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Debbie Downer Might Be Getting Bullish on Dallas Real Estate

Posted on August 18th, 2009 2:00pm by Candy Evans
Filed under Changing market trends in Real Estate

This report on how the banks are getting a LITTLE more mortgage friendly — actually having less mortgage PMS — is encouraging because after all, this whole mess in real estate was caused by constipated credit caused by the banking meltdown on Wall Street. Then a report from Irvine, CA-based John Burns Real Estate Consultants spelled out more reasons why we might be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel:

“…sales volumes and pricing have stabilized in many areas. Our monthly survey covering about 2,000 new home communities (and available for free to all participating home builders) shows that:

Sales rates have stabilized at about 1.5 sales/month/community,

Prices net of incentives are relatively flat in California, Texas, the Northeast and the Midwest, and primarily at the lower price ranges in most areas,

Standing inventory per community has fallen from 6.0 homes last July to 3.2 homes today, and

Builders are starting more homes per community than they have in a long time. “

Not ready for champagne just yet, but I might start polishing the glasses.

4 Comments to “Debbie Downer Might Be Getting Bullish on Dallas Real Estate”

ponyfan @ August 18th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

The downturn wasn’t caused by “constipated credit caused by the banking meltdown on Wall Street”, it was the irrational exuberance leading up to it that caused the recoil.

7+ years of increasingly lax lending standards and an emphasis on overconsumption got us to where we are today. Please don’t tell me we’ve already forgotten that message.
Candy Evans @ August 18th, 2009 at 3:33 pm

Yes but don’t forget the geniuses who securitized the bad loans. Bad loans alone would have produced a milder recession. But you are absolutely right on!
ponyfan @ August 18th, 2009 at 3:51 pm

Without securitization of these notes the market would have never grown – banks would have been unwilling to hold the full risk of the notes on their books.

Securitization was intended to spread out the risk and allow investors to take on whatever level they were comfortable with. Blame those on Wall St. that created the CDOs and MBSs, but those funds buying them and ESPECIALLY the ratings agencies deserve equal, if not greater, blame.

We would have had a milder recession without securitization only because we never would have had the real estate boom in the first place. Even Fannie/Freddie got in on the game thanks to the Barney Franks of the world.
Aaron @ August 18th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

You guys are reaching.