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
Proposal Du Jour I literally got 4 words into James Wilcox’s Op-Ed piece in today’s New York Times before finding something objectionable. That would be the word “make” — as in, “A Way to Make People Buy Homes Again.” To paraphrase a certain character from the movie Jerry McGuire, “James, you lost me at “make.'”...Read More
Confusing Housing Statistics “U.S. Home Sales Fell 26% in October.” —The New York Times (11/23/2010) “Home Sales Fell 2.2% in October.” —The Wall Street Journal (11/23/2010) So which is it? Both, actually. Home sales fell 26% in October, 2010 compared with October, 2009. And they dropped 2.2% compared with the preceding month (September, 2010). However,...Read More
Best Time to Buy New Windows? When is the best time to buy new windows in the next 12 months? Very possibly, this Jan. – Feb. Isn’t that after the 30% tax credit (for energy-efficient home improvements) expires? Well, yes. To counteract an anticipated slump in demand after Dec. 31, window contractors are gearing up...Read More
Did the Late Bird Get the Worm?? Although I take issue with some of the math underlying the analysis, there’s no denying that the drop in interest rates since April 30 — thanks to the Eurozone crisis — has at least partially offset the benefit(s) associated with now-expired home buyer tax credits. Missing the tax...Read More
Under the Tax Credit Deadline (Just!) Communities large and small traditionally attach a lot of fanfare to the first birth of the new year. So, the proud parents of little Susie or Tommy, who arrived at 12:03 a.m. on New Year’s Day, typically rate a mention in the paper or news (and often a free...Read More
