As a research scientist, I tend to research whatever I do rather thoroughly. I looked for ways to determine the value of homes in my area (Phoenix Arizona- East Valley) without using a realtor. We were badly burned by the realtor who sold our home, (that’s a story for another day) and I was disinclined to work with a realtor again.
So I have researched the National Board of Realtors, the Fed, the stock market, mortgages, and all the real estate information I could get my hands on...
While there are honest and decent realtors, the NAR’s virtual monopoly on listings lends itself to abuse- and I believe that has exaserbated the current housing bubble. Laws of supply and demand won’t achieve proper balance in the market, if people don’t have the information they need to make sound choices.
Friday, June 23, 2006
New Blog
I have discovered a new (at least to me) housing bubble blog that has a lot in common with this blog. As such, I am sure it will very soon become near and dear to my heart. Please check out the Housing Doom Housing Bubble Blog. From her "My Voyage to Bubbleland" page:
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3 comments:
It is relatively new. Here is a writup in the AZ republic.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/mesa/articles/0623ev-realestate0623Z11.html
Blogger tries to put 'real' back in realty
Jun. 23, 2006 12:00 AM
The more Gilbert resident Debi Averett researches the current real estate market, the more alarmed she becomes.
The number of houses for sale keeps rising, sales remain weak, new houses continue to be built and many buyers have tapped all their equity or don't have any and will be in trouble if housing values fall.
So last month, she started a Web blog and called it www.HousingDoom.com to counter what she considers too much optimism from real estate agents.
"The potential here for tragedy is amazing," she said.
"Are we looking at a huge bubble? I don't know that much about macroeconomics, but I know a lot of people are going to get hurt."
What is unusual about Averett is that she is not a Realtor, economist or financial expert.
She is a mother of five and a botanist who is more familiar with Arizona mint plants than real estate.
She just happens to love crunching statistics and preparing and examining spreadsheets and charts.
The Averetts sold a Chandler home last year because they were considering a job transfer. They decided against the transfer and rented a Gilbert home for a year and began looking in March to buy another house.
They were shocked to discover how much prices had risen and that they would end up with a house smaller than the one they sold. Also, they learned they could rent a house for at least half the cost of the mortgage payments.
In the process of trying to determine the best time to buy, Averett became a real estate junky. She reads The Arizona Republic, Wall Street Journal, Business Week and other publications and has discovered Web sites that can tell her what houses are selling for and what houses are valued at. She focuses on Gilbert.
Her oldest son, Carlos, 21, created the Web site for her so she could share her findings and link readers to other sites that indicate a bubble about to burst.
The Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. reported last week that there were about 41,800 homes for sale across the state at the end of May. And 16,400, or 40 percent of those, were in the Southeast Valley.
About 7,560 homes and condos sold in May, including about 3,000 in the Southeast Valley. Throughout Arizona, homes took an average of 60 days to sell.
Meanwhile, Averett points out that builders keep adding new homes to the competitive mix and says she knows people who have tapped more than 100 percent of their equity.
"We have been using our homes as ATMs for years," she said. "We have this perfect storm brewing at the moment. So many people are into these exotic mortgages."
What is with the PHX people and their blog names.
Housing Doom
Housing Panic
Too funny
You've got competition.
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