“How’s the Housing Market?” — Vol. 27 “Where” (location) is certainly one of the key qualifiers for anyone seeking to divine the health and direction of the housing market. But so is “what?” — as in “what kind of housing?” In the housing market, the key distinction is between existing and new housing. Conflicting Signals...Read More
Stuck in Place A healthy housing market functions like a gigantic escalator. The bottom rungs are occupied by first-time Buyers. As they purchase entry-level homes, the Sellers of those homes (“Move-up Buyers”) typically buy larger homes, enabling Sellers of those homes to buy even bigger homes. And so on, and so on. One of the...Read More
“Revenue-Positive” Fiscal StimulusGive a too-big-to-fail financial institution $1 of taxpayer money, and what do they do with it? As best I can tell, one of two things: 1) lend it back to the government for (risk-free) interest; or 2) borrow $10 more against it, then bet all $11 in the credit derivatives market. Of course,...Read More
