Thank Goodness - Now I Can Sell My Bridge

With the market turmoil and people actually selling-off last week, I feared reality and rationality had set in and I would be stuck with this bridge forever. But today on minmal good news the markets are back to the races - up 3% - and I think I have a lock on getting this sucker sold. If I look around I might even have two or three other bridges laying around to off-laod. Let me know if you are interested.

There is a reason no one is lending to builders - shhh, don't tell the government no one is buying other than those taking advantage of the tax credit

If you have a "viable" building project as a home builder, the government has a loan for you. I am not certain what they define as "viable" but I am pretty sure they have set the bar pretty damn low. I am thinking viable simply means the houses will stand once they are built. The point being, of course, that in the housing arena "build it and they will come" is not a good motto to live buy, even if the government is willing to lend you the money. It is a loan, after all. Yet I am sure some builders in desperation will take it thinking that by the time they finish construction there will be someone around to buy what they are building. As the author of Calculated Risk points out, however, they would be ignoring the existing inventory - not to mention the shadow inventory, as in all those people who wanted to sell, or banks with REO who wanted to sell, but who have been holding off waiting for the market to stabilize or improve. I have seen a lot of new houses hitting the market this year in my area, undoubtedly due to the economy (reportedly) doing better. We will see how much better housing is now the housing tax credit is gone and most other stimulus wanes in the third and fourth quarter of this year. Personally, my house just appraised for 5% less than 9 months ago. Go figure.

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/05/housing-production-credit-crisis.html

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