Jul 21 2011

The four horsemen of the middle class apocalypse – what does it say that we as a nation bailed out the financially wealthy too big to fail banks yet failed to bail out the middle class?

What made the U.S. the envy of the world was the belief that if you worked hard enough and had the right kind of grit and intelligence that you would be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.  This is what built the solid middle class after World War II.  The majority of people […]

May 16 2011

Scorching the desert housing markets – Arizona and Nevada real estate blossomed with cheap fuel and easy access to debt. For last two years 40 percent of buyers came from all cash purchases. What happens when the well runs dry in the financial desert?

The Arizona housing market is a perfect example of what happens when the housing religion spirals out of control and implodes in dramatic fashion pushing up against environmental limits.  I remember driving in the blistering summer heat through Arizona before all the housing mania launched out of control in the late 1990s and thinking that […]

May 9 2011

The financial bubble that is still popping – Home prices enter a deep double dip because household incomes are still in a rut. Housing bubbles in Los Angeles and San Francisco persist while Miami and Phoenix metro areas face double digit annual price declines.

Some people are stunned that home prices continue to sink as if a lead weight was placed on the value of housing.  The mainstream press never sliced and diced the minor jump in prices we had last year because much of the increase occurred around tax credit gimmicks and the Federal Reserve using artificially low […]

Mar 3 2011

Phoenix real estate breaks a record with 50 percent of all home sales coming from all cash investors. Locals barely can buy with FHA insured loans. Can a desert market dependent on cheap oil and survive in the $100+ a barrel world?

The Phoenix real estate market is a fascinating case examination of an area guided by FHA loans for first time buyers and all cash investors purchasing 50 percent of properties.  In January of 2011, the latest month of stunning data, 1 out of every 2 homes sold went to an all cash buyer.  We are […]

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