the $5 million range; but that his list of requirements would be hard to fulfill for that price. I guess even the rich are bargain-hunting now.

In the meantime, she's keeping busy as a rental agent. People still rent houses.

In El Dorado Hills, east of Sacramento, it appears some properties are moving - REO at 2003 price levels. A house in my neighborhood is priced at $600k down from $689k, and will sell for less. Realtor says "Must sell" (but it's not REO). First sold as new 7/02 for $469k. The initial reset of values has started.

ISTM that sales are likely to stabilize before inventory.

Hungry for CR's in depth on the housing stats...

Custom homes are still being built on the OR coast. The rule used to be that homes had to be built w/a 20 year erosion set back, now it's only a ten year setback (even though erosion seems to have gotten worse along some parts of the coast). For several weeks, there was a crane kind of machine digging holes for concrete piers for a new "custom home" on a bluff where there's been significant erosion in the past few years. Have to use the crane thing because it's such an awkward location.

If/when that house is constructed, it will join the 7-10 big new "custom" homes built last year and then there are some condos going up too that were started last year. Another big condo development was finished last year (30-40 condos?)--about 30 feet from the site of the last construction 25 years ago that ended with a geologist losing his license & construction stopping when the foundations started to sink & crack. I heard from someone the current developer has had to drop his prices a bit. Last year he filed an application to change the zoning (or get a conditional use permit) from condo only use to vacation rental (daily/weekly rentals) but met with sufficient neighborhood opposition that he withdrew the application. That just means he'll wait a year or two and, if he hasn't sold everything, he'll go whining to the Planning Commission & City Council about how he hasn't been able to make as much $ as he thinks he should. Amazing to me how the supposedly conservative & business type people on the Commission & Council fall for that kind of crap instead of saying, you wanted to build, therefore you assumed the risk of failure, forget the conditional use permit or zone change. Try lowering your prices. More.

There are some old & beautiful trees where the new SF structure will be, I hope the builder has enough class not to clearcut the site (although that would be unusual)--although clearcutting will just speed up erosion. But then, what does the builder care? As long as he gets paid before ground disappears.

That's just along a 1/2 to 1 mile stretch of the coast. There's more construction going on in one of the really touristy sections of town (residential & commercial).

When erosion starts threatening some of these expensive structures, there'll be huge pressure to change the riprap permit process. No more "if you're dumb enough to build on unconsolidated "rock" on an erosional coastline, then too bad if you lose your house." Too bad, I'd truly enjoy seeing some of the garish, too large houses fall onto the beach & be destroyed by the ocean.

There are expensive houses being built on hills 1/2 mile east of the ocean too. Far as I know, most of them are selling (if they're not custom built). So there's still building & buying going on in this area.