Real Estate Market: No Bottom Until 2012

This is an aside titled 'Real Estate Market: No Bottom Until 2012' dated 12/2/08

There is so much about real estate I don’t understand. How can there be entire neighborhoods of empty houses? Shouldn’t they be sold at the market price, no matter how low? Or rented out, even if it’s like, for $200 a month? Renting/selling = money. Leaving empty=no money. Also, why aren’t regulations revised? — make commercial space legal as residential or offer to waive back taxes, etc. At least one municipality is considering buying up foreclosed properties for shelters for the needy. They are already home to squatters. Today the WSJ predict we won’t see a bottom in the market until 2011 or 2012. Generally, “home prices tend to increase on average at an inflation-adjusted rate of 2.5% to 3% a year, about the same as per capita income.” So if anyone would like to sell me a boarded-up metro-Boston house now for under $50,000, send me an email.

Posted by Joanne on Dec. 2, 2008

electrasteph

I think the problem is that people can't get loans to buy the empty houses right now. You have to have a serious chunk of down payment nowadays to get a loan, and most people don't have that cash on hand anymore. I agree with you on the rentals - it seems that lowering the price of rent to get a regular cash flow is a good idea.

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