Real Estate is Saved! Thanks stimulus package!
Congressional leaders reach deal on economic rescue plan - Los Angeles Times
The package also includes a provision to make refinancing mortgages easier by raising the limit to $625,500 for government-backed loans. That is expected to make more funds available to homeowners in expensive real estate markets such as Southern California who want to get out of their adjustable rate mortgages.
That’s right… real estate is saved! Not that The Real Bay Area needed any saving… but still, this certainly can’t hurt.
With this in mind, I predict that condos in Mountain View will start at $625,500 immediately after the 4th quarter of the SuperBowl - as we all know, real estate always bounces back after the SuperBowl.
2008 is going to be a great year… especially with more help from Washington D.C. like this, we’re going to be back to our god given 15% a year appreciation.
Woot!
January 24th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
whatadeal said…
I am a disabled vet. I do not get o dime of stimulus. Thanks america, oh and by the way ….You are welcome
January 24, 2008 6:59 PM
This taken from Housing Panic Blog (HP).
What a shameful, disgrace America has become.
Free money for Joe and Jane Six-Pack and their rotten spoiled children, but $ 0 for veterans.
Nice touch, Bella Lugosi Pelosi.
January 24th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
3rd Generation said…
Bella Lugosi Pelosi strikes again!
Bella Pelosi is enough reason to leave Kalifornia, but with Feinstein and Boxer thrown in for bad measure, nothing good ever comes out of California.
The Best Thing out of here is an airplane, but even that is getting dangerous with helicopter Ben and the Fed flyin’ Real Low these days.
Shameful, corrupt and unacceptable. We are getting everything we deserve with much MORE to come… PS: Dominoes pizza is sh*t. Perfect for JSP.
LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER
January 24, 2008 7:37 PM
January 24th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Also from HP Blog:
borkafatty said…
This is all for show. That $600 check you are going to get is a drop in the bucket compared to all the money government has taken from you. The extra cash is going to drive prices up that much more, which means that in the end, you will not actually get anything extra, just a slightly larger number on the bottom of next year’s tax form, and based on the rebates of 2004, you will be asked to return the money next year anyway.
Let’s do some math. The rebates cap at $75,000. Depending on your deductions, that means you pay about $9000 in Federal income Tax every year. (You actually pay far more in hidden excises and fees in the products and services you buy, but for the purpose of this thought experiment, let’s just take the income tax.) Let us say that you have held the same earnings level for the last 20 years. That’s $180,000 you have paid in taxes. And now that the government has taxed you to the very edge of collapse, they want to loan you a fast $600 to get you through so they can extract another $180,000 from you over the next 20 years.
And in exchange for this $600 scrap from their table, the government expects that in your gratitude, you will forget about all the lies used to take that money from you in the first place, all the lies used to trick us into a war, all the rigged elections, all the loss of our freedoms and civil rights.
I don’t know about you, but my soul is not for sale for $600. And neither should yours be.
January 24, 2008 8:35 PM
Revolution IS in the air. When will the shooting start? Are YOU ready?
January 24th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I’m not sure wht there’s so much hate for Pelosi.
It’s not like this was completely her idea. Bush, and the Congressional Republicans are taking credit for this as well.
This was a great example of Republicans and Democrats coming together to make something happen!
January 24th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Indeed, a true bi-partisan effort. Go congress!
But why stop there? Let’s make the conforming limit $1.2 million! After all, everyone knows you can’t get a decent house around here for less than that, right?
January 24th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Nothing for vets, nothing for the truly poor, homeless, unemployed, destitute, displaced, but let’s bail out the McMansionTards and their 3.2 fatass children 2 SUVs and neurotic dog.
Yeah I’m ready for revolution. One of the basic rules of Empire is Don’t piss off the hoplites.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
>Nothing for vets, nothing for the truly poor, homeless, unemployed, destitute, displaced
Well remember that the Republicans didn’t want anything for those people. They wanted more money to go to businesses.
The Democrats gave up increases in unemployment and foodstamps to make this happen.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
But the tax refund is only going to people making under $75K (individual) or $150K (couple). And even people who are too poor to pay taxes might get $300. That’s pretty damn progressive for a Republican president.. except that it will just inflate the dollar that much by increasing the money supply, but hey.
January 24th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Now we got “cheap” lending instead of easy lending.
Isn’t this how we got into this current housing problem in the 1st place.
January 24th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
This is not fair to all of us who are waiting for the market to take a huge dump in the bay area. People who bought what they can’t afford should not be bailed out. I don’t care how bad it gets. It’s just typical american politics. Let’s reward the stupid.
January 24th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
well, I’m ecstatic. I bought in October 2005 on the Peninsula (the good part), my house has appreciated $200K while everyone said it would never happen, and now I can refinance out of my jumbo loan to save $$$ every month.
Can’t wait for my 15% appreciation in the Spring! I love Bush!
January 24th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Stevo -yep just get into more debt, horray for you.
Increasing stuff like food stamps, WIC, General Relief would actually stimulate the economy the most, since the poorest people will certainly spend it the quickest. And these things have been cut back like crazy by Clinton, so the Repubs can be the good guys and increase these things.
January 24th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
As for the Bay Area…… tech is leaving. The place is dying anyway.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Increasing stuff like food stamps, WIC, General Relief would actually stimulate the economy the most, since the poorest people will certainly spend it the quickest. And these things have been cut back like crazy by Clinton, so the Repubs can be the good guys and increase these things.
Uh, Bill Clinton didn’t cut those back by himself. Have you already forgotton Newt Gingrich, the Republican Revolution of 1996, and the Contract with America?
I’m not sure how you can say the Republicans can be the good guys and increase those - considering they fought (and won) to keep those out of the current House proposal for the stimulus package.
The Republicans were also the ones who fought to prevent EIC recipients from getting a rebate.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
This doesn’t make any freaking sense to me. The big costs of living around here are insurance and gas and rent and food. And medicine. And all of those costs are going to be higher next year, just like they’ve been rising all along (except maybe rent), and presumably there won’t be another 10 billion to dish out then.
What are the odds that this $10B is going to bring new jobs to anyone? That’s a serious question: I’m not an economist I would’ve thought that consumer spending is low not just because people don’t have a lot of money but because they anticipate, rightly, not having any in the future… And I cannot imagine that the enormous corporations whom I pay to keep my life moving along, Safeway or Shell or Blue Cross Blue Shield, give a shit about consumer spending or hiring in CA or in any part of the U.S. for that matter.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Wait, it’s a HUNDRED BILLION DOLLLARRS, not TEN… I don’t know if it’s better or worse now. I should stop posting here!
January 25th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Stevo,
“well, I’m ecstatic.”
You got to be. After so much bad news, a tiny bit of positive news got to be a reason for being ecstatic, even if the news is silly and the package will hardly helps foreclosed home owners.
“I bought in October 2005 on the Peninsula (the good part), my house has appreciated $200K while everyone said it would never happen, and now I can refinance out of my jumbo loan to save $$$ every month.”
Well, until you find a buyer who is willing to buy your house with $200K appreciated price, your home value is ZERO. The fact is that nowadays most of the homes are selling (if they are selling at all) in lots less than the Zillow’s zestimates. And that is also after lots of home improvements and including the closing cost in mortgage.
“Can’t wait for my 15% appreciation in the Spring!”
Even the NAR is not that optimistic. That tells a lot, isn’t it?
“I love Bush!”
Senior Bush? I think you will remember the real estate plunge in California when he was president.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Wow, it’s going to be easier than ever to buy a BA house. You will only need to pay a conventional loan rate for a jumbo loan. With a deal like that, you can’t afford NOT to buy a house. No more excuses like “I’m priced out forever”. Forever just became much shorter!
January 25th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Seriously. Starter duplex in Redwood City, here I come!
January 25th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Hey Stevo,
What do you drink or eat or sniff?
Could I have some …
Or are you just being sarcastic……….?
January 25th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Not sniffing a thing… The pessimism for the market carte blanche is misplaced.. just need to pick carefully. Los Altos, Palo Alto, Mountain View resale homes above $1M all have appreciated just fine during a flight to quality schools, quality employers, and most importantly areas with no new housing development. There’s zero inventory, LP remains above 100%, high-tech is weathering the storm just fine, etc, etc. My advice - jump in to these areas now… the water’s fine!
January 25th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
By the way, the proposed Jumbo limit for the Bay Area is $730K, not $625K. Check the article in the SF Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/25/MNS7UL6SQ.DTL&tsp=1
January 25th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
“Los Altos, Palo Alto, Mountain View resale homes above $1M all have appreciated just fine during a flight to quality schools, quality employers, and most importantly areas with no new housing development. There’s zero inventory, LP remains above 100%, high-tech is weathering the storm just fine, etc, etc.”
Steveo,
Reading your first post I really thought you as are a homeowner. But your 2nd post sounds more like a real estate agent.
BTW, I would love to see your reference about Palo Alto, Mountain View inventory zero. Here some info that indicates opposite:
http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Palo_Alto-California/
Median price dropped. Number of sales dropped. Drop in number of sales is not an indication of zero inventory.
In some areas the inventory could well be zero. If that happens at all, it won’t be due to a hot market where homes are selling quick. It is because homeowners are not putting their homes in market due to bad real estate market. Market freeze is in not uncommon in bad housing market.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
“My advice - jump in to these areas now… the water’s fine!”
You bet! It is never bad time to buy a home. David Lereah all over again.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Pralay - (I’m not a RE agent) I agree with you on sales, but by pulling listings in this area, demand = supply for these areas where there are no investors, good schools, solid job prospects, and most folks lovin’ their low prop 13 tax base. My sources:
Inventory, 12-month avg source: rereport.com/scc/ (click on relevant cities), Zillow, Trulia
MV=25 homes in inventory, 12-month avg. up ~ $200K (Zillow MV non-condo=$100K gain)
LA=20 homes, 12-month avg. up ~ $150K (Zillow LA = $200K gain)
PA=20 homes, 12-month avg. up ~ $300K (Zillow PA = $200K gain)
Current snapshot of mlslistings: 46 homes for sale in MV, 27 in LA, and 31 in PA… very low, and it’s been that way for 6 months…
Trulia has MV & LA up for non-condo (3&4 bed) units. Kinda tough to tell on Palo Alto 3&4 bed.
And, my favorite, Creekside Realty: top 10% of homes in SCC increased median from $1.37M to $1.70M in one year. Check it out: http://www.creeksiderealty.com/bay_area_real_estate/2008/santa_clara_county/1jan.htm Yeah, I know there are more high $$ selling than low, but look at the historical trend back to 2000…
I’m just proving the premise of this site - There is The Real Bay Area (>$1M houses in NW SCC county) and there’s everything else… Make the splurge, you won’t regret it now, you won’t regret it later.
January 25th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Stevo, your such a big f–king real estate mogel you should go out and buy a few more houses in the real bay area. Take that $200,000 in equity and leverage it to the max. You can’t lose, real estate in the REAL bay area NEVER goes down. Why are you letting us in on your secrets to WEALTH???. Go out and make money, buy! buy! buy!
January 25th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Steveo is right. The market for the houses that people actually WANT TO BUY is doing just fine. The market that’s falling apart is the one that the flippers built, the one that’s just over the jumbo-loan limit but still in the mass-produced range. Once you get past 1.2 million you’re getting back into individuality, a place where the house feels like it’s actually WORTH what you spent on it. As opposed to being slapped together in five weeks by a bunch of guys from Home Depot.
January 25th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
My coworker bought a house in Palo Alto last year for $2.6M and she said it is worth $3.2M now. She said her neighbors are CEO/CFO/CTO, etc, or middle east oil mogul who bought the house for their kids to go to Stanford.
On the other hand, a lot of low end houses in Santa Clara county are in fire sale. In SC county, there are 2348 property in pre-foreclosure, 1036 scheduled for court auction, 1385 bank owned, according to RealtyTrac.
January 26th, 2008 at 5:56 am
[...] Wow… commenter Steve really stirred up some discussion. Here’s what Steve had to say yesterday: Real Estate is Saved! Thanks stimulus package! [Burbed.com] [...]