This is laughable. The National Association of Realtors was cheering the housing boom and higher prices during 2001 - 2006 period.
"Is the first choice for consumers buying a home, Realtors® are in a unique position to advocate for effective solutions to today’s housing needs. By participating in Housing America 2007, Realtors® are strengthening their commitment to building communities by working to solve the critical issues associated with housing affordability.”"
Sunday, April 15, 2007
NAR Advocates Affordable Housing... HaHa!
The National Association of Realtors is advocating for affordable housing solutions:
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David said:
ReplyDelete"This is laughable. The National Association of Realtors was cheering the housing boom and higher prices during 2001 - 2006 period."
David, You're missing the message. Just like it's not a "zero sum game" out there, it's also not a stagnant housing plain. It is NOT impossible for the NAR to both be cheering higher prices AND desiring more affordable housing for everyone. I know I want that ... But as is obvious by responses here, most BHs don't understand why that is neither impossible nor the norm. What is wrong for the NAR to want existing housing values to go up WHILE also wanting more people to be able to buy homes? If you think about it, you'll realize that both are beneficial for the NAR .. They want to sell more homes AND have satisfied buyers and sellers. Period. There are lots and lots of ways that the dream of home ownership can be put into the reach of more and more people. And none of them require that existing homes go down in price ... since if you think about it, that is the worse option. That just means one less-than-happy homeowner has given up their place to another. That doesn't fit the bill for what the NAR is saying. One example of increased affordability is lowered interest rates ... as we have had ... Another are creative financing, as we have had. Let's not forget, homes are today much more affordable than they were when I was a 20-something year old and interest rates hovered near 20%. (Yes, I know it would be nice to have low prices AND low interest rates ...). Another way for better home affordability is better tax treatment .. for example the $5000 Federal credit for first time buyers in DC made homes affordable to those who otherwise couldn't buy. Yes, I agree that $5K should now be raised significantly. Another way is of course that people need to be paid better. Yes, the market will naturally help with that. When employers such as Neil's employers face the possibility of losing all there employees, moving to some God-foresaken place, OR just paying their employees a living wage for DC, they will act accordingly. If they are a company worth operating in DC, they will pay the living wage. If not, then people like Neil will need to decide if they throw their fortunes in with a company that doesn't think itself strong enough to compete in the DC market or not. The end result is of course that a thriving "market" thrives for everyone ... And if you stop thinking about it all as a zero sum game, you'll understand that not only is the NAR correct in wanting both higher prices AND more affordable housing, but that this is in their best interests AND in yours.
PS There is something wrong with the blog ... I have to re-establish a blog ID each and every time I want to post ...
I agree. This makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteAffordable pricing for homes would mean lower sales commissions for realtors, who are sales people. If one visits the NAR site, or any state association of realtors, you'll find loads of philanthropic activities of realtors. This Housing America 2007 is an attempt to divert attention from the crumbling house of cards that is the housing ponzi scheme calamity. Given the media coverage thus far, Realtors, I would say have faired pretty well. Wait until families start actually naming the realtors who convinced them to buy more home than they could afford and encouraged them to use sub-standard financing to "get r done".
"PS There is something wrong with the blog ... I have to re-establish a blog ID each and every time I want to post ..."
ReplyDeleteI heard Google is beta-testing some new heuristic bullshit detector technology. Perhaps you are running afoul of it.
Lance, you're missing the message. We already know that the NAR wants whatever would maximize their profits. The problem is that they are claiming to want to "... help eliminate barriers to affordable housing...," but they were the main cheerleaders of the housing boom that made housing unaffordable in the first place. Where was their commitment to affordable housing when the bubble was still growing out of control?
ReplyDeleteThe bubble that the NAR cheered so fervently sent home price to income ratios vastly above affordable levels. Making housing affordable would mean getting that ratio back to where it should be. If the NAR were to work towards that, it would mean a complete reversal of what they did throughout the housing boom.
What is wrong for the NAR to want existing housing values to go up WHILE also wanting more people to be able to buy homes
ReplyDeleteI think what he said was that the NAR was cheerleading prices ever higher which is the exact opposite of what is meant by affordable housing.
marinite said...
ReplyDelete"What is wrong for the NAR to want existing housing values to go up WHILE also wanting more people to be able to buy homes
I think what he said was that the NAR was cheerleading prices ever higher which is the exact opposite of what is meant by affordable housing."
No it's not. And that was my point. For example, in your case. Many, many, years ago people in the Bay area face a problem of high prices in SF and they solved it by building bridges and fanning out to Marin and the East Bay. Now, from what I've read on your blog, they are fanning out in to other areas to cope. That is a perfect example of higher prices for existing properties AND affordable housing being constructed. True, you may not like where it is at or the size of it or any of many other factors, but the fact is that there IS affordable housing to be had. I realized you have an exagerated problem in Marin because someone somewhere along the way essentially "privatized" (for the Marinites) large chunks of the county ... effectively making their individual properties worth more since access to wild areas is so easy ... in an area where had this not occured, you'd now have many many more people living. And perhaps the affordable housing now going up in the far reaches of the Bay Area could instead be going there. But, my assertion that you can have rising prices AND affordable housing stands. And actually, you can't have the opposite. Dropping prices on existing housing would only guarantee a depression for all ... and an end to the cinstruction of all new affordable housing. Don't believe me? Look at any of the soviet countries ...
"Don't believe me? Look at any of the soviet countries ... "
ReplyDeleteYes, because the Soviet countries were noted for their markets. Even for Lance, this is spectacularly stupid.