bostonbubble.com

[Renting in Mass]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/01/AR2010020103527.html

[john p]

This kind of makes sense. We started to hemmorage jobs at the end of 2008. At this time people had emergency funds and with unemployment they most likely had four of five months of float. Because the unemployment is still above 10%, many of these people have extended beyond what their emergency fund afforded so here we are.

What does this mean going forward? If all these homes go on the market and people are upside down significantly; banks will be in worse shape. I predict they extend the $8k first time buyer's grant and make it easier to refinance because they'll continue to keep buying the subprime securitized assets and most likely, China will continue to keep buying our treasuries keeping rates lower. Even with all of that, the weight of this surcharge is likely to drive the market down further. I can't think of anything in the short term that would cause an increase in prices other than pent up demand, but I think we absorbed a great deal of that in the past year with the $8k deal.

[balor123]

Check out the latest CS numbers!

If we're going to support the housing market, then I wish we didn't also have to make mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and bankers fabulously wealthy in the process.