Complete and Total Idiocy
By Mark Moffa
Managing Editor
My house is going to spontaneously combust. Really. I know it’s true because I saw it on the Internet today. I did. I went to log in to my email and on my Internet provider’s site I saw this headline: “15 Signs The U.S. Housing Market Is Headed For Complete And Total Collapse.” And the image to go along with it: a house engulfed in flames. You can’t make this stuff up (and by the way, if you click to read the full story, you get an image of a different burning house, just in case you didn’t catch it the first time).
I was already bewildered by the litany of doom and gloom reports this week after the poor post-tax-credit housing data that we all knew was coming actually came. But reading this today drove me over the top. So I went to see who would actually write such inflammatory drivel. It turns out the author has his own blog — called “The Economic Collapse.” On it, almost everything is sensationalistic and he seems to revel in our economic struggle. And then I saw the series of pages at the top for selling gold, silver, emergency food, water filters and security devices, with statements such as “As the U.S. economy collapses, crime is going to explode. Now is the time to make sure that you and your family will be protected when the world goes crazy.” Suffice to say, this is not a legitimate journalist.
Yet, this blog is picked up by another blog, which is picked up by my Internet provider, and lo and behold, these fear-mongering stories are everywhere. This nonsense needs to stop. First of all, some of the so-called signs of “complete and total collapse” are actually signs of a healthy market, such as banks tightening lending standards and market forces pushing prices down to where they should be. Secondly, consider this particular article’s big, bad conclusion: “Those waiting for U.S. housing prices to return to the levels of three or four years ago are living in fantasy land.” No kidding! Isn’t it clear by now that those prices were over-inflated and unsustainable?
In the luxury realm, the latest data isn’t bad at all, actually. In the same report that distressed everyone this week was the news that luxury home sales are up 6 percent. At Unique Homes, we talk to Realtors every day, so, unlike many of those who write about the housing market, we actually know what’s going on out there. And, in the high-end, it’s nothing new: Sellers need to realize they are probably not going to get what they want, and buyers need to loosen up on the purse strings a bit.
Overall, we all need to take a deep breath and relax. Yes, the economy is not yet in good shape, and it’s going to take a while to come back. This is not news. We need to create jobs. There are different ideas about how to do that. Let’s have the debates we need to have, and do the things we need to do to get back on the right track. And as for the folks seemingly willing us toward ruin? Let’s ignore them, and perhaps they’ll spontaneously combust.
This is so right on. Especially the we need to create jobs part… What’s it going to take for the US to create jobs? We need to produce products that the rest of the world wants… What’s it going to take to do that? That’s what we (all of us together) need to figure out.
[...] Did this headline catch your attention? It caught ours. Blogger Mark Moffa at Unique Homes Blog states that much of the doom-and-gloom chatter about the housing market is “actually signs of a healthy market, such as banks tightening lending standards and market forces pushing prices down to where they should be.” You can read more here. [...]
HI Mark, great post. So much of what I hear is just….ridiculous. Incorrect or exaggerated information just feeds fear and uncertainty. There is good news out there….we posted from CNBC on August 12th that the luxury real estate market is up 35% from last year. I’m hearing that buyers who have been looking and waiting are getting serious and making offers. …. It might be slower than we like…but we’re moving forward.
DL
Mark, Nice write-up. Of course, there are always people who think that gloom and doom is better because it gets more attention than saying that things are settling out to what should and could have been expected. I can remember when I went to buy my 1st home that interest rates were at 12% and climbing. Then the price of homes went through the roof and I wondered if my children were ever going to be able to afford to own a home. I think that what is happening will actually be for the best in the long run. A home is a big investment, not a disposable item and people are starting to figure that out. Maybe things will finally start to sette down and we can get back to some sort of normal.
Mark, you are so right on!! Here in Houston we are in some areas in a “boom”. I am having the best year ever. However, the “doom and gloom” is scaring the buyers now. Just have to educate them on the local market and the low interest rates is almost like “free” money. It’s the best time ever for those move up buyers.
The luxury market is back on track for the Monterey Peninsula and especially in Pebble Beach, Carmel and Carmel Valley. Amazing purchasing opportunities are out there, luxury buyers are on the hunt. We are seeing many very high end sales for 2010 much improved over 2009 sales. My monthly blog details the specifics for each community on the Monterey Peninsula at EstatesofCarmel.com
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