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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (125536)	11/25/2009 11:43:13 AM
From: RetiredNow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543163

But is it sustainable demand? For example, if there's a guy who's really poor and wants a 65 inch flat panel TV, well the demand exists, but can he really afford it? With cheap, permissive financing, he may be able to buy it, but is that really the kind of "house of cards" economy we want to perpetuate? I say, no. We need an economy built on solid, sustainable demand that doesn't require ridiculous levels of borrowing. It's a balance. We've gone too far in with the pendulum over the last 9 years and it's time to bring that pendulum back to center.

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (125536)	11/25/2009 7:07:34 PM
From: Steve Lokness	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543163

Mary; My sense is that the demand IS there. The financing is not and there are people with jobs looking for financing. My sense is that a pent up demand is building up. I am not all that pessimistic. Oh boy do we disagree here. As housing values continue to fall more and more and more people are underwater on their mortgage. These people are stuck - they can't sell. That is not a pent up demand to buy it is a pent up demand to sell. .........To make matters worse with a real unemployment of over 17% - that is a real tug to pull housing values down more yet. I think Obama is as confident as you are. I think he is wrong, but he obviously doesn't worry as now he is off to Copenhagen. More like a jet setter than a man worried about jobs and the economy. steve

To: Mary Cluney who wrote (125536)	11/26/2009 11:17:01 AM
From: slacker711	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 543163

My sense is that the demand IS there. The financing is not and there are people with jobs looking for financing. This statement doesnt match the current reality. There is plenty of financing for anybody with decent credit. You dont even need to have a 20% down payment. Loans are still going out with 3% down....courtesy of the FHA. The FHA has fallen below its legal reserve limits but that doesnt seem to be stopping it giving out loans hand over fist. Here are just two articles, but there are a ton more. The CEO of Toll, a company that is benefiting from this lending, called it a train-wreck and compares the FHA lending to subprime. bloomberg.com An article about how the FHA is enabling speculation to return in real-estate. nytimes.com With F.H.A. Help, Easy Loans in Expensive Areas By DAVID STREITFELD Published: November 19, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO — In January, Mike Rowland was so broke that he had to raid his retirement savings to move here from Boston. A week ago, he and a couple of buddies bought a two-unit apartment building for nearly a million dollars. They had only a little cash to bring to the table but, with the federal government insuring the transaction, a large down payment was not necessary. “It was kind of crazy we could get this big a loan,” said Mr. Rowland, 27. “If a government official came out here, I would slap him a high-five.”