Vickie Heller writes: > [Heller] Not really. Adjusted for inflation, house prices are the > same as they were seventeen years ago. A book was just published, > "The Coming Crash in the Housing Market" by John Talbot - check it out > at Amazon.com.
Well, good luck to Mr. Talbot. His reasoning might be right, but the stat seems bogus. Inflation, 1986 (17 years ago)-2003: 68% http://www.minneapolisfed.org/research/data/us/calc/ Meanwhile, Minneapolis-St. Paul area home values have increased 84% *since 1995* and 151% since 1986. http://www.ofheo.gov/HPIMSA.asp (select Mpls-St. Paul metro area). I think anyone who has been in the market for awhile knows this is true. Vickie again: > The scary part is that homeowners have been using > their homes like VISA cards. Mortgage debt is at an all time high, > and home equity is at an all time low. (More proof that tax policy > influences behavior.) I'm not sure of the source of your stat, though I, too, worry about Overleveraged America. However, given that VISA charges 18-21 percent and mortgage rates are below 5 percent, I'd much rather have homeowners using their homes as VISA cards than actually using their VISA cards. David Brauer King Field Proud beneficiary of housing-price inflation TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
