Gas Prices Hit Home Yesterday’s Star Tribune ran a nice story by Jim Buchta called, “Latest Must-have Home Feature: A Short Commute.” (see also my April 28 post titled, “Centripetal Force”). Here’s the link to Buchta’s story: http://www.startribune.com/business/20629604.html?location_refer=$urlTrackSectionName The comments that follow — 31 and counting — are as interesting as the story. Suffice to...Read More
One-Car Garage Comeback? Just as some fashions — think, wide lapels and narrow ties — can come back into vogue if you wait long enough, home features forrmerly thought of as out-of-fashion (if not obsolete) may be ripe for a revival. Topping the list? One-car garages, at least in city neighborhoods. Up until now, of...Read More
Monetary Policy for Dummies Because homes are overwhelmingly purchased with borrowed money (more than 90%, to be exact), to understand the housing market’s prospects, you have to have a clue about how credit works. In turn, that requires at least a passing acquaintance with the credit market’s overseer and regulator, the Federal Reserve (still reading?...Read More
Long-Term Rates Jump The most significant recent development affecting real estate is a fairly sudden surge in long-term interest rates. In just the last three weeks, the cost of a 30-year, fixed rate mortgage has climbed from around 5.8% to almost 6.5% — in lenders’ parlance, a rise of 70 basis points. This change is...Read More
“Buy-and-Bail” Phenomenon ObservedIn Toughest Housing Markets Stock market investors with a loss have long been able to take advantage of something called the “wash sale” rule. That allows them to stay in a stock that has dropped, but still take a tax loss. Now, something similar but much more nefarious — called ‘buy-and-bail” — appears...Read More
Paying Tomorrow’s Prices Today You can’t read tomorrow’s newspaper today, or see tomorrow’s sports scores today, but it is possible to pay tomorrow’s real estate prices today — at least in many Buyer’s markets. Huh? The explanation has to do with the “spread” between what home sellers are currently asking, and what home buyers are...Read More
