Housing Market Slows, as Rising Prices Outpace Wages
Source: The New York Times
By Ben Casselman
Sept. 29, 2018
DENVER By nearly any measure, this city is booming. The unemployment rate is below 3 percent. There is so much construction that a local newspaper started a crane watch feature. Seemingly every week brings headlines about companies bringing high-paying jobs to the area.
Yet, Denvers once-soaring housing market has run into turbulence. Sales and construction activity have slowed in recent months. Houses that would once have drawn a frenzy of offers are sitting on the market for days or weeks. Selling prices are rising more slowly, and asking prices are being slashed to attract buyers.
Similar slowdowns have hit New York, Seattle and even San Francisco, cities that until recently ranked among the nations hottest housing markets. The specifics vary, but economists, real estate agents and home builders say the core issue is the same: Home buyers are reaching a breaking point after years of breakneck price increases that far exceeded income gains.
The local economy is still fantastic, all the fundamentals are there, but obviously wages are not keeping pace, said Steve Danyliw, a Denver realtor. As the market continues to move up, buyers are being pushed out.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/29/business/economy/home-prices-housing-market-slowdown.html
A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 30, 2018, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Housing Market Slows as Prices Outpace Wages.
duforsure
(11,882 posts)The trump slump will hurt many of his own supporters the most as he does everything he can to undermine our economy . You don't give the wealthy trillions from their tax cut program for them for their funding their campaigns, and rob millions of American people off their health care insurance , or work destroying Medicaid, Medicare, and now Social Security hurting millions of people , or cause stupid trade tariffs hurting millions more with losing their jobs , or costing everyone a lot more, and add to that they allowed oil costs to go from 38-40 dollars a barrel to 72-75 dollars a barrel , increasing all energy costs for people dramatically. Its all going to do like it did under W Bush and we'll see a recession very soon , and if he starts another war , which he is probably going to do for distraction it'll drive the deficit so high the economy will crater from it, all because of trump and the gop policies . He's working FOR putin , and hurting the economy on purpose for him now.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)and the rising cost of everyday living items and gas.
progree
(10,864 posts)There is a graph of various different mortgage rates. And one can set the time period (1Y, 3Y, 5Y, 10Y, All). And a custom time period.
Week ending 1/19/17: 4.09%
Week ending 9/27/18: 4.72%
A year ago it was 3.83%.
bucolic_frolic
(42,676 posts)Homes are subject to upkeep and maintenance costs, depreciation, obsolescence due to style and technological innovation, market fluctuations, local neighborhood and market conditions.
Banks, lenders, builders, suppliers, brokers, lawyers each make fat money from home sales. Once that profit is gone you're left with sticks, stones, land, materials. And the only thing keeping the price up is demand from other buyers.
Good luck with that.
zentrum
(9,865 posts).....San Francisco these buildings are often bought by off-shore landlords (Chinese, Russian, Arab) to store/launder their money. It's just locals who are priced out.
BumRushDaShow
(127,312 posts)So putting aside the bullshit double-speak and denial, what they SHOULD have written is that "the economy" is NOT "fantastic" when you have wages so low that people can't afford to live (i.e., housing, food) anywhere near their "jobs".
This so-called "business" verbal vomit assumes an "economy" is a one-way street, and the only thing that is important is the "employer' and not the "employee".
elmac
(4,642 posts)brought on by fed intervention and huge tax breaks to the wealthy elite. Won't last long.
BigmanPigman
(51,432 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 30, 2018, 07:31 PM - Edit history (1)
and corp. tax cuts and all and complain about it now will benefit in the long run and be grateful. Bill Maher told him the economy is going to tank really soon and that Bannon's economic strategy is BS.
We all know that this is what the GOP always does and the Dems bail them out. They get no credit and never sing their own praises like they should. Americans forget the bad economy, believe the lies of the GOP, vote for them again, and the cycle continues. When did Americans begin to lack common sense and have the memory of a gnat? During the Reagan admin?
SWBTATTReg
(21,859 posts)causes of the stock market collapse and housing market collapse occurred during the bulk of repug administrations. People have forgotten or time has softened the blow, but a greater disparity in incomes has occurred since then and wages still haven't increased on a significant basis for the vast majority of us. GOP is NOT for the average man, but their donors. Remember this piece of crap they tried selling us. Never again will this scumbag party ever be allowed to run the country. Never.
Thanks for reminding all of us BigmanPigman of these critical facts.