Sounds All Too Familiar...

[Mrs Bear]

Just now sitting in my sister's kitchen in Cambridge, Mass., which is next door to Boston, and the local paper is full of 'property market red hot', every property going to bidding wars, middle income families priced out, only able to afford 1.7% of properties on the books, developers only interested in building luxury-end properties, mostly for rent, dire need of affordable housing, etc.

Prices around here are v high by US standards, much like more expensive suburbs of London. We have just come from Berkeley (next door to San Francisco) for my niece's graduation, where prices are similar or even higher, and there was a lot of moaning locally about unaffordability, scarcity and cost of rentals, etc. One older couple we met said they were moving to Oregon soon since housing was 50% cheaper there.

A woman we shared a taxi with last night, also with a post grad student daughter in Berkeley area, said her daughter was living in a 'micro condo' - like a hotel room, as she put it.

Edited May 27, 2014 by Mrs Bear

[Wurzel Of Highbridge]

Since 97% of the money supply is imaginary those asset prices can collapse as quickly as they went up. Especially those assets hold by investors and not directly backed by debt.

[cybernoid]

said her daughter was living in a 'micro condo' - like a hotel room, as she put it.

Or a uk new build, as we would put it

[Bloo Loo]

so you are within a couple of hundred miles of Wall Street, the Epicentre of the Financial crisis, and you see prices are high?

Whodathinked it?

[Killer Bunny]

Money is printed on a grand scale.

Ends up pushing up asset prices.

Same story every time.

Japan...

[admann]

Since 97% of the money supply is imaginary those asset prices can collapse as quickly as they went up. Especially those assets hold by investors and not directly backed by debt.

100% of the money supply is imaginary, 97% of it was imagined without central bank imagination being involved

The good news is that they will take over the imagining if you or I get bored

Edited May 27, 2014 by admann

[bearishonhouses]

so you are within a couple of hundred miles of Wall Street, the Epicentre of the Financial crisis, and you see prices are high?

Whodathinked it?

What is surprising is that you can be within 12 miles of the White House, in an area with decent public schools, and buy a detached 4 bedroom house for GBP200k (see http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/11005-Bucknell-Dr-20902/home/11031436) or a nice looking one for GBP350k (http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/11115-Dayton-St-20902/home/10951140) Both of these are walking distance to a metro station straight to downtown DC.

[Patfig]

What is surprising is that you can be within 12 miles of the White House, in an area with decent public schools, and buy a detached 4 bedroom house for GBP200k (see http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/11005-Bucknell-Dr-20902/home/11031436) or a nice looking one for GBP350k (http://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/11115-Dayton-St-20902/home/10951140) Both of these are walking distance to a metro station straight to downtown DC.

Most Americans don't earn GBP

[Venger]

100% of the money supply is imaginary, 97% of it was imagined without central bank imagination being involved

The good news is that they will take over the imagining if you or I get bored

Can they also keep imagining up well-qualified borrowers for that money-supply, who will repay? Possibly - but I think not.

Although I don't extend credit-terms to someone I think will just go and take my stock and not repay me.

The real power in this country and elsewhere is liquid (although I'm not certain which currency they are most liquid in).

That power cares about what their savings are worth. They care about value of their pensions. They're not hard in real-estate leveraged up. They want their children to take proper advantage in free competitive markets (decisions and consequences), not Bomad them up. We'll see how much longer this "home-owners are voters" line plays out.

[council dweller]

Japan....?

Considering that the population is rocketing down at the moment I hardly think it likely.

Edit...down 244,000 in 2013.

Edited May 28, 2014 by council dweller

[wherebee]

Can they also keep imagining up well-qualified borrowers for that money-supply, who will repay? Possibly - but I think not.

Although I don't extend credit-terms to someone I think will just go and take my stock and not repay me.

The real power in this country and elsewhere is liquid (although I'm not certain which currency they are most liquid in).

That power cares about what their savings are worth. They care about value of their pensions. They're not hard in real-estate leveraged up. They want their children to take proper advantage in free competitive markets (decisions and consequences), not Bomad them up. We'll see how much longer this "home-owners are voters" line plays out.

I'm not sure who this 'power' are, but in my experience the rich are as into property as anyone, probably more so as they can borrow much cheaper than you or I.