Property is a good buy in the US too right now, it's a good time to be 'cash rich'
Abosolutely!
It's such a cycle....the prices of real estate were driven-up by 'creative financing' where they kept finding ways to finance people into bigger and bigger loans, which in turn gave people more buying-power, which in turn let them bid-up the prices of homes. This was great for realtors, new-construction and especially anyone connected with the mortgage market; but like a bunch of crack whores chasing a bigger high, they bubble has really burst and now we have hell to pay...and this trickle-down has hit the stock market as well.
Beyond that, the devaluation of the dollar has caused one of our major imports to go up in price: oil The dollar is worth less in the global economy, should it come as any surprise that anything we import now cost more? The cost of oil is just reflective of the value of our dollar. Everyone wants to think it's the owner of the gas station (he just buys it from a supplier, and the supplier from the refinery, and the refinery from OUT OF OUR COUNTRY).
The biggest problem is that it became a standard to live by credit and have every penny earned going towards payments. Own a car? Nahhh...better to lease it, that way it appears you are more successful then you are AND you can use that money you might have invested towards other things. When millions of people who were living on the cusp were suddenly hit with higher gas, food and other expenses.....it all got ugly really fast.
And now people who signed the paperwork and willingly bought these homes that are now worth less...they want to walk away from them and just leave the bank owning these depreciated homes...as if the bank is some giant entity that can afford to take the hit. No folks; we ALL take the hit. It's just like when people make many insurance claims....sooner or later rates have to go up to cover the spread....and once again, hard-working good people have to pay the price for those who exercised bad judgement.
And let me tell ya....there's an even bigger crisis on the horizon, it's about 25-30 years away: when millions of people reach retirement age and have NO SAVINGS to speak of because they didn't save anything over the course of their lives.....but it's okay, the Gov't will have to step-in and give all these people housing, food and medical benefits....cause that's the Gov't job; they're an inexhaustable source of financial support that can support the world. In the end, it's the people who worked hard, saved their money, lived within their means that will have to carry the lazy, stupid and financially incompetant. Ain't life grand? :animal3::animal3::animal3:
And I see a funny analogy in connecting this with fitness.....
How many people out there are jamming junk-food down their throats and walking around with huge guts protruding in front of them? Just go to DisneyLand or any public place and you'll see chronic obesity everywhere. These people talk about going on a diet, going to the gym, getting some exercise and getting their health sorted out.....but they don't, they instead wallow around with plans, intent and a vague interest in doing what's best for them....and then when diabetes, heart-attack and illness set-in, they turn to medicine and hope some drugs can help them cheat death.
Everyone wants the easy way out.
Ya know...we all got fit because we pay the price of pain, sweat, suffering and hard work....and not just one day, but days upon months upon years! Some of the best things in life don't come easily and you have to work to earn them. I'm seeing too many people in society expect the free ride....they want to be over-paid, under-worked, have a huge home, drive nice cars and just let the Gov't bail them out when the going gets tough. F that. These people are just like obese lathargic sloths who just roll over and demand a new body when their current body quits on them.....
The Gov't should assume these loans at a fixed 5% and force these deadbeats who took the loans to make good on them.
"But my home is worth less then I paid for it and I just want to walk away from it".....NOPE! YOU took the loan, YOU accepted the price, YOU bought it...it's YOURS. No quitting, no dumping your problems on society, no walking away from your responsibility.
New law: from now on, all homes should require a minimum of 15% down and full documentation to prove owners can qualify for the loan. Wanna go no-doc? Fine....minimum of 25% down.
The mortgage people, loan brokers and realtors will cry because they won't be able to sustain the continued lunacy of getting people into homes that they can't afford and continue drivig-up the R/E market...just so they can make their commissions and sell-out our financial integrity.
Yep, the party is over and it's time for all of us to clean the mess...even though most of us didn't make the mess. But don't fret, the cost of homes was really getting stretched proportinately distant relative to people's incomes, this 'correction' was inevitable. Things will fall and like the cyclical nature of most things, they'll eventually come back. :sport:
Most honorable angry dissertation :costumed: