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Now You See It . . Now You Don’t
Where: 4241 Basswood Rd. (Fern Hill neighborhood in St. Louis Park)Asking Price: $699,900Sold Price: $670,000Tax Value: $731,000Key Stat’s: 3 BR/3BA; 4,300 FSFMarket Time: one day (12/31/2008) “The...
View Article"57 Channels (And Nothin’ On)"??
Three Reasons Why DealsAre Tougher in a RecessionWhat amuses me about 99% of the articles written about the housing market — and there’s been an explosion lately — is that they’re not written by...
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Waiting for Cheap Housing . . . Since 1997
Timing the Housing Market As John Maynard Keynes famously observed, “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” Or, in the case of housing the last decade-plus: ‘stay above trend...
View ArticleJeremy Grantham on Market Timing
“Waiting for the Light” “Be aware that the market does not turn when it sees light at the end of the tunnel. It turns when all looks black, but just a subtle shade less black than the day before.”...
View ArticleEscalator Short-Circuit
“Trickle Down” Economics to ‘Bubble Up’?Soft drink aficionado’s may recall “Bubble Up” as a long-ago rival to 7-Up. It may also be the best label for today’s, post-crash, post-Trickle Down economy....
View ArticleReal Estate & the Media
Is the Media Right About the 2010 Housing Outlook? Before tackling how well the media understands the state of the housing market, a threshold question: Does the media’s take on the housing market...
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Is the Fed Really Done?
Testing “the Bernanke Put”So, the Federal Reserve’s $1.25 trillion program to buy mortgage-backed securities officially ended yesterday. Next up: home buyer tax credits, scheduled to expire at the end...
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Taking a Cue From the Post Office
Defying the Laws of Supply & Demand The post office wants to increase the price of a stamp by 2 cents to 46 cents starting in January. The agency has been battered by losses and declining mail...
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"Insider Buying"& the Housing Market
The Housing Market’s Flashing Green “Buy” Signal In the stock market, open market purchases of company stock by senior management (“insiders”) is considered to be bullish. After all, executives may...
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"The Mulligan Market"
Disregarding Buyers’ First Offer Mulligan (ˈmə-li-gən): a free shot sometimes given a golfer in informal play when the previous shot was poorly played. So, I think I’ve got a good name for today’s...
View ArticleHome Buyers’ Mindset
Sales Catalyst: ‘Deals Too Good to Pass Up’ Americans are still unsure about the economy, and hesitant to make a large purchase unless they absolutely need to or the deal is too good to pass up....
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"Quantitative Easing??" Try, "Printing More Idiots"
Is the Fed Repeating Wall Street’s Sins? Joe Nocera: At a certain point, Wall Street ran out of clients to sell [securitized debt] to. So the only way it could keep the machine going was to buy it...
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Cuba’s Housing Market
Investors (and non-Cubans) Not Wanted When Cuba legalizes buying and selling homes by end of the year — as the government promised again this week — [observers] expect a cascade of changes: higher...
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Housing Market Disconnect
Cheaper More Expensive By the Dozen Usually, the more of something you have to sell, the cheaper it is. That’s just basic, “supply-and-demand” – Economics 101. So, when is that not the case? When it...
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“If the Economists’ Forecast is Accurate . . .”
Financial Forecast Sophistry “Economists have predicted 9 out of the last 5 recessions.” “If you lined up all the economists in the world end to end . . . they wouldn’t reach a conclusion.” “If you...
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What’s a Realtor “Farm?”
Cash Crop (Hopefully) Did you know that Realtors have “farms?” Not for raising corn, soy beans or livestock. Rather, a Realtor farm is all about cultivating . . . future clients. Realtor Marketing...
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(More) ZIRP Side Effects: Unmotivated Sellers
Paid-Off House as Piggy Bank To the already long list of unintended consequences of zero percent interest rates (“ZIRP”) – squeezed savers, flush investment banks (and bankers), volatile commodity...
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Why Home Prices Are Rising Faster Than You Think
Stealth Factor: ‘% of Original List Price Received’ “Sellers received an average of 95% of their list price, up 3.6% from July, 2011 and well above the 88.3% seen in early 2011.” –”The Skinny“;...
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Revisiting Realogy
Housing Market Sign of Recovery #24 The last time I discussed Realogy on these pages, it was to speculate about how soon the company was going to file for bankruptcy. Fast forward almost four years,...
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Housing Market Sign of Recovery #37
2011 vs. 2012 ECRL’s (Edina Realty City Lakes Awards) A year ago, to have the (dubious) distinction of selling the least expensive property in the City Lakes office, the cut-off was $20,000 or so...
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