Saturday, May 24, 2008

Leslie Appleton-Young

Leslie Appleton-Young, Chief "Economist", California Assoc of Realtors
She looks like a total ding-dong. When she opens her mouth and speaks, she confirms it.

December 2005: Bursting of price bubble not in view
"Despite rising interest rates, a growing for-sale inventory and a slowing sales pace, the county's shortage of housing will prevent prices from dropping steeply, speakers asserted. "It's Economics 101," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. "It's demand and supply." Addressing the statewide economy, Appleton-Young forecast "a slight decline in home sales" for California in 2006. Many established homeowners have cashed out rising equity and now lack the funds to trade up to larger homes, she said. "We are going to see people staying in their homes longer." (LOL Cashed out equity and they are "staying in their homes longer." LOL You better ask Yvonne, Lela, Nancy, Kim, and John about that. Jane Hong, a bankruptcy attorney, had this to say about HELOCs, "It's a great way to lose your house," said Hong.)

February 2007: Bay Area housing strongest in state
Overall, sales of existing homes will decline 7 percent across California this year, Appleton-Young told local business leaders Thursday at the annual North Bay Economic Outlook Conference in Rohnert Park. But the downturn is tapering off, she said, compared to last year's 23 percent decline in sales."The worst is over," she said.

October 2007: Realtor economist ‘apologizes’

Ding-dong, she's baaaaaack!
2008-01-16: Economist predicts more housing woes
Leslie Appleton-Young, senior vice president and chief economist of the California Association of Realtors, blamed the credit crunch and buyer reluctance for a negative housing outlook for 2008.
"I think we are just about, if not already at, the bottom," she said. "It's not going to get much lower than that."

"You're dealing with buyers now who are waiting until the end of the market downturn," she said. (Uhhhh... Leslie, you're dealing with buyers that cannot AFFORD the PRICES!)

2008-02-25: C.A.R. reports sales decrease 29.8 percent
“The slight increase in sales predates the president's signing of an economic stimulus package including a temporary increase in the conforming loan limit, but that much needed reform could give the market some momentum,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Let's hope congress and the president see fit to make the higher loan limit permanent.” (Ok, so when people have incomes of $70K/year, a loan limit of $700K helps them, how? Affordability has to return.)

2008-05-24: Home sales offer hope to some
"Significant price declines are spurring home sales to bargain hunters and first-time buyers at the middle- and low-end of the market," Leslie Appleton-Young, CAR's vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. (So middle and low-end buyers can service $400-500K mortgage debt? I don't think so.)

4 comments:

Mark said...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080225/ap_on_bi_ge/economy_25;_ylt=AmXBHqYCk_tHt1JgWeuU1udKTb8F

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the further bad news on existing home sales should be a wake-up call to Congress and the administration that more needs to be done to help the distressed housing market.

"The housing crisis has mushroomed in part due to Washington's inaction," he said. "Declining home values cut to the very heart of families' sense of financial security and our economy's overall health."


Is Chuck that stupid or just looking out for his constiuancy on Wall Street? Hmmm? Let me guess who the guy who wants hedge fund managers to pay a lower tax rate than a McDonald's worker is looking out for.

David said...

nice catch! Fight the REIC!

DumbAss said...

Affordability has to return.

Why should affordability matter? As long as houses keep going up in value, everyone is happy. Just get an option-ARM loan, then if the house keeps going up in value, just sell when you have to start paying the principal.

Houses are not places to live anymore. This isn't the 20th century. In the 21st century, they are investments. That's why it doesn't matter if you can actually afford the house for more than a few years at a time. Don't plan on lving in houses more than the period of your loan in which you don't have to pay principal.

With the government and taxpayers help, we can see to it that houses will appreciate significantly every year indefinitely, and since affordability doesn't matter anymore, we can get homeownership rate to 100% of the population. Everyone will be rich from now on!

Because of the taxpayer money forcing housing to go up in value every year, people like Leslie Appleton-Young and Lawrence Yun will be proven right in their case that housing is a better investment than the stock market.

Captain Credit Crunch said...

"When is the 30 percent decline in Marin County's market going to happen? Not in my lifetime." -LAY (Marin Independent Journal 10 APR 2007

"Another month of plummeting home sales in Marin included a price drop of nearly 30 percent from November 2007, as discounted foreclosure sales continued to drive the Bay Area market." -Marin Independent Journal 18 DEC 2008