The Mica Condo Developers Must Love Me

If you do a Google Search for 'Mica Condos' you get the following first returns:


The Bubble Meter Blog is number 1, and the official website of Mica Condos is number 10th. I bet the condo developers just love me. Super. Let the truth be told that these condo units are overpriced and are not selling well. The condo market in the DC area is bubblicious.

Mica Condos in SIlver Spring

Front: Mica Condos Sales Postcard.
Notice the free 42' Plasma TV 1 Free Yr of Comcast Cable TV.

Rear: Mica Condos Sales Postcard.[Click on image for larger version].

Notice the: "studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, three-bedroom and penthouse condominiums frtom the $290s to the high $900s!" Studios starting at 290K? That is way overpriced. Buying a condo at the Mica is a bad investment.

Ask Yahoo: How many "homeowners" own their homes outright?

Yahoo has this section called Ask Yahoo. On it I found this question and answer.

Dear Yahoo!:

How many "homeowners" own their homes outright?

Thomas
Joplin, Missouri

Home ownership is the American dream. Unfortunately, soul-sucking mortgages are often the reality. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, there's a big difference between owning a home outright and slaving away over a 30-year fixed. So, of all the so-called "homeowners" in the United States, how many actually own their homes?

Maybe we're just pessimistic, but the number was higher than we expected. According to a 2001 study by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), "nearly 40 percent of all residential properties in the United States, owner-occupied and rental units, are not mortgaged but are owned free and clear." For a country so often criticized for its debt, that's not a bad figure.

Those who wish to learn more about the demographics of the average American homeowner (be it person or corporate entity) can skim the report's 368 pages of scintillating facts and figures. One factoid that stood out to us -- from 1991 to 2001, the amount of outstanding mortgage debt on single-unit properties rose from $1.62 trillion to $3.48 trillion. America's housing boom was apparently a good time to be in the mortgage business. Go figure.

Corner in Northern Virginia

Right near the Bubblicious Bench.

Who is to Blame?

One of the big questions is who is to blame for the housing bubble. Here is my list:

• Greenspan & The Fed Reserve Board for the cheap money supply (low interest rates) for such a long time


• Parts of the Real Estate Industry for cheerleading the bubble


• Irresponsible Lenders for predatory lending. If you make 40K and have no savings you should not be able to get a 325K loan.


• Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac


• Asian Central Banks, hedge funds & others for buying all these risky bundled loans


• Speculators & Flippers ( for being greedy and fueling this mania)


• Some homebuyers for buying beyond their means and being ill informed.


• Parts of the Media for not informing the public about this issue sooner (finally they are communicating this)


• Others (yet to be determined, please discuss)

This list is NOT in any particular order. Enjoy.

As Expected Fed Raises Rates to 4.75%.

In a widely anticipated move the Federal Open Market Committee raised federal interest rates by .25% to 4.75%.

The slowing of the growth of real GDP in the fourth quarter of 2005 seems largely to have reflected temporary or special factors. Economic growth has rebounded strongly in the current quarter but appears likely to moderate to a more sustainable pace. As yet, the run-up in the prices of energy and other commodities appears to have had only a modest effect on core inflation, ongoing productivity gains have helped to hold the growth of unit labor costs in check, and inflation expectations remain contained. Still, possible increases in resource utilization, in combination with the elevated prices of energy and other commodities, have the potential to add to inflation pressures.

The Committee judges that some further policy firming may be needed to keep the risks to the attainment of both sustainable economic growth and price stability roughly in balance. In any event, the Committee will respond to changes in economic prospects as needed to foster these objectives.

So what happens during the remaining months of the year?

The Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates above 5.5%. The feds are probably scared that raising rates higher the 5.5% will send the economy into a recession.

'On the fringes of Brooklyn, some doubts creep in'

Solid article about the real estate market in Brooklyn. It starts out "There's no doubt about it: Brooklyn remains hot. But while the flames that fanned this market keep core areas warm, a cooling can now be found in the borough's more farflung neighborhoods, which had been embraced by many as up-and-coming places to buy a home."

Trump Tower in Chicago

Check out the Trump Tower that is under construction in downtown Chicago. It will be completed in 2008. The image on the right show what it will look like when complete. One can purchase condominiums or hotel condos (condotels) Check out the brochure.

New Realtors Ad

The Realtors are out with a new TV advertisement telling people to use a Realtor when selling their home.

As spring approaches, home buyers’ and sellers’ thoughts turn to the real estate market. Today, with the premiere of television advertising spots titled, “Don’t Try This at Home,” the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® encourages home sellers to protect what could be their largest investment by enlisting the help of a professional.

“Selling a home is like climbing Mount Everest,” said Thomas M. Stevens, NAR president and senior vice president of NRT Inc., from Vienna, Va. “If you don’t prepare correctly, you’ll never achieve your goal. Getting a signed contract is like reaching the peak, but that’s only half the journey. Many things can happen on the way back down the mountain. Savvy sellers know to hire a REALTOR® to protect their interests and guide them through.”

Home owners who try to sell their home without professional help must overcome a number of hurdles,

"Selling a home is like climbing Mount Everest" Really?

You missed the peak. Should have sold last summer in the bubble markets as one would have recieved a very high price. It is downhill from there for awhile.

BubbleSphere Roundup

Its that time again. Time to take you beyond the confines of this bubble blog. There is a whole world of housing related blogs out there.

The Matrix Blog is high quality. Lots of solid information here. Check out 'A La Mode: Whats So Mean About Median Sales Price?' :-)

Thanks to DC Bubble for the compliments. Compliments from an outstanding blogger means that much more. Thanks again.

Check out Socket Site which reports out of bubblicious San Francisco. Many great pictures.

The Jersey Shore Bubble has a solid chart showing increasing inventory in that locale.

Don't forget relative newcomers:

• South Florida Real Estate Bubble
• Sonoma Housing Bubble

Thats all folks. :-O