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"I See Debt People"


               
2005 Jul 12, 3:32am   13,833 views  153 comments

by HARM   follow (0)  

They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't even know they're in debt.

Signs... Everywhere you look, it's possible to see the Signs that something is not quite normal in the housing market today. Depending on where you stand on the Housing Bubble debate, the signs you see might be positive or negative indicators. Your "signs" may not be that significant to other people, and vice-verca. But everyone has their own favorite "market indicators".

What are yours?

Is it Y-Y/M-M price indexes? Is it price-to-rent (PE) ratios? Y-Y/M-M Sales Volume? Price-to-income ratios? The CA/national HAI (Housing Affordability Index)? Foreclosure rates? Total/available housing inventory? Mortgage lending standards? Levels of new housing construction? Level of speculator activity in the overall market? Shifts in the types of mortgages being issued? GSE debt levels/ share of the market? Overall levels of media "chatter" about the Bubble and/or number of recent articles & interviews on the subject?

What are your favorite "market indicators" and why? Are they leading or trailing indicators? Why? Discuss.

HARM

#housing

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1   Peter P   @   2005 Jul 12, 3:43am  

... They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're in debt.

2   Peter P   @   2005 Jul 12, 3:49am  

Needless to say my favorite is P/E ratio. I will even look at a convincing forward-looking P/E ratio.

How about astrological indicators? I have not heard anyone here quoting them yet.

3   Peter P   @   2005 Jul 12, 3:50am  

Another good indicator: sixth sense.

4   HARM   @   2005 Jul 12, 3:51am  

And how about "common sense" ?

5   SQT15   @   2005 Jul 12, 3:57am  

And how about “common sense” ?

Nah, if they don't "see the debt" they're sure as heck not going to see "common sense."

Right now my favorite indicator is the mortagage/rent gap.

6   HARM   @   2005 Jul 12, 4:05am  

I'd have to say, as far as leading indicators are concerned, the price-to-rent (a.k.a. "PE") ratio is also my favorite, followed by the HAI and price-to-income ratio.

7   Peter P   @   2005 Jul 12, 4:28am  

How about this ratio:

Let i be the 30-YR FRM interest rate
Let p be the price of the home
Let r be the annual rent of a comparable home

Ratio = (p * i) / r

This ratio is similar to "mortagage/rent gap" but it counts only the cost of money (interest).

8   Peter P   @   2005 Jul 12, 4:47am  

Fake P, the ratio is for comparison only. Those fees, tax, and deductions are more or less constant over time for the same home anyway. I do not want to have a complex buy-vs-rent calculator. I do have a formula though.

9   Peter P   @   2005 Jul 12, 5:41am  

Is this a sign?


Anonymous said...
I posted a while back about two condos for sale in my building. One went up for sale before Mother's Day, the other shortly after.

The original list on the first one was $705k. The second one came on the market at $620k. After about a week the $705k listing came down to match the $620k. So $620k went down to $599k, and the other followed suit a few weeks later (btw, these units are almost identical). So last week the first unit lowered their price to $587k. Both had open houses this weekend and from what I can tell nobody showed up (these are both down the hall from me). Now the first unit has lowered their price to $575k as of today and it is listed as "hot NEW listing." The last sucker to buy a unit in my building paid $575k. This is where it gets interesting for me - will their be a greater fool or will this one have to sell for under $575k?

These units are located in the top school district in Northern CA. They used to sell within 1-2 weeks of going on the market. The media can say what it wants about the bubble, but I am seeing evidence first hand.

12:37 PM

10   Peter P   @   2005 Jul 12, 6:31am  

weather has been nice though

How about a waiver to acknowledge that weather can change due to global warming?

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