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The U.S. Housing Boom Is Coming to an End, Starting in Dallas

wsj.com

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Re: The U.S. Housing Boom Is Coming to an End, Starting in Dallas

#11

Post by bradleyjg »

The post housing crash housing boom was almost entirely the result of the federal government--which has made, guaranteed, or bought significantly more than half the residential mortgages since 2008--deciding there should be a housing boom. If it is indeed coming to an end it is because the federal government collectively has decided not to double down and keep the party going.

This isn't the weather or even the price of gold. This is policy choices by government officials and should reported that way.

I'm not saying (in this post) that it is a good thing or bad thing, but it's what is actually going on and that's what newspapers ought to report.

Re: The U.S. Housing Boom Is Coming to an End, Starting in Dallas

#12

Post by xienze »

> As mortgage rates rise, buyers increasingly look for less-expensive homes.

File that under “duh”. Home buyers want to get the best house they can afford based on a given monthly payment amount, and as interest rates rise, the home price that you can afford for the same monthly payment decreases. Which gives rise to high interest rates actually being a good thing for prospective home buyers: you end up with lower home prices across the board and eventually you’ll be able to refinance into a lower rate.

Re: The U.S. Housing Boom Is Coming to an End, Starting in Dallas

#14

Post by froindt »

thinkingkong wrote: post #7
howlingfantods wrote: post #6

"Some home builders are so desperate to attract interest they are offering agents the chance to win Louis Vuitton handbags or Super Bowl tickets with round-trip airfare, if their clients buy a home." That seems like a serious conflict of interests.

Its not a conflict but its sort of weird. Sellers pay the commissions.

The buyer's agent is supposed to act in the best interest of the buyer. It's tough to say that's always the case when the buyer paying a bit more rather than walking away would actually help the buyer's agent earn more. Normally there are pre-negotiated commission rates the buyer's agent would receive.

To ensure you've got someone who is truly on your side as the buyer, maybe it'd make sense for your agent to be paid for services as consumed. E.g. $50 for doing a private showing, $200 for putting together the first offer and $70 for subsequent offers.

Re: The U.S. Housing Boom Is Coming to an End, Starting in Dallas

#16

Post by hyperrail »

Funnily enough, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported almost the same story - even the same example region! - last week: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-20/free-vaca...

I wonder if WSJ was chasing Bloomberg? Or if this phenomenon isn't really as strong nationwide as is being implied, but is mostly only in certain parts of Texas?

Re: The U.S. Housing Boom Is Coming to an End, Starting in Dallas

#17

Post by joejerryronnie »

briandear wrote: post #9
neonate wrote: post #3

https://outline.com/ZCPPvZ

Why does HN allow intentional bypass of paywalls? It’s no different than providing links to pirated software. On the one hand, we complain about aggressive advertising while simultaneously doing everything possible to ensure publications don’t earn any money.

Because, for all our self righteous indignation, we still want free stuff like everyone else.

Re: The U.S. Housing Boom Is Coming to an End, Starting in Dallas

#18

Post by toomuchtodo »

bradleyjg wrote: post #11

The post housing crash housing boom was almost entirely the result of the federal government--which has made, guaranteed, or bought significantly more than half the residential mortgages since 2008--deciding there should be a housing boom. If it is indeed coming to an end it is because the federal government collectively has decided not to double down and keep the party going. This isn't the weather or even the price…

The Federal Reserve (which orchestrates interest rates to manage inflation and achieve full employment [two of its mandates]) is not (edit: a branch) of the US government, and does not set government policy.

Edit: This is incorrect. The Board Of Governors who set interest rates is a part of the federal govrnment as an agency (accountable to Congress), the individual Federal Reserve Banks are not.

Re: The U.S. Housing Boom Is Coming to an End, Starting in Dallas

#19

Post by untog »

briandear wrote: post #9
neonate wrote: post #3

https://outline.com/ZCPPvZ

Why does HN allow intentional bypass of paywalls? It’s no different than providing links to pirated software. On the one hand, we complain about aggressive advertising while simultaneously doing everything possible to ensure publications don’t earn any money.

It isn't quite the same, because these publications do offer their content for free... to the Google indexer. So they're kind of trying to have it both ways.

That said, I agree with the broader point: if you value something that has a price on it then you really ought to pay for it at some point. You can object to anything you want ("there are still ads!", "why can't I pay per article?"), but it's all besides the point. There is a price attached and you can pay it or not pay it, but refusing to pay while still consuming it isn't really defensible, beyond "I can do it and you can't stop me".

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