One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? What do the 2010 home buyer tax credits have to do with today’s stock market? After producing a huge spike — actually two, due to the initial credit being extended and expanded — the housing market resumed its swoon. With a vengance: the second half of 2010 and well into...Read More
Upping (Lowering?) the Ante In my post, “2015 Housing Prediction,” I poked fun at prognosticators who try to stand out from the crowd by seeing who can make the most audacious housing call. In fact, the housing market lends itself to two such forecasts: 1) calling the bottom; and 2) calling the top. In light of what appears...Read More
Calculating the “Rent Ratio” Sometimes, the decision whether to buy a home or not seems to require an economics Ph.d. Are interest rates headed higher? How strong is the economy? Are home prices now recovering, or will there be a “double-dip?” It’s enough to make your head spin — or hurt. If the foregoing (unanswerable,...Read More
