join a union. my company just settled on a 4 year contract with my union. raises are 5,3,3,3.
Allan
Thankfully, he did not state any specifics (which means follow-through is less likely)
That has already been happening in my area. Since 2011, a 200k house has reached about $500k in Zillow. Recent reports I have heard about are that price increases have slowed and are reversing to some extent. A neighbor recently tried to sell their house for $500k but after months and no offers sold for $350k. Far different from a few years ago when a neighbor received multiple offers and sold for more than the original asking.
No statistics, but anecdotes.
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Maybe the gov’t should put itselfin the businss of protecting Crypto prices.
You know. . . . if the gov’t should be dictating prices, dictating winners and dictating losers why not do it in a way that wilhelp the future instead of providing more welfare for the past.
You may just be raised right out of your job with a contract like that.
Then how do you know that it’s an awful policy?
Seriously, what can a President do to affect the price of housing other than to pressure the Fed on interest rates?
niche skill. cloud infrastructure.
i think i will be around for a while.
Allan
i am not a dinosaur (yet)
Allan
I was referring to the policy of trying to have the gov’t determine what home prices should be.
Stalin and Khrushchev et al tried that. It did not work out.
(There were however short-term winners an losers)
Or throw billions of dollars at the issue as Kamala was talking about doing. Does anyone (with 1/2 a brain) believe that was going to make houses more affordable?
lol ever hear of the USDA section 502 direct loan program?
low cost to the United states taxpayer.
great benefit to new home buyers.
Allan
Good for you. But there will probably be fewer people at your company Christmas party in the coming years.
Okay, but I ask again, what can a President do to affect the price of housing other than to pressure the Fed on interest rates?
Oh, so if I were advising the President: "Boss, here is a list of things you can do to keep home prices high: . . "
They would fall into two categories
1.) Subsidize Demand
- Direct agencies you oversee (Fannie, Freddid etc.) to buy MBS
- Direct the agencies you oversee partially (Soc Sec etc) to buy MBS
- Direct other funds at your disposal to support
—> “first-time buyer” programs,
—>“veterans housing benefits”, etc. - Add conditions to federal aid to states and cities that will reward those states and cities that provide aggressive “first-time buyer” programs
2.) Minimize supply
- Declare an “environmental protection package” that makes building a new home even more restricted/difficult. Esp regarding land use (zoning) and well/sewer requirements as well as flood zone and wetlands requreiments
- Enlarge or expand programs that “allow grandma to keep her home.”
- (There are more but they slip my mind at present)
Thank you. Something to think on … 
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Hat tip.
The recent (post covid) price spike occurred when,
- in addition to stimmy checks,
- the Fed bought $1.4 Trillion in MBS (effectively doubling its MBS holdings)
From that day to this (6 years) homer prices are up about 40%
So. . . . if $1.4 T plus stimmie checks caused home prices to rise 40%,
a much smaller amount of each could (potentially) keep the bubble from popping until the next election.
Interesting. It’s not clear if that is causation or coincidence, but where do stimmie checks come from?
Stimmie checks allowed a ton of wanna be homeowners to buy homes once the Fed had driven interest rates down WAY below free market levels (via buying MBS)
Of course, if someone had ZERO savings, the stimmie check was not enough for adown payment plus closing costs.
But, the stimmie checks tottaled $11,400, for a two-income family with 2 kids
and that turns a LOT of “tomorrow buyers” into “today buyers.”
.
.
.
.
The obvious problem arises because “tomorrow” there are suddenly FEWER buyers than usual, plus rates are starting to return to normal.
As I am sure you are aware, the following is as unavoidable as gravity:
- If home prices or stock prices or whatever rise because people become more productive (like we return to the 40-hour work week or return to two-parent two-income families), then that sort of price increase can be sustained.
- If home prices or stock prices or whatever rose because the gov’t converted some “tomorrow buyers” into " today buyers," then the price increase cannot be sustained.
Not all of economics is like physics, but this part is.
I got a stimmie check. I didn’t buy a home, I gave it to charity.
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You didn’t? … oh well, there goes my whole theory, then.
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