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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tommaso who wrote (68743)	8/24/2006 11:27:12 AM
From: John McCarthy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

Tommaso Good point(s) ..... one weird thought occurred to me .... if Mr. and Mrs. I'm OK ..... started buying deeply depressed properties ..... might that not hurt consumer spending further ..... not really sure of this ... as it may be a function of how much 2nd home FIX-UP Mr. and Mrs. I'm OK wanna do .... regards, John

To: Tommaso who wrote (68743)	8/24/2006 12:16:12 PM
From: anachronist	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110194

I have not see the exact figures lately, but I think that something like 40% of U. S. families own their homes free and clear. Another very large percentage have plenty of equity and are paying down their mortgages on or ahead of schedule. I hear that stat a lot, and I am not trying to discount what you say. But I also hear a lot of news stories about old folks losing their homes to tax liens and such. Isn't it possible that a lot of the folks who own their homes outright are (1) senior citizens, or those who are quickly approaching that age and (2) the very people who are least likely to be able to handle an increase in non-housing cost of living? So to your further point, isn't it possible that the majority of those who do own their homes outright are the least able to be able to acquire more property?