Monday, September 22, 2008

John Lockwood's Kinda, Sorta, Maybe Mea Culpa

Realtor John Lockwood, Sacramento Real Estate Blog:

Because of this experience of being surprised by how high the market could go, I realized as the market decline accelerated that I should not be surprised if prices got really low — though naturally as a homeowner and as someone who’s income is tied to the real estate market, I hoped they wouldn’t. So for the most part, the decline in prices has not surprised me too much. It actually took place more slowly than my critics predicted (those who predicted I’d be out of business by 2006) — but to give my critics their due, the decline in value from 2006-2008 has justified much of their pessimism.
...
Will home prices fall some more? Yes, I believe they will. How much? I don’t know...We may reach equilibrium in certain areas within the next year or two, but I don’t see recovery taking place that quickly.

11 comments:

Rob Dawg said...

Welcome John, we've been waiting for you to catch up.

Cow_tipping said...

Yea his livelihood depends on getting current home debtors to cave so the next line of sheeple can be moved into the slaughterhouse. I mean, the slaughterhouse is now full, but its from the sheeple that have been slaughtered, so gotta clear that before moving to the next batch.
I'll predict most of the realt-Whores will become "buyers specialists" in the near future.
Cool.
Cow_tipping.

RMB said...

Lockewood is a tool. Check out his liberal politics blog, need I say more...

Cmyst said...

Dude, give it a rest.
I realize that politics and the economy are closely tied, but there are MANY proud Liberals here, and right about now I would not want to be arguing the virtues of trickle down economics and the free market economy if I were you.

evlunclbud said...

Absolutely right, cmyst. I am a liberal, but I can't say I'm proud of my wing of the Democratic Party right now. Everyone was asleep at the switch of this disaster, and Ozzy wasn't even piloting this crazy train!

RMB said...

that's great you are a proud liberal, so am I. A classical liberal that is. If you think this problem is the result of trickle down and market economics, you really need to go research what is going on. Suffice it to say this did NOT start under Bush or Regan and the actions being taken right now are so far from market driven, I would hazard to guess that they are borderline socialist. As far as people being
asleep at the wheel? This was evident years ago. Ron Paul anyone? if you want to see what is coming, go do some research. I won't argue the values of Modern day liberals vs conservatives, I just find it instructive that about seventy years ago they co-opted a name that had the exact opposite meaning. Sinister if you ask me.

Deflationary Jane said...

Funny RMB, Cmyst has been here a hell of a lot longet then you and she has most likely done more research then you. I know you're mad. Hell we're all steaming pissed but drop it already.

In the meantime, the bailout does nothing except help corporations buy more overvalued assests. The only way any help comes to JoeCheapChardony is with wage inflation and neither classic deflation nor stagflation does diddley for that. Either we're all screwed or just us working stiffs are screwed and I'll give you a single guess which horse both parties are going to back.

RMB said...

Ah gwenster, you forget I have been here for years--just don't post a lot. Remember when you used to live in the great unwashed city of Davis. Why did you leave a liberals paradise of Davis? That right, because it was that messed up. Lived there for 4 years myself. Not wanting to fight, but can't let untrue statement go. As far as this mess, I would bet on myself in the research department....

Cmyst said...

I don't really associate the progressive movement with attempting to change the meanings of words. In fact, there would be no "progressives" if it were not that "liberal" were so perverted in the modern US lexicon as to be considered a slur. I also don't associate Orwellian Newspeak as being used equally by both the Left and the Right. I'm pretty sure that Karl Rove identifies as a Conservative, and these are both in his playbook.
Ron Paul didn't get the nomination. I agree with him on some things. If the majority of Republicans agreed with him, I'd be amazed but gratified, and he'd be the nominee.
Greedy people are always going to find a way to get around regulations, but that doesn't mean that you need to just open the door and invite them to take what they want. And throwing money at social problems beyond the basics can also be wasteful. But in general, I prefer to give money to kids, the elderly, the handicapped, and working class people who tend to suffer the most when the economy takes a dive, vs. investment bankers and large corporations. And yeah, I think those who profited the most from the great economy that we've all been told we've had for years now, should pay a greater amount to fix the problems. I certainly don't think that the middle and working class should (and really -- what IS middle class? It seems to me it's just the same as working class, only with a better education and higher expectations, which causes a sense of failure when they fail to materialize).

I'm not an economist, and I'm pleased that I've learned as much as I have on economic issues thanks to this blog among others.
Time is an ongoing river and there will always be a mixture of idealogies and policies that lead us to any one predicament.
President Clinton signed the legislation that repealed most of the safeguards of the Glass-Steagall Act. Senator Phil "Nation of Whiners" Grahamm authored the repeals and slipped them in.
Joe Biden voted in favor of the Bankruptcy Bill, and now people would rather pay their charge card bills than their mortgage.
People are naturally tribal, and we tend to form irrational and emotional attachments to sports teams,Gods and political parties. I agree with rmb in that it behooves us all to look beyond rhetoric. Many of the "wedge issues" that we are bludgeoned with have absolutely no personal effect on us whatsoever, and are therefore none of our business and are only employed in order to divide us against one another.
One of the things that I value HIGHLY about the housing blogs is that they bring people from all shades of the political spectrum together. People I really respected from the Housing Bubble Blog influenced me to research Ron Paul. I agree with him on Iraq and bailouts, but I disagree with him on dismantling the Dept. of Education and on taxes. I'd rather have Paul than McCain, though, because it takes guts to make a stand on principals and stick with it. It is far more expedient and common to change one's principals in modern politics to fit the current conditions that might favor election.
Ultimately, I think we can all agree on this: no matter who wins, the economy is screwed. The only question is how we divide up the bill. Personally, I'm voting for the people who have demonstrated that they are just a tad more interested in the economic and social well-being of me, my family and my friends.

RMB said...

cymst,

Great comments, I agree that both sides are to blame and no matter what the economy and the little guys are going to suffer. I do disagree with you on some points, but hey that is what makes this country great. We can respectfully disagree and still live side by side... I think 2009 - 2018 are going to be the most interesting time in modern history, anyone considering immigrating to Mexico? I fear for what will happen in this county, regardless of who is elected, if the economy gets bad.

a_builder said...

The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy.

—Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in our

You people need to wake up outta yer left/right Demicans good Republicrats bad paradigm... What's coming our way in the next few years is bad all BAD.