1. Blog post headline from today’s Atlantic.com: "Why I Think the Housing Bubble Has Not Yet Bottomed." The Atlantic’s Megan McArdle points out that a house in her neighborhood has been reduced from $499,000 to $495,000, and is now being happily touted as a great deal by the listing agent. Meanwhile, the old sellers bought in 2005 at the "height of the market," according to McArdle for $460,000.
She writes: "People’s expectations still have pretty substantial price increases baked in. Until people let go of the assumption that offering a mere 2.5 percent annual profit from the market’s peak is a real bargain, prices will not have bottomed."
First and only comment on her post: "Denial is not just a river in Egypt …"
2. Blog post headline from today’s Businessweek.com: "Home Prices Have Hit Bottom." BusinessWeek columnist Chris Palmeri points out three examples that prices have stabilized. One of them references a friend who made a $1.5 million, all-cash offer on a Hollywood Hills home. While the seller had to lower his price by $200,000, he still got multiple offers. Palmeri seems to think sellers are lowering their prices by small amounts, but not "crippling" figures to finally move their properties.
First comment on his blog post: "To the contrary, home prices continue to slip and foreclosures are increasing in Florida. While I cannot speak to California, I do not buy into the idea that national home sales are increasing outside of speculator sales."
3. It’s questionable whether either blog post definitely makes the case for either argument. But we do know this: This dog does some mighty fine squats.
Reposted with permission from Curbed.com. Click here to view original post.
Copyright (c) 2009 Curbed.com LLC
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