Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Crewleader
Crewleader's Journal
Crewleader's Journal
October 25, 2014
Good Morning All!
And to you I_T_W 
Comics today:
October 25 Birthdays
http://www.famousbirthdays.com/october25.html
October 25, 2014
October 25, 2014
The Blue Universe
Photograph by Hiroki Kondu
About 4.5 million Nemophila menziesii—a California wildflower commonly known as baby blue eyes—carpet the hills at Hitachi Seaside Park in Japan. According to photographer Hiroki Kondu, who calls this landscape “the blue universe,” the flowers peak from the end of April to the first week of May.
Photo of the Day
October 25, 2014
The Blue Universe
Photograph by Hiroki Kondu
About 4.5 million Nemophila menziesii—a California wildflower commonly known as baby blue eyes—carpet the hills at Hitachi Seaside Park in Japan. According to photographer Hiroki Kondu, who calls this landscape “the blue universe,” the flowers peak from the end of April to the first week of May.
October 24, 2014
Whenever we see an analysis of the benefits of buying a home there is always this underlying assumption that you will stay put in the same residence for a long duration. Of course, most people in places like California hop on and off the property ladder game multiple times. Repeat sales continually cut into equity gains and also cause buyers to experience new costs as they move into a new place. The assumption also is that you will always be selling into a rising market. That is not the case. Timing matters in a boom and bust market like California. We are seeing more homes being de-listed as sellers wait until next year as if a hidden trove of buyers will emerge ready to buy their crap shack at a hefty price. The market has suddenly softened. We also see many listing having price reductions which was nearly unheard of in 2013. Today we’ll examine Pasadena but also the underlying mentality that people somehow stay put for long durations in properties.
Smaller spaces with big costs
Pasadena has many homes built during the 1920s with HGTV upgrades. People love these kind of cosmetic touches and during booms, buyers eat this up. As markets get tighter, the pool of buyers dwindles as many realize that they may be buying at a high premium. Buyers in solid positions are questioning current prices on homes. Since these buyers are tentative, there is now talk about bringing less credit worthy buyers to get the game going again. That is yet to be seen.
Many of the homes on the market are currently listed at near peak prices, even getting close to what they were during the manic days of 2005 to 2007. Take a look at this place in Pasadena:
1616 Corson St Pasadena, CA 91106
2 beds, 1 bath, 780 square feet
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/home-buying-duration-tiny-homes-pasadena-real-estate/
Dr. Housing Bubble 10/24/14
The myth of buying a home and staying put: Tiny home in Pasadena reaching peak prices as square footage decreases.Whenever we see an analysis of the benefits of buying a home there is always this underlying assumption that you will stay put in the same residence for a long duration. Of course, most people in places like California hop on and off the property ladder game multiple times. Repeat sales continually cut into equity gains and also cause buyers to experience new costs as they move into a new place. The assumption also is that you will always be selling into a rising market. That is not the case. Timing matters in a boom and bust market like California. We are seeing more homes being de-listed as sellers wait until next year as if a hidden trove of buyers will emerge ready to buy their crap shack at a hefty price. The market has suddenly softened. We also see many listing having price reductions which was nearly unheard of in 2013. Today we’ll examine Pasadena but also the underlying mentality that people somehow stay put for long durations in properties.
Smaller spaces with big costs
Pasadena has many homes built during the 1920s with HGTV upgrades. People love these kind of cosmetic touches and during booms, buyers eat this up. As markets get tighter, the pool of buyers dwindles as many realize that they may be buying at a high premium. Buyers in solid positions are questioning current prices on homes. Since these buyers are tentative, there is now talk about bringing less credit worthy buyers to get the game going again. That is yet to be seen.
Many of the homes on the market are currently listed at near peak prices, even getting close to what they were during the manic days of 2005 to 2007. Take a look at this place in Pasadena:
1616 Corson St Pasadena, CA 91106
2 beds, 1 bath, 780 square feet
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/home-buying-duration-tiny-homes-pasadena-real-estate/
October 24, 2014
Houses made in a factory are a cheap and energy-efficient way for poorer Americans to become homeowners—plus, these days, the mass-produced units can be pretty spiffy.
Alana Semuels Oct 24 2014, 7:50 AM ET
You’ve seen it before: a house, on a truck, on a highway, slowing down traffic with its yellow “OVERSIZED LOAD” sign, its tan vinyl siding nearly screaming “Trailer Park!”
The snobs among us may judge these pre-fab homes as shoddily built, cheap eyesores in a country that’s increasingly eschewing the suburbs for walkable urban areas.
But pre-fabricated homes just might be part of the solution to America's affordable housing crisis.
Home prices are continuing to rise, even as incomes on the lower-end of the scale remain flat, putting home ownership out of reach for many Americans. In some cities, that’s led to renters flooding the markets, which in turns drives rental prices up. Homeownership in the U.S. was 65 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, down from 69 percent in 2005, according to the Census Bureau (PDF).
Families who can't afford homes often find that the apartments available to them are tiny, expensive, and old. Manufactured homes, affordable-housing advocates say, are spacious in comparison.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/the-case-for-trailer-parks/381808/
The Case for Trailer Parks
The Case for Trailer ParksHouses made in a factory are a cheap and energy-efficient way for poorer Americans to become homeowners—plus, these days, the mass-produced units can be pretty spiffy.
Alana Semuels Oct 24 2014, 7:50 AM ET
You’ve seen it before: a house, on a truck, on a highway, slowing down traffic with its yellow “OVERSIZED LOAD” sign, its tan vinyl siding nearly screaming “Trailer Park!”
The snobs among us may judge these pre-fab homes as shoddily built, cheap eyesores in a country that’s increasingly eschewing the suburbs for walkable urban areas.
But pre-fabricated homes just might be part of the solution to America's affordable housing crisis.
Home prices are continuing to rise, even as incomes on the lower-end of the scale remain flat, putting home ownership out of reach for many Americans. In some cities, that’s led to renters flooding the markets, which in turns drives rental prices up. Homeownership in the U.S. was 65 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, down from 69 percent in 2005, according to the Census Bureau (PDF).
Families who can't afford homes often find that the apartments available to them are tiny, expensive, and old. Manufactured homes, affordable-housing advocates say, are spacious in comparison.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/the-case-for-trailer-parks/381808/
October 24, 2014
Good Morning All...that sandwich does look good!
Here's some of today's comics...
October 24 Birthdays
http://www.famousbirthdays.com/october24.html
October 24, 2014
October 24, 2014
Success
Photograph by Peter Allinson
An Atlantic puffin returns from a successful fishing expedition in this picture captured in Iceland. A puffin can grip 20 or more fish in its beak. Those with chicks make up to eight food runs a day.
Photo of the Day
October 24, 2014
Success
Photograph by Peter Allinson
An Atlantic puffin returns from a successful fishing expedition in this picture captured in Iceland. A puffin can grip 20 or more fish in its beak. Those with chicks make up to eight food runs a day.
October 24, 2014
Diana Olick
October 23, 2014
First came a historic national crash in home prices, then a surprisingly sharp jolt off the bottom. Investors, desperate for yield and fueled by Fed-induced cheap cash, swarmed the most distressed housing markets, buying bargain-basement properties and turning them into rentals. Some markets saw double-digit annual price appreciation. Some analysts started to float the word "bubble," again.
Now, finally, reality is setting in yet again.
Foreclosures have fallen to new lows since the crisis, and investors, while not selling their homes, are not buying nearly as many. That has taken much of the air out of home prices. In addition, the number of homes for sale is rising, pushing sellers from the driver's seat to the way, way back.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102115145?trknav=homestack:topnews:2
Housing is waking up to a new hangover
Housing is waking up to a new hangoverDiana Olick
October 23, 2014
First came a historic national crash in home prices, then a surprisingly sharp jolt off the bottom. Investors, desperate for yield and fueled by Fed-induced cheap cash, swarmed the most distressed housing markets, buying bargain-basement properties and turning them into rentals. Some markets saw double-digit annual price appreciation. Some analysts started to float the word "bubble," again.
Now, finally, reality is setting in yet again.
Foreclosures have fallen to new lows since the crisis, and investors, while not selling their homes, are not buying nearly as many. That has taken much of the air out of home prices. In addition, the number of homes for sale is rising, pushing sellers from the driver's seat to the way, way back.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102115145?trknav=homestack:topnews:2
October 23, 2014
“Frankly, we are so far off the economic rails, the locomotive is stuck in a swamp and the trailing cars are piling up around it.” Anonymous, Comments line, Naked Capitalism
October 23, 2014 "ICH" - "Counterpunch" - Since the end of the recession in 2009, investors have borrowed a record amount of money to finance their stock acquisitions. According to the Financial Times, margin debt on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) peaked in February, 2014 at $466 billion and has only recently dipped slightly lower. That’s $85 billion more than 2007 at the peak of the bubble. (Below: Margin debt tends to trace the trajectory of the markets fairly closely, although it’s a poor indicator of a market “top”.)
When stocks start see-sawing like they did last week, it’s usually a sign that over-extended investors are dumping their stocks to meet margin calls. The same thing happened in the run-up to the Crash of 1929. Stocks dropped sharply in late October which forced deeply-indebted investors to unload their holdings at firesale prices. The falling prices triggered a panic that sent stocks into freefall wiping out billions of dollars, crashing the markets, and paving the way for the Great Depression. Here’s a brief summary of what happened:
“On September 3, the market dropped sharply only to rise and then drop again. It was like tremors before a big earthquake but nobody heeded the warning. The market had sagged temporarily before, but it always came back stronger. The market dipped sharply again on October 4 (and) October 21 saw an avalanche of selling as many tried to salvage something from their loss. On October 24 — Black Thursday — the panic took on a life of its own as selling orders overwhelmed the Exchange’s ability to keep up with the transactions…
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40049.htm
Happy Black Thursday Do Tumbling Buybacks Signal Another Market Crash?
By Mike Whitney“Frankly, we are so far off the economic rails, the locomotive is stuck in a swamp and the trailing cars are piling up around it.” Anonymous, Comments line, Naked Capitalism
October 23, 2014 "ICH" - "Counterpunch" - Since the end of the recession in 2009, investors have borrowed a record amount of money to finance their stock acquisitions. According to the Financial Times, margin debt on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) peaked in February, 2014 at $466 billion and has only recently dipped slightly lower. That’s $85 billion more than 2007 at the peak of the bubble. (Below: Margin debt tends to trace the trajectory of the markets fairly closely, although it’s a poor indicator of a market “top”.)
When stocks start see-sawing like they did last week, it’s usually a sign that over-extended investors are dumping their stocks to meet margin calls. The same thing happened in the run-up to the Crash of 1929. Stocks dropped sharply in late October which forced deeply-indebted investors to unload their holdings at firesale prices. The falling prices triggered a panic that sent stocks into freefall wiping out billions of dollars, crashing the markets, and paving the way for the Great Depression. Here’s a brief summary of what happened:
“On September 3, the market dropped sharply only to rise and then drop again. It was like tremors before a big earthquake but nobody heeded the warning. The market had sagged temporarily before, but it always came back stronger. The market dipped sharply again on October 4 (and) October 21 saw an avalanche of selling as many tried to salvage something from their loss. On October 24 — Black Thursday — the panic took on a life of its own as selling orders overwhelmed the Exchange’s ability to keep up with the transactions…
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40049.htm
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleCurrent location: Florida
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 17,005
