Housing News: Now 100% 75% Bubble Free

I'm going to take a page from David Lereah's and Ben Bernanke's books, and for one glorious day, pretend there's no housing bubble. Let's see how many interesting real estate items I can find that don't mention it in any fashion at all.

In New York City, housing advocates have teamed up with major banks to force landlords to repair dilapidated properties. I'm amazed this doesn't happen more often. Follow the money trail--if using legislation and advocacy doesn't work, pressure the lenders to make changes or have them be embarrassed through exposing their risky portfolios. Good on them.

In New Orleans, it seems the milk of human kindness has dried up, and residents of upscale NOLA neighborhoods are banning FEMA trailers. Unbelievable. First of all, it's a shock to me that there are any upscale neighborhoods LEFT in New Orleans. Hey, schmucks, your whole city was UNDER WATER less than a year ago. Your property values ain't exactly skyrocketing. Second of all, how dare these people turn up their noses at their fellow residents? It's inhuman and selfish to the extreme. Is it any wonder the country's all but written off the Gulf Coast, when the people right in the thick of it are more concerned with appearances than doing the right thing?

A comment over at the Inman Blog that's worth repeating in terms of the Great Immigration Debate:

mmigration legislation currently under consideration in Congress could bring about a "crisis" in the homebuilding industry, we are told by Gary Roden, immediate past chairman of Associated Builders and Contractors. "Our industry is almost desperate for new workers. If the current undocumented workers are pulled out of the industry, we will be in crisis mode," Roden said. And the National Association of Home Builders said the industry could be in danger of losing a significant portion of its labor force if immigration reform doesn't include a guest worker program and a program to address illegal immigrant issues. As lawmakers wrangle over three different immigration bills, what do you think? Click the comment button to share your opinion.

That is so true. One reason why the current housing boom....

Goddamnit. Two links in and I muffed it. Oh, well.

Anyway, the boom is so profitable for construction companies and contractors is because they've been using low-cost (i.e. illegal) labor, and pulling more money back in profit. If all of those day laborers suddenly got deported, or even better, became American citizens and earned the right to work for living wages, the market would absolutely collapse in on itself.

The whole "guest worker" idea is a cheap facade, so to speak. It's a way to ensure a never-ending pool of under-the-table workers--get them in here for a few years, have them build houses and flip burgers, and pay taxes using stolen I.D.s--which leads to identity theft--then cycle them out again with false hopes of getting a legal way into the country, while making way for the next batch.

The housing market is almost totally dependent on undocumented worker labor, and the fact that the market is tanking will only exacerbate that concern.

It's a mark of how serious the bubble is that even completely unrelated discussions end up going that way, isn't it? :)

Posted at April 7, 2006 06:44 PM

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I'm going to take a page from David Lereah's and Ben Bernanke's books, and for one glorious day, pretend there's no housing bubble. Let's see how many interesting real estate items I can find that don't mention it in any fashion at all. In New York City, housing advocates have teamed up with major banks to force landlords to repair dilapidated properties. I'm amazed this doesn't happen more often. Follow the money trail--if using legislation and advocacy doesn't work, pressure the lenders to make changes or have them be embarrassed through exposing their risky portfolios. Good on them. In New Orleans, it seems the milk of human kindness has dried up, and residents of upscale NOLA neighborhoods are banning FEMA trailers. Unbelievable. First of all, it's a shock to me that there are any upscale neighborhoods LEFT in New Orleans. Hey, schmucks, your whole city was UNDER WATER less than a year ago. Your property values ain't exactly skyrocketing. Second of all, how dare these people turn up their noses at their fellow residents? It's inhuman and selfish to the extreme. Is it any wonder the country's all but written off the Gulf Coast, when the people right in the thick of it are more concerned with appearances than doing the right thing? A comment over at the Inman Blog that's worth repeating in terms of the Great Immigration Debate: mmigration legislation currently under consideration in Congress could bring about a "crisis" in the homebuilding industry, we are told by Gary Roden, immediate past chairman of Associated Builders and Contractors. "Our industry is almost desperate for new workers. If the current undocumented workers are pulled out of the industry, we will be in crisis mode," Roden said. And the National Association of Home Builders said the industry could be in danger of losing a significant portion of its labor force if immigration reform doesn't include a guest worker program and a program to address illegal immigrant issues. As lawmakers wrangle over three different immigration bills, what do you think? Click the comment button to share your opinion. That is so true. One reason why the current housing boom.... Goddamnit. Two links in and I muffed it. Oh, well. Anyway, the boom is so profitable for construction companies and contractors is because they've been using low-cost (i.e. illegal) labor, and pulling more money back in profit. If all of those day laborers suddenly got deported, or even better, became American citizens and earned the right to work for living wages, the market would absolutely collapse in on itself. The whole "guest worker" idea is a cheap facade, so to speak. It's a way to ensure a never-ending pool of under-the-table workers--get them in here for a few years, have them build houses and flip burgers, and pay taxes using stolen I.D.s--which leads to identity theft--then cycle them out again with false hopes of getting a legal way into the country, while making way for the next batch. The housing market is almost totally dependent on undocumented worker labor, and the fact that the market is tanking will only exacerbate that concern. It's a mark of how serious the bubble is that even completely unrelated discussions end up going that way, isn't it? :)