Wednesday, March 28, 2007

And now a message from Ron Paul

Click

Anyone wanna buy a used Porsche?



At Phillips Auto in nearby Newport Beach, California, no one from the mortgage industry is shopping for Porsches these days, said Theresa Seradsky, the dealership's general sales manager. Instead, they're putting their Porsches up for sale through the consignment program, she said.

No Buyers

``Two years ago, every other day we had somebody coming in to buy,'' Seradsky said. ``In the last two weeks, we've had nobody.''


Well, the housing bubble is now affecting the luxury auto industry. See, it is all connected! Get 'em while they're cheap!

also of note from the article "Subprime Mortgage Collapse Eviscerates California Headquarters": "Office vacancy rates are poised to double this year", and "Massive Layoffs' Coming". Go Irvine!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Westside, Los Angeles

I have no particular interest in the Westside of L.A. but I consider it the weathergauge for the region. Here's a couple new blogs I've come across that focus on that area.

westside-bubble
westsideremeltdown

Sales data show some big-time losses b/w '05 & '07 for the specific listings shown. I wouldn't have guessed. I know prices have softened but are not really reflected yet in median price. L.A.'s been fairly resiliant so far, comparitively. By most accounts, it's all over the map but still headed in a downward trend . The biggest factor now (and latest news of course) is the collapse of the Sub-Prime market. Expect that to grease the skids for declines. It should fairly well kill first time buyer demand & lead to gridlock in the "move-up" market segment. The usual "spring kick" may mitigate that somewhat, but no much IMO.

Congress is having hearings tomorrow over this (lending) mess. Expect a pitch by the same socialist idiots to bail out the "poor disadvantaged, duped consumers" (stupid people) at the expense of the taxpayers (responsible people). Same shit sandwich. Talk about adding insult to injury. That would also prevent a much needed full & true correction.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Doomsday Blogging

I've recently been informed that I visit too many doomsday blogs. But equated a 30% correction to "doomsday" is pretty ridiculous. I'm not talking about nuclear bombs, canibalism in the streets, or even the great depression (Note: my Chaplin pic below notwithstanding - for comedic satire only). Hey, just because I'm holding the coffee and you don't want to smell it doesn't make me crazy or "the bad guy". It jsut makes you an ostrich. Maybe I wouldn't have to be the bearer of bad news if people would just do their own research.

Painful hiss from Subprime Balloon
Subprime Collapse is a 'scary sign'
A subprime mortgage is one granted to borrowers with less-than-perfect credit histories because they've missed payments on credit cards, they are too young to have established a credit record, or a similar issue. As housing boomed in recent years, lenders rushed into making these loans, in some cases letting people borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars without ever having to prove their income or assets. Subprime lenders now represent about one-fifth of the overall $5.5 trillion U.S. mortgage market.


also ...

the number of homes entering the foreclosure process increased by 19% in January, compared with December's numbers. Compared with January 2006, the number of homes in the process is up 25%. In 2006, a total of 1.2 million homes entered the foreclosure process, 42% more than 2005.


Sorry about that .... would you like a cup of coffee?