Real estate poll: Are high home prices good?
A running theme among comments on this blog is whether falling home prices are bad or good. Where the debaters stand usually depends on where they sit (in a house or a rental, that is), but not always.
So Josh Dowlut's recent poll suggestion -- "are high or 'strong' real estate prices desirable or not?" -- should be right up everyone's alley.
Tell us:
Now ponder this:
If high prices are preferable, what could/should be done to help more workers afford homes?
If lower prices are preferable, what could/should be done to help people stuck in homes they can't sell because they're underwater?
What sort of housing-market resolution would benefit everyone, at least long-term?
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Comments
people that were not responsible and did not stay well within their budget should not be bailed out of the mortgage they agreed to.
Posted by: TONY D | April 4, 2010 9:01 AM
If lower prices are preferable, what could/should be done to help people stuck in homes they can't sell because they're underwater?
Well, life is not fair. If they are underwater but can afford the payments, they should make the payments. If they are now, for whatever reason, unable to make the payments, they should file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. For the federal govt. to continue to prop up housing prices by subsidizing those who cannot now afford their payments or who are underwater only serves to delay the big drop in housing prices. Buying a house is not an investment where you are guaranteed a huge profit.
Posted by: ted | April 4, 2010 9:51 AM
It benefits one group of people, bankers and flippers, at the expense of another group of people, everyone who is not a banker or flipper. Most people I've spoken with either see this point already, or see it quickly with about a minute of explanation. The real question then is why is our government so aggressively pursuing policy to prop up prices?
Posted by: Josh Dowlut | April 4, 2010 2:24 PM
I agree with the comments above. A house is an investment and investments are never a guarantee. They gambled and they lost. I wouldn't be opposed to helping them out if it were only about houses. But is the real problem that they can't afford their mortgage or their mortgage AND the credit card debt, student loans, new car loans and vacation time shares?
Posted by: BA | April 4, 2010 4:14 PM
This is not the first downturn in the real estate market. The real estate market in the early 1980's was worse than this one! But, people then either waited for the market to get better, rented out their property, or came to settlement with a check for the difference. Not today! Everybody is now a victim of something and wants to be bailed out! For those who are upside down, you should just hold on and rent the property. The stock market is coming back now and the real estate market will too and then some! Those who get rid of their properties now will be sorry they did five years from now because the values will definitely come back and appreciate further.
Posted by: Bobby D | April 5, 2010 11:35 AM