The Republican Party in America is adamant that only people who are currently making money will actually get money from the “the stimulus bill” currently being debated in Congress. Toward that end the party has proposed a $15,000 tax credit for new home buyers as part of their plan to stimulate recovery in the housing sector.
More on Proposed $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit Misses the Point
Even taking the legislative “sausage making” metaphor into account, the pathetic flailing around and posturing currently going on in Congress over the economic stimulus bill is disgusting to watch.
Not only does the future of the U.S. hang on their quick and focused action (two qualities rarely attributed to Congress even on its best day), the fate of the world depends on it. If the U.S. goes down, much of the world goes with it. So what are we getting right now from our august representatives? Political posturing, theatrics, and BS. Same old, same old.
I can barely believe I read this. I thought I had fallen through a time warp device, but no – this is what comes out of Fannie Mae this week -
Mini-mansions are so 2003.
Now, if you really want to roll around in cheap luxury, you have to buy your very own island. Amazingly enough, it isn’t that expensive.
Private Islands Online maintains a website that brokers islands from all over the world, and that includes the U.S. You never go wrong buying unspoiled land, and when that land is surrounded by water, all the better. Plus, should the global economic collapse go even more badly than it already has (Could it? Yes!), then you can hunker down on your private island with a couple year’s worth of supplies and avoid the marauding hordes on the mainland. If things turn around, all the better. If not, oh well. Not your problem.
An economics professor at the University of Chicago, Casey Mulligan, has just predicted that it is unlikley there will be a commercial property crisis, based on the fact that there was very little over-building in commercial real estate during the boom years.
This week’s issue of The New Yorker features an article on The Dystopians, a growing class of American social theorists who think that the United States and the entire way of life it represents is pretty much doomed.
According to a recently published study by the Pew Research Center, most Americans like where they live and report that they feel mostly happy there, and yet most also report they would live somewhere else if they could. Topping the list of most-preferred metropolitan areas were Denver CO, San Diego CA, and Seattle WA, in that order. The least desirable cities in which to live (according to people polled) were Detroit, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
More on Americans Name Denver, San Diego, and Seattle as Best Places to Live
Some of the most drastic markdowns and short sales in United States real estate can be found in suburban neighborhoods. Stockton and Elk Grove California, both mostly suburban communities, together have the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Many analysts have been predicting for over a year now that suburbs will become the next slum neighborhoods, while urban areas will re-gentrify and become desirable again.
More on U.S. Suburban Foreclosures Linked to Gas Prices, Unemployment, Infrastructure Problems
A recent MSNBC report about how Austrian Traude Daniel was able to unload her million dollar Austrian villa by raffling it off for roughly $131 per ticket has unleashed a new wave of inquiries from American homeowners saddled with houses that won’t sell at any price. Daniel was able to collect about $1,100,000 on a home that wasn’t moving at one million through conventional means.
According to Goldman Sachs economist Jan Hatzius the number of unsold homes on the U.S. market is so large that prices could easily fall by an additional 20 percent to 25 percent by mid-2010. Half of the foreclosures in the U.S. in 2008 took place in four key states: California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. Other foreclosure hotbeds include Washington D.C., Detroit, Cleveland, and Minneapolis.
More on U.S. Real Estate Prices to Fall an Additional 25% by 2010
