by sjn » Tue 02 Aug 2005, 02:33:54
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jtmorgan61', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '')The worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history. Prepare for the economic pain when it pops.”
-- The Economist
There will definitely be pain. OTOH, how much pain is pain? Dilligent Economist readers know that Britain's bubble already popped, with the effect that growth dropped from 4% to 2%. The Economist expects that the U.S. market is "somewhat more exposed" because of our high consumer debt, because we have farther to fall (or more likely, longer to stay at flat prices, as usually happens.)
No the housing bubble hasn't (yet) popped in the UK. It's just not inflating anymore or at least not so quickly. There are various reasons for this; an obvious issue is of course fuel prices (especially natural gas) putting a lot of pressure on the whole economy, consumer confidence levels are falling, so people aren't feeling as confident about taking on ever more debt to finance home purchases. Houses are going unsold at the prices that sellers are asking. Presently the economy is slowing rather than reversing, this will change, and when it does there will be further downward pressure on house prices.
There has never been a situation like this before, so you can't say that normally prices just stay flat. Typically at the end of major financial bubbles, prices deflate rather than remain the same. Certainly after the housing bubble in the 80's here in the UK house prices
did fall. People were left with negative equity where they had bigger mortgages than their homes were worth.
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The rest of the article has quite the interpretive frame. A few points to consider:
- Greenspan also worked for Clinton, in fact was one of only a few people to stay on when the government changed.
- Greenspan also lowered rates because he was trying to pull us out of a modest recession.
- I'm not clear why this guy sold his house from the article. He claims to own it free and clear, so is he simply becoming a speculator that house prices will fall and he can rebuy cheaper?
When large numbers of people can't make their repayments the mortgage lenders will force the sale of their properties. These distressed sales will further depress prices across the rest of the market. Property prices
will deflate.
This will present an opportunity for for people with high liquidity to buy properties at lower than the long term mean prices. The guy referred to is obviously predicting that the peak in the housing bubble is imminent, maybe he's right?
Edited to add:
Once prices do start to really decline, there will be more than a 2% reduction in economic growth, but this is all part of a bigger picture and part of positive feedbacks within the larger economy. Right now in the UK the economy is skirting along the cliff edge, but in the US it seems right now that the economy is charging for the edge at full pelt, indeed it appears to be accelerating. There is far more mania in the US over the housing market (and indeed over other markets too) than in the UK. Concern over rising interest rates seems to be compelling more people to take on more risks in order to into the bubble game. British people I think are culturally more cautious than people of the US.