Sep 29 2006
Real Estate Redux
Yesterday we posted some comments on the housing bubble… here are few more clipped from Peter Schiff:
“Does it seem feasible that the biggest real estate bubble in U.S. history would bottom out after a mere 1.7% price decline? What signs could he possibly see to confirm that the housing market has bottomed? Let’s see, national home prices fell for the first time in 11 years, with 2006 likely to be the first calendar year in 70 where that occurred. Inventories are at record levels and still rising, sales have fallen for five months in a row and are down 12.6% in the past year, foreclosures are surging, builders are offering additional incentives to sell houses, reporting higher cancellation rates, and repeatedly lowering their earnings estimates. Further, over-stretched homeowners are facing a wave of ARM resets beyond their abilities to pay, the economy is headed for a recession and everyone is still expecting a soft-landing. Yep, it sure looks like a bottom to me.”
Soft landing? Hard landing? Or Goldilocks landing? The verdict is far from out.
