A nation in the pangs of deleveraging – The long-term trend of a declining dollar and a collapsing middle class.
As Americans go out to vote many go blissfully unaware of the reality that our total public debt is now above $16.2 trillion. If your only source of information was the mainstream press this fact rarely came up in any debates or journalistic investigations. The discussion of stagnant household income never even came up in […]
Las Vegas real estate and the dynamics of a lower priced housing market – With median home prices around $100,000 they now reflect the reality of a lower paying service sector economy. Foreclosures and short-sales make up over 70 percent of all sales activity.
Las Vegas is a case study in the limits of the housing bubble but also the reflection of a new economy driven by a demand for lower price real estate. Wedged in the story of a collapsing real estate market is a new reality that many families are craving lower priced properties. Few places in […]
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 […]
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 […]