Bloomberg: Home Resales Slow to 7.16 Million Rate

[BlueStateBlue]

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aKY3nx06K5YQ&refer=home

[merwin]

1. That means the economy is strong! Why? Uh, hm. well, see, since people are

so happy living where they are currently, they don't want to sell their house!

[mikita]

2. the article mentions job creations....

I'm saying .... where..... in IRAQ???

[barb162]

6. and China and India

[berni_mccoy]

3. POP!

Now the long, slow sound of deflation...

[Ratty]

4. Who's buying homes nowdays

I hear about how home sales are up all the time. Are there any figures about who is actually buying these homes? Individuals, families, corporations? How many live in the homes they buy? How many are just adding them to their investment portfolios and renting them out to others?

Just curious.

[BlueStateBlue]

5. From what I've been reading, it appears that a lot of people who are

buying rental properties to add to their investment portfolios aren't having a whole lot of luck actually renting them out.

It's kind of hard to argue that there's a housing shortage in this country when there are a ton of vacant units. I think I read somewhere that there are over a million vacant units currently.

The bubble's going to deflate real quick when all these investors try to jettison their properties at once.

I, for one, would just like to be able to buy a decent place to live without having to gamble my future on some outlandish pyramid scheme mortgage for a house with a price tag 2 1/2 times what it should be.

[barb162]

7. My friend buys rental houses and has been having a hard time lately

renting them as so many renters bought homes the last few years with the super low interest rates. I also read that if you own rentals close to colleges, you will always find renters. Lots of times for a starter homeowner, buy a two flat and that rent pays the whole mortgage. Another friend of mine did that and he still lives there about 30 years later. The renter pays all of his costs and that building went up dramatically (2000%) in price over that period of time

[BlueStateBlue]

8. If things don't come down soon,

that may be in my future. I don't really have a burning desire to be a landlord, but if a two family is the same money as a single family, I may have to seriously consider it.

[barb162]

9. I did it for a while a long time ago

and I know way more than the ones I mentioned. A good renter, though, who pays on time and doesn't trash the place,is worth their weight in gold. Seriously, another person I know in St. Louis bought a two flat while she was going for her MBA. She did a real minimum down payment, like a thousand dollars, she found a single male renter to shovel the snow and I think all she added was a hundred a month to the bills and the place was paying for itself. The quality of the renter is everything. Are the mortgage rates following the interest rates closely? If they keep going up.... Good luck however you do it.

[BlueStateBlue]

12. Re: Mortgage Rates

Call me contrary, but I would rather go in with a higher interest rate and get a better price. Then you can refinance in the next beneficial cycle - you don't get to renegotiate your purchase price. Plus, the thought of owing more for a property than you could sell it for scares the Bejeezus out of me!

[shrike]

19. Sadly, some landlords don't appreciate good renters

and treat them like crap. OTOH, there are a multitude of "bad apple" renters out there that give us all a bad name.

[BiggJawn]

10. It's kind of a "DUH!" thing.

Around here, the going rate for a 2 BR flat is about $425, no utilities.

A 2-3 BR house goes for a little under $600.

Closer to town and the flat goes up to $500 and the house, depending on location, rises to around $800 a month.

AND there's a rental GLUT in the area. Rents on apartments hasn't gone up much in 5 years. i know *I'M* still paying the same price I did 6 years ago!

No wonder they're having trouble renting houses for enough to cover the mortgage.

[BlueStateBlue]

13. I'm paying $750 for a 2 bedroom apt with a driveway and a yard

in metro NYC! I've been paying the same for the past 9 years. I've totally outgrown the place, but I can't bring myself to borrow 5 times my annual gross pay to buy a teeny cape that would have to be gutted.

My other problem is that the house I'm living in was just sold, and rumor has it that the new owner plans to knock it down next year to put up a McMansion. Looks like my hand may be forced. I'll probably look for another rental deal if the prices haven't crashed by then.

[midnight armadillo]

17. That's a good deal!

I pay $1070 for a 750 sq ft two-bed in a superbly managed apartment complex near Boston. Rental prices are falling around here - last spring I saw a 3-bed in a Victorian that included an extra (small) room for an office, driveway, backyard, etc. A great deal for the area. We plan on moving after New Year which is cheaper since we'll be out of sync with the student renters.

When we moved in most 2-beds were going for $1500-1700. We moved within the complex two years ago so got a good break on rent.

[barb162]

14. I think around here

a one bedroom apt. goes for around 900 a month. The rental on big houses are never good. If you have 2 or 3000 to spend on a rental large house, you may as well buy one and that's what people have done with these insanely low interets rates.

[BlueStateBlue]

15. It's true. If I were going to spend $2000 on rent

I'd be right in line with everybody else - at least you get the mortgage interest deduction.

Most one bedrooms apts in this area are going for about $1000, but I have never seen so many "for rent" signs on lawns in this area. I have an excellent credit rating, so I'm somewhat confident that I'll be able to strike a bargain with a reasonable landlord.

[barb162]

16. Do you consider your area to have a bubble? I think most areas

of the US are not in a real estate bubble. These crazy price increases in some parts of Florida (Braedenton 45%) and California and other municipal markets aren't happening in huge swaths of the US. I think the bubble is highly overstated and unless you are in one, maybe you want to buy. I got your point, though, loud and clear, about getting stuck paying more for property than it's worth on the market and I think it last happened in the early 80s, where sometimes people just walked away from their property.

[BlueStateBlue]

18. I absolutely think NYC metro is in a bubble

Prices have at least doubled in the last 4 years.

$300K gets you 800sf that needs to be gutted, on a busy street with fairly high crime. I'll take the zero!!!

[BiggJawn]

11. "Lost ANOTHER home to Ditech-Dot-Com!"

A look into the future of the "housing BOOM":

[progressivebydesign]

20. Ah. but new home sales are SIZZLING!!! n/t

[BlueStateBlue]

21. Doncha know it's all about the spin!! n/t