DQNews Nov 22 2013:
There are two main reasons for the sharp annual gains in the median. First, prices have risen as stronger housing demand, fueled in large part by low mortgage rates, has met a relatively low supply of homes for sale. Second, the median has been tugged up by changes in market mix: Fewer homes re-selling now are low-cost distressed properties, while more are mid- to high-end move-up homes.
The data are interesting for several reasons. Above DQ mentions interest rates and supply without going into why supply is low. What I find interesting is the "mix" argument. What if there really isn't a "move up" client but merely the purchase to rent contingent filling out their portfolio after having distorted the low end beyond profitability?
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Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart on Friday said the central bank will remain accommodative "for years." Lockhart, speaking to CNBC, nonetheless said he favors changing the mix of policy tools, stressing that asset purchases and the future of short-term interest rates are not tied together.
Yes...definitely more like it...I don't see easing coming soon, if ever...
Here's How Tax Policy Could Downsize the Suburbs
The best policy measures are those that solve two or more problems at once. So consider this idea: Let's tackle Washington's revenue challenges through tax hikes that mainly hit suburbanites and incentivize urban living.
The need for more revenues is clear enough: federal taxes are near a 60-year low even as the Baby Boomers retire, China rises, infrastructure crumbles, and deficits stretch as far as the eye can see. Enough said on this point.
As for waging war on the 'burbs, here also the rationale should be clear: An energy-intensive way of life that revolves around free standing single-family homes and driving everywhere just doesn't square with the ecological imperatives of our time. The latest climate research tells us that the entire world can only release another half trillion tons or so of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere without passing a fatal climate tipping point. That's a tight budget and, in fairness, the industrialized nations which have mainly caused global warming so far should do the most economizing. Which means that we Americans can't keep living like it's 1960.
The other argument against suburban life is that it's literally killing us. Obesity rates have skyrocketed partly because of the rise of car-centered suburbs, increasing early morbidity and jacking up rates for diabetes and other chronic diseases. These health problems, in turn, are helping fuel our fiscal problems by driving up spending on Medicare and Medicaid. And things will get much worse once legions of obese Boomers start to rely on government healthcare programs. We need to nip this problem in our fat butt.
Finally, of course, is the point that suburban life has undermined the social capital that democracy depends on and eroded the community ties that human beings need to be happy.
Really not sure what to say...I think the author is serious...
Geez, Cinco-X, you find the real gems, don't you?
The darn urbanists never give up, do they? Now they're blaming the 'burbs for the obesity problem? Next it will be the fault of the 'burbs that we have tooth decay and bad TV and global warming and corrupt politicians.
People walk less. Hence fatter. Liz
I seem to have started a rumor you were sick, speculating why you weren't there. Sorry.
The hub tells me there really is a tipping point. He also sez a lot of the model are not the greatest and in some instances their are no models because their are no equations because the physics isn't understood. Like the Greenland ice sheet all slipping into the sea. Devasting. But factors unknown. A known unknown.
No problems over the confusion. The responses should be enough to tell you why I left.
Your dear hubby is right. We need to know about climate. Instead we've built these elaborate constructs about CO2 that at best seem a distraction.
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