Flippers Flop As Housing Market Cools

[Brutus]

LAS VEGAS (AP) - In the rampant real estate speculation of the Las Vegas valley three years ago, people lined up outside Pulte Homes sales offices overnight as if they were waiting for the release of the latest video game console or hot new movie.

Having seen his house in an upscale part of suburban Henderson, Nev. jump $200,000 in value in 18 months, Sam Schwartz felt he couldn't miss any part of the boom.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/pro...429&ID=6810325

[zengrifter]

The great housing bubble collapse is going into full swing soon. zg

[person1125]

i hear it's because all these people that couldn't afford the big expensive houses took out the interest only loans so they could. now the loans are finally catching up to them and biting them in the ass.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by person1125

i hear it's because all these people that couldn't afford the big expensive houses took out the interest only loans so they could. now the loans are finally catching up to them and biting them in the ass.

thats only a piece of it.

[zengrifter]

Housing Bubble
Smack-Down
By Mike Whitney
11-22-6

Give me 5 minutes and I'll convince you that you should sell your house immediately and invest your life-savings in gold or a Swiss bank-account.

Okay?

For some time now we've been hearing about the so-called housing bubble and what effect it could have on your net worth and future. Well, the numbers are finally in and you can decide for yourself whether its time to sell now or try to ride out the storm.

In 2000 the total value of homes in the US was $11.4 trillion. Today that number has shot up to $20.3 trillion; nearly double.

At the same time, mortgage-debt in 2000 was a trifling $4.8 trillion (about half) while in 2006 it skyrocketed to a whopping $9.3 trillion.

So, how do we explain these enormous increases in value? After all, wasn't the housing boom just the natural outcome of "supply and demand"?

No it wasn't. That's an unfortunate myth that should be interred with the withered remains of Milton "free-market" Friedman.

....more - http://www.rense.com/general74/smack.htm

[zengrifter]

US Housing Bubble Meltdown:
"Is it too late to get out"?

Apr 28, 2007 - 04:36 PM
By: Mike_Whitney

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson delivered an upbeat assessment of the slumping real estate market on Friday saying, "All the signs I look at" show "the housing market is at or near the bottom.”

Baloney.

Paulson added that the meltdown in subprime mortgages was not a “serious problem. I think it's going to be largely contained.”

Wrong again.

Paulson knows full well that the housing market is headed for a crash and probably won't bounce back for the next 4 or 5 years. That's why Congress is slapping together a bailout package that will keep struggling homeowners out of foreclosure. If defaults keep skyrocketing at the present rate they are liable to bring the whole economy down in a heap.

Last week, the Senate convened the Joint Economic Committee, chaired by Senator Charles Schumer. The committee's job is to develop a strategy to keep delinquent subprime mortgage holders in their homes. It may look like the congress is looking out for the little guy, but that's not the case. As Schumer noted, “The subprime mortgage meltdown has economic consequences that will ripple through our communities unless we act.”

...more - http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article882.html