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‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

fullstackeconomics.com

51–60 of 130 posts

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#51
From the perspective of just wanting to buy a house in the same place my parents bought one, I don’t really care what we call it.

The reason I’m able to actually buy one now is because my salary rose faster than the housing prices, but the prices in that location have still risen by about 800% in the past 30 years.

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you win a nobel prize in economics, I will listen to you more.

There is no such prize. There's a Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Don't be a Dick[1]. Or even xkcd hat guy[2].

[1] https://dilbert.com/strip/2015-04-02

[2] https://xkcd.com/1475

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#53

> And yet not very many people think we’re in the middle of a second housing bubble. Really? It seems pretty obvious to me that we're in the middle of a huge bubble. The problem is the bubble may not pop for decades because propping up the bubble is government policy at every level from federal to state to local. And if they ever stop, tons of people will be totally screwed. Never mind that even more people are getti…

I think perhaps you and the author are using bubble to mean different things--namely speculation versus bona-fide demand.

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no such prize. There's a Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

To be fair, it's still a yearly prize, for economics, awarded by the same Nobel Foundation that awards the other prizes, under the same rules as the other prizes. The laureates are announced at the same time as the other laureates, the awards are presented in the same manner as the others and everyone shows up to the same Nobel Prize Awards Ceremony. And if we really want to go full pedant, the award isn't called any…

'Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Memory of Alfred Nobel' is more or less a literal translation of the Swedish name, minus the part about 'in economic science' and whether or not you feel like translating the name of the Swedish royal bank.

Anyway, even the Nobel Foundation explicitly says it isn't a Nobel Prize:

> Not a Nobel Prize

> The prize in economic sciences is not a Nobel Prize.

https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/economic-sciences/

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#55
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no such prize. There's a Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Don't be a Dick[1]. Or even xkcd hat guy[2]. [1] https://dilbert.com/strip/2015-04-02 [2] https://xkcd.com/1475

Tell that to the Nobel Foundation:

> Not a Nobel Prize

> The prize in economic sciences is not a Nobel Prize.

https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/economic-sciences/

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#56
post #9
post #3

Paul Krugman described the effect memorably in 2005. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/that-hissing-soun... "Then there are the numbers. Many bubble deniers point to average prices for the country as a whole, which look worrisome but not totally crazy. When it comes to housing, however, the United States is really two countries, Flatland and the Zoned Zone. In Flatland, which occupies the middle of the count…

Which is crazy, because you would think that Australia was mostly Flatland! It's the size of the continental US, with a population lower than Texas. Everyone here lives in the capital cities, and last I looked there were almost no tech jobs at all further up the coast between Sydney and Brisbane. I wonder if pandemic working from home is going to change this, some of our devs have already moved up the coast...

In Cal it's an infrastructure issue - how to get roads and utilities (sewer, water, gas, electric) to relatively remote areas, how that is organized (incorporated/unincorporated areas) before even thinking about building structures

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#57
post #3

Paul Krugman described the effect memorably in 2005. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/that-hissing-soun... "Then there are the numbers. Many bubble deniers point to average prices for the country as a whole, which look worrisome but not totally crazy. When it comes to housing, however, the United States is really two countries, Flatland and the Zoned Zone. In Flatland, which occupies the middle of the count…

Paul krugman has been wrong on almost everything

This is one of those things people just say like a tourette.

Only study that attempted to quantify pundit accuracy (I know about) found out that Krugman was the most accurate public pundit.

source: Hefferman, S., Klondar, E., & Tummarello, K. 2011. Are talking heads blowing hot air? An analysis of the accuracy of forecasts in the political media.

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#58
post #3

Paul Krugman described the effect memorably in 2005. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/that-hissing-soun... "Then there are the numbers. Many bubble deniers point to average prices for the country as a whole, which look worrisome but not totally crazy. When it comes to housing, however, the United States is really two countries, Flatland and the Zoned Zone. In Flatland, which occupies the middle of the count…

In the Zoned Zone parents paying for their children's education in house prices was one reason for price increases (prices in areas with good public schools skyrocketed).

The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke (2004) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Two-Income_Trap

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#59

There is no doubt that the entire housing market was exploited to float the US economy and covered up a recession dating from 2000-2001 until the housing market could no longer be sustained resulting in a complete collapse of the financial markets and banking. The housing market didn’t “snap back” rather two unprecedented tax payer stimulus packages totaling just shy of $2T were given to the banks to finance millions…

Adding that although 'the Fed receiving taxpayer funds to prop up the stock market' happened, the USD as the world reserve currency allowed the Fed to create digital dollars ('money printer goes brrr' in wall street parlance) until eventually there are so many dollars in circulation we get inflation ...and here we are...one of the reasons the US now has a weaponized dollar and China and Russia are now openly challenging the reserve currency...

Re: ‘Housing in ‘07 wasn’t a bubble” is a true statement that almost no one believes

#60
post #4

This analysis seems to be attacking a strawman "the economic recession caused housing to drop, not the other way around". I mean there were multiple, interconnected factors including lax lending standards, anticipation of ever increasing housing prices, overbuilding in some locations. It's pretty clear none of them were responsible on their own . And the fact that they use Canada as an example of a country "that neve…

Canada's housing market is inflated but not a bubble - the fundamentals of supply and demand are still firmly in place in Canada's largest cities (ie population growth is FAR exceeding infrastructure). Canada's housing market will see a roll back in pricing (lets say at an extreeme 20-30%) however that really is only pushing pricing back 1-2 years max (possibly not even that).

A few thoughts:

Prior to the 2008 crash, the US' "fundamentals of supply and demand" were still firmly in place as well. It's just that demand was massively juiced by easy money and an expectation that "housing only goes up" (speculation).

Clearly not all of Canada is in a bubble (Toronto, but even more, Vancouver, has always been expensive), but when a house in Brampton, Ontario (50 km from downtown Toronto, 45 to 75 minute commute with traffic) goes from $890,000 to $2.2M in 20 months, that's speculation.

When in Barrie, Ontario (2hr commute, 120 km away) you'd be hard pressed to find a home for under $1M, that makes zero sense.

And when small town BC (Those numbers are more inflated than the peak 2007 bubble in the US, despite lower incomes in Canada. Houses in Las Vegas were bubblicious when they hit $500-$600k, let alone $2M.

I agree that major urban cores like Toronto and Vancouver might only see a 20-30% correction (just like San Francisco and New York in 2008), but other places are in for a world of hurt (similar to Las Vegas (-66%, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LVXRNSA) or Miami (-55%, https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=8hD)).

And unlike the US, many mortgages are recourse mortgages - you don't just walk away, you're on the hook for the full mortgage if after selling, the proceeds doesn't cover the debt. Plus Canadians can't lock in interest rates (and monthly payments as well) for 30 years like Americans - so less ability to just "ride it out until prices come back".

Canadians have much more risk exposure when home prices drop than Americans.

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