Buying And Selling: Seesaw Sales

Ok, I just can't keep track of the market without a whole bucket of Pepto. Let's see...existing home sales are surging according to Lereah and his legions, but mortgage demand is slipping to new yearly lows. Even by the wacky standards of a post-bubble market, this doesn't make much sense, does it?

Things clear up when you take note of this paragraph:

"A lot of consumers have been having affordability problems, which is why a lot of them have been taking out ARMs," said Chen. "But with ARM rates rising, fewer people have been able to afford a home, which was also behind last week's decline in applications."

People are getting out. Fast. And fewer new buyers are coming in to replace them. In a bear market, the costs are just too much to--can I say it?--bear at this point.

Note the fact that things are still considerably less than sunny in South Florida, and you can get the picture. And as the man some call Cole Kenny points out, that picture is considerably less rosy than it was a year ago.

Where you buy has always been the prime factor in what you buy, but now it's more true than ever. You might literally be stepping from a stable market into a bubble and back again, dependent solely on the market, the whims of freaked-out sellers, and all that froth and irrational exuberance. :)

Posted at March 23, 2006 07:36 PM

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Ok, I just can't keep track of the market without a whole bucket of Pepto. Let's see...existing home sales are surging according to Lereah and his legions, but mortgage demand is slipping to new yearly lows. Even by the wacky standards of a post-bubble market, this doesn't make much sense, does it? Things clear up when you take note of this paragraph: "A lot of consumers have been having affordability problems, which is why a lot of them have been taking out ARMs," said Chen. "But with ARM rates rising, fewer people have been able to afford a home, which was also behind last week's decline in applications." People are getting out. Fast. And fewer new buyers are coming in to replace them. In a bear market, the costs are just too much to--can I say it?--bear at this point. Note the fact that things are still considerably less than sunny in South Florida, and you can get the picture. And as the man some call Cole Kenny points out, that picture is considerably less rosy than it was a year ago. Where you buy has always been the prime factor in what you buy, but now it's more true than ever. You might literally be stepping from a stable market into a bubble and back again, dependent solely on the market, the whims of freaked-out sellers, and all that froth and irrational exuberance. :)