The silver lining in more "bad news" about housing - Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 
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The silver lining in more "bad news" about housing

Posted Feb 20 2008, 02:50 PM by allant
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There was more "bad news" about housing this morning: Housing starts are at 16-year lows, the number of building permits fell 3% in January and mortgage applications dropped 23% last week.

This is a good thing.

There's a silver lining. The housing bubble -- a mistake to begin with -- will deflate, forcing people to live closer to their means and fixing some of the imbalances in the economy.  Maybe we begin to reconsider the idea that you have to buy a home in order to feel successful. In fact, now you may never own one.  And maybe you're better off renting anyway.

Obviously the real estate industry hopes for light at the end of the housing-gloom tunnel.  And, sure, rising home values makes owners feel richer, keeping the consumer economy humming.  Just yesterday optimists in Phoenix predicted an upturn.

But there's more reason to think we're nowhere near the end of this slump.  With long-term interest rates on an upward climb, why plunge into a mortgage now?  Plus oil is at record-high levels should continue to squeeze consumers.

What's so bad about this?  What factors would make you decide that it's time to buy?

UPDATE: MSN Money's Jim Jubak will be joining a panel at the MSN Money-Reuters housing summit today in New York to discuss home ownership and the current downturn. The panel will take questions from the comments below.

Comments

 

the problem with the economy right now is that there is no jobs and the government is top loading money to the wealthy and forgetting about the common everyday working stiff . If you want to fix this problem load it from the bottom not the top give every household with someone over the age of 30 250,000 and they pay there mortages the banks will get healed and so will the people and the money will start flowing again but if you keep up this top loading everyone will sink. If you have a 2 story house and its sinking you dont build a third story on top of it you fix the fondation first!!!!

We got in this mess because of the  stupid real estate agents, banks and brokers who got greedy and knew some people did not meet the standards to buy homes. All they thought about  was the "commission" big bucks in their pockets and talk  people into buying these homes. The idiot banks repo the homes and are now stuck with them and losing monies. They should have worked out new loans with people who have lost their homes and extended the loans and lower the payments, but no, they wanted the homes back and are now desperate to sell the  homes at low prices. Maybe buying a home  now because the prices are low is a good thought, but careful, is your job secure? People are just afraid and the whole world is changing everyday. It's amazing we have not gone into a depression. Who knows, we still  might. This is just an embarrassment for America the great! It has caused a "chain reaction" worldwide.

can I get a first time buyer  on morgage  @6% 30yr for $89,000 with a credit score of 583

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