The WSJ MarketWatch said: “Sales of existing homes rose 3.4% in April and distressed activity tapered off as the slow housing market recovery took further root.” More like a root canal. Home sales still languish well below a healthy level of six and one half million at an annualized rate of 4.62 million.
Then the home builders reported new home sales were up 3.3% to a pace of 343,000 when 750,000 is considered healthy. Yes sir, they’re closing back in on the 1.5 million highs!
Why such a snail’s pace of improvement?
Michelle Meyer U.S. economist for Bank of America Merrill Lynch said: “Despite low interest rates and record affordability, housing demand has not recovered to the extent it should have because lending to lower quality borrowers remains light.”
Michelle has a point using the wrong words. What she is referring to is the tight credit and tsunami of Dodd Frank regulations denying people home loans who would have been considered ‘A’ paper before the meltdown. Pretty certain she doesn’t mean we should reinstitute the Democrats loans for the destitute.
The odds are good Michelle is making the big bucks with her title, but is she paid for dancing? Why does everyone dance around the real issue? Jobs. Let me help her out. I’m not an economist, but If more people are working, won’t more people buy homes? Just a wild guess.
Holy Cow! The median sale price is up 10.1% to $177,400. Here’s my take on what that means; that’s as useful of information to a home buyer as a car salesman telling a car buyer half the cars on the lot last month sold for over $50,000.
Seems those old pesky distressed sales have tapered off to only 28% of all sales. During normal economies foreclosures represent about 4% to 6% of sales. But we’re improving!
After economists danced around real reasons for the pathetic housing market with their partner embellishment, then came the Obama administration proving they believe the American people have the same intellect as their supporters.
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Jay Carney said: “Don’t buy into the Republican BS. The rate of spending is the slowest since Eisenhower was president, and the president has shown incredible fiscal restraint.”
That’s right folks, Obama increasing the debt over $5 trillion to $16 trillion is just like Eisenhower and the 1950’s. Welcome back Ozzie and Harriet.
Seems a little guidance is needed here too. Barack and Jay, money that you borrow, tax, or print for government spending is no longer available for private sector spending. That’s where jobs get created, and jobs are what supplies the housing market with buyers. Got it?
Please excuse my crass retort Jay, by using your BS theme, however there is a saying in the Midwest you might comprehend; “What do you call the white stuff in chicken s&it? More chicken s&it.”
Speaking of that, we were treated to another dose of Osawatomie Barry this week. Do you remember what Obama said at Osawatomie? “Limited government and free market economies don’t work and never have.”
In our second dose of Osawatomie we were informed that “profits are not always good for businesses, communities, and workers.” Obama then said: “The job of a president is not to figure out how to maximize profits” it is to: “figure out how everybody in the country gets a fair shot” and “how to set up an equitable tax system.”
The good news is President Obama just had a meeting with his new best friend, socialist François Hollande. According to the BusinessInsider Obama channeled Hollande when he said: “Europe needs a ‘growth strategy’, ‘fiscal discipline’, and ‘proactive monetary policy’.” Let me translate what the new BFF’s mean: central planning, tax the rich, and print baby print.
Wasn’t it Krauthammer who said of Osawatomie: “Obama channeled Hugo Chavez more than he did Roosevelt with his populist rhetoric.” You know, the economic fairness clause in the Constitution where the president’s job is to make sure that everybody gets a fair shot?
Silly American’s thought America was about God given rights, equal opportunity, property rights, and individual liberty. Obama implies those principles don’t work and never have.
With all this ‘channeling’ going on with this ideological brain trust in D.C. how can we expect a housing recovery? We can’t. It’s fiscally impossible. They are called the ‘laws’ of economics for a reason.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of Fritz Pfister or identified sources, and not necessarily those of RE/MAX Professionals of Springfield or RE/MAX International.
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