IS IT TRUE? February 25, 2012
IS IT TRUE that the local realtors are joining the “Parrots of Propaganda†in describing the state of the local housing market as having the sun shining on it?…that if houses that had been declining but have now seemed to have stabilized with a nominal appreciation of a small fraction of 1% constitutes the sun shining bright on my Indiana home then the local realtors have a very different definition of sunshine than homeowners do?…that the statistics that were presented in the “sunshine headline†do indeed support a headline more like “local housing statistics stabilizeâ€?…that things in the housing market are better than they have been for at least 3 years but that the prices are still well below their peaks of 2006 and that supply is much higher than demand?…that one large reason that prices here and across the country have stabilized is that many people who would like to move have shelved their plans for the time being artificially limiting both demand and supply?…that there are still some 4 million foreclosures that are being poised for sale which every prognosticator in the game states will sink prices by about 10% on average across the country?…that increasing the inventory by that much with properties that will be “dumped†as opposed to “marketed†will indeed negatively impact housing?…that the Evansville area though never experiencing the 50% plus price fluctuations in housing as growing cities did still did experience numbers that are at about the national averages with respect to foreclosures?…that the sun may shine again someday but this is not that day?…that joining the “Parrots of Propaganda†and singing “Happy Days are Here Again†does not constitute accuracy or cognitive thought?…that we will know when the sun shines?…that when houses that sold for $175,000 in 2006 once again sell for $175,000 within a couple of months of listing we can really take a sigh of relief and sing?…that as long as such homes sit empty for a year with for sale signs at over a 20% discount to the last time they sold the sun is not shining?
IS IT TRUE that if the housing market were doing so well that the Evansville City Council would have no credibility in its assertions that Aztar needed an exemption to the recently passed smoking ban to “protect a revenue stream that FILLS THE GAPS CAUSED BY SAGGING PROPERTY VALUES and tax capsâ€?…that the sunshine of the local housing market must be behind a cloud down at the Civic Center?…that that exemption is now coming under legal scrutiny for being unconstitutional?…that in other cities that have carved out exemptions the constitutionality argument has prevailed?…that Louisville tried this trick by carving out an exemption for Churchill Downs that was struck down by a judge?…that Churchill Downs is now non-smoking inside and is doing as well as it ever did?…that in a twist of irony that Churchill Downs may be offering gaming machines in a non-smoking venue that will compete with the Horseshoe Casino across the Minton bridge in Indiana?…that this constitutionality challenge will probably prevail and then the Evansville City Council will be faced with the decision that they could have mustered the courage to tackle two weeks ago?…that “all or nothing†may just be the law of the land?
IS IT TRUE that gasoline prices have been increasing painfully over the last couple of weeks just as it was predicted that they would?…that some conspiracy theorists including the President of the United States are blaming it on election year politics?…that in one Wall Street Journal article this week President Obama’s logic that he expressed regarding gas prices was dismissed as “Forrest Gump logicâ€?…that in another column WSJ’s Holman Jenkins stated “It is always pitiful to see a president of the United States, in the grip of an energy panic, uttering desperate nonsense about gasoline pricesâ€?…that President Bush had a similar nonsensical panic over the immediate benefits of switchgrass over which he was justifiable dismissed as misinformed and desperate by the very same minions that are now spinning President Obama’s comments in a positive light?…that in three short years we have gone from hearing speeches about the abatement of the rise of the oceans to an administration that takes credit for offshore drilling?…that politics really makes for some convoluted flip flops and we are being treated to some real whoppers in 2012?…this will be a most entertaining year in national politics?
I believe it was the writer of the CP article, Carol Wersich that described the local housing market as “sun shining”. The last time I checked Carol was a staff writer at the Courier and not a Realtor. Secondly, Carol’s article pointed out the modest recover in the local housing industry with regards to sales and not housing values. Granted housing values have slipped over the past several years, but they have gradually rebounded to a reasonable level. Will they ever be back at the 2006 levels, I seriously doubt it. Most housing prices were terribly over valued during the “good old days” in the mid 2000’s. They say the peak of the market was May, 2006. I went back and looked at the numbers and the sales price in 2006 was $ 129,155 and in 2011 was $ 125,200. The average days on the market in 2006 was 73. In 2011 it was 110. 5,090 homes sold in 2006, while 4,042 sold in 2011. If you compare the numbers from 2011 to the “good old days” of 2006, the sun is in deed shining on the local housing market.
An often non-disclosed situation with housing is that the realtor’s stats do not include the so called “distressed” properties that are sold by banks or change hands in sheriff’s auctions. Unfortunately those kinds of sales make up a statistically significant part of the transactions. A couple of years ago distressed sales were about half of the local transactions. I think they are down to only a third by now. Those sales are not in the statistics. Things are indeed better but they are by no means bright and sunny.
You mean someone would start using the equal protection argument to overturn the smoking ordinance? Shocking that the lawyers that sit on the council did not think this ordinance would be challenged successfuly. Even more amazing is that really no one ever really mentioned the Churchill debacle. The major difference is that Aztar contributes a very large percentage of the city’s budget, and if we kill this goose, the powers that be better have a golden egg to sell, other than betting on the come that Aztar would not lose the revenue it says it would, should smoking be banned citywide.
I think the City Council should use the excuse that they exempted Aztar gaming floors because they cannot determine whether the gaming floors are inside the city limits or outside and in the county’s jurisdiction; and further than since the county commissioners did not enforce their total smoking ban on Aztar, then why should the city knowingly or unknowingly overstep its own jurisdiction.
The writer of the CP article on the local real estate market could not get the facts straight if her life depended on it. Very poor journalism. Realtors are aleways good at “spin”. That’s why many go into politics. lol
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